My fingernails peel off in layers; I liken them to shale…and it hurts. There’s just a thin bare layer separating nerves and blood from the elements. Every bump or brush to them makes me wince. There is such a thing as ‘shale nails’ often the result of hypothyroidism or anemia (my current status). It takes months for healthy nails to grow out, and I am tired of waiting and wincing, so I got acrylic nails. I like the temporary canvas they provide for a creative outlet, but mostly I like longer nails because……
When my nails are longer and my hands are in the air praising God–I just want to stretch up and get as close as I can. Sometimes I want to climb up on my chair… I want to reach up and poke the floor of heaven and revel in what pours out on me.

It’s just me…it’s how I worship, not with ‘jazz hands’, but with ‘Jesus hands’.

In the South they say, “The bigger the hair, the closer to God,” for me, it’s, “The longer the nails …