Several months ago I met a lady at a nail salon who has been on my heart ever since. It is worth telling the story of our brief interaction because it is another beautiful example of God's divine presence when we take the time to connect with others. I decided to get my nails done one Friday afternoon during a rare moment when I had some time to myself. I went to a nail salon nearby and was helped by a quiet lady from Vietnam. English was clearly her second language so our conversations were kept simple but her spirit was gentle and I immediately liked her. We talked about family, what else she does for work, the weather . . . nothing too monumental. I asked her about her necklace which was a beautiful piece of jade carved into a small Buddha outlined in gold. She said her mother gave it to her after she had a recent string of bad luck. Her mother told her to rub it every day and say a prayer and Buddha would help her. I asked her what kind of bad luck she had faced and she began to tell me how her family has faced recent financial hardship with her husband losing his job, her having a medical scare which resulted in a $20,000 hospital bill and no insurance, and her daughter struggling to get enough financial aid for college. I asked her a simple question about rubbing her Buddha necklace, "is it working?" Her reply with a disappointed frown was "I don't know." We sat in a few moments of silence and I prayed quietly to myself that the Lord would bridge the gap of cultural and language differences and that He could fill me with the Holy Spirit to meet her in her struggle of faith.
I hesitantly began to tell her that there is something that I have in my life that gives me peace and I can trust that I am loved and cared for even when life is hard. She responded "Is it Jesus?" I said yes and the conversation naturally flowed from there. She asked me a few questions and I could see her deep in thought as I told her how I have seen His hand in my life and in the lives of others that could not be explained by anything else other than Jesus. I saw her hesitation and I gently told her that God loves her and that I would honestly pray that her circumstances would change and that she would feel peace in her heart. I changed the subject after that . . . I didn't want to put her on the spot or make her feel uncomfortable.
I left that day not knowing her name but having a clear picture of the look of wonder, doubt and curiosity on her face and I continued to think about her on a daily basis. I returned to get my nails done about a month later on a day when I thought she would be working. She was there and started to do my nails again. I wondered if she remembered me so asked her about her family and if she recalled us talking. Her eyes lit up and she said she did. Her next question was "did you pray for me?" I told her I had and thought about her quite often. She told me that after I met her the first day, she went home and her daughter had asked her for some paperwork to fill out some financial aid forms. She went into a closet where she kept them and as she reached for what she needed, she saw a small booklet sticking out. She told me it was a pamphlet about Jesus. She was in shock!! She had no idea how it got there. She was sure that no one else had ever been in those papers or knew where they were. She told me how she got goosebumps all over and was certain I was an angel and somehow got into her house to put it there. She actually felt a little scared. (I assured her I was not definitely not an angel and had never been in her house). I told her that I didn't know how it had happened but I know God is great and He will do anything to get your attention and prove that He is real and that Jesus is truth. She came to work the next day and told her coworkers about what had happened and they told her that she was crazy and they didn't remember me being even in the nail salon. This only made her think that I wasn't really real and that she had imagined the whole thing.
We talked some more and I answered her questions as best I could. She also told me that in her family, they think if you believe in Jesus, you literally go insane and lose your mind. I did my best to be compassionate to what she was facing as she sorted through all her doubts and questions and told her I would continue to pray for her. I haven't seen her in a few months so I wonder what has transpired in her life. I rarely talk to complete strangers about Jesus and often make an excuse of why I shouldn't (this happens more times that I would like to admit). This time I had good excuses for not bringing up the subject: she doesn't speak good English, we are from different cultures, I don't want to make her mad and then she'll mess up my nails . . . the list goes on. But for whatever reason I decided to take the risk. Not only did I get to be a part of spreading the truth about the Gospel, I also got to witness the power of the Holy Spirit in action to touch someone's heart when everything else says "this is not going to work out well." In doing so, my faith grew stronger and I am able trust with greater confidence that God gives us just what we need at the times we need it. There has never been a time when God has let me down, I just hesitate to give Him the opportunity to prove Himself faithful but when I do . . . I am so glad I did.
