Galatians 5:6 "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
As I grew up, I didn't necessarily ever see myself being a hairstylist. Yet, I remember attempting to lift my little sister up on the bathroom counter as I brushed a wet comb through her bangs. I was determined to make her hairstyle look fabulous with merely water, since I wasn't allowed to use my mom's hairspray. There were hours spent playing with my doll's hair as well. I chuckle as I think back to those years. I was a simple, young girl...and I had simple, yet big, dreams.
More than anything I wanted to be a wife and mother. However, I didn't just play house. I remember playing “Sunday school teacher” as well. When I had nobody else to play with, I would get out all of my stuff animals and place them all in front of me. Then I would proceed to lead them in worship songs, using a hair barrette as a “pick” and a cookie cooling rack as a “guitar.” I would then get out my Bible and teach my stuffed animals all the stories I knew about God. To be honest, my eyes get a little teary thinking about those times, when life seemed so simple. I feel so blessed that God's hand was on my life then, preparing me for where He has me today.
Little did I know then how complex life would get in a handful of years. Little did I know how much the diagnosis of Mom's cancer would effect all of my life. Little did I know the pain that would follow. Little did I know that God's hand was working in my life so that I would come to the place where I would truly come to know Jesus, instead of just knowing about him. It was during this time in my youth, when I was experiencing brokenness, uncertainty, loneliness, and fear, that I came to want to serve Him because I loved him, instead of the fact that I wanted to be like Mom or Grandma.
When people ask me today if I am still broken over Mom's death, sometimes I don't know how to answer. Yes, in some ways I will never “get over” the fact that she is gone and I still miss her so much. But as the years have gone by, I am okay, and I am thankful. What I find interesting is that I often find myself crying more for the little girl that I was, who had to experience so much confusion and pain. And I cry for that same girl about the process of heartbreak she needed to go through, in order to get to the point of receiving the joy from knowing Jesus. My fragile heart is what spurs me on to connect with my clients in what they are going through, because I myself have experienced sadness so intensely. It is the brokenness that I have experienced that makes me enjoy, and thrive in, the career that God has placed me in.
The first lesson I have learned at the salon: we all have brokenness and pain. When somebody is vulnerable enough with me to share theirs, I know the place where I can begin loving them to Jesus.
When Mom was sick, and I gave my heart to Jesus, I immediately started serving in ministry. But years later, God would take me out of formal ministry, to place me in a hair salon of all places. There my job wasn't to teach formally all the deep theological lessons I had acquired over the years of studying the Bible. My job was to simply love. I never knew then how profound of an experience that would be.
So now, I have one goal each day, as I go to work. My goal: that every person who sits in my chair at the salon will know Jesus a little more after being in my presence. No matter if they have known Jesus twice as long as I have, or have never heard about Him before, I want to share with them who He is.
Everyday it is my hope that I was able to love and direct my clients to Jesus. There are many days, however, that I feel that they have taught me more than I have taught them. Their trust in me, by sharing their stories, in such a vulnerable way, have impacted my life and given me such a broader prospective on life and who God is. I always say that we are all figuring out life as we go. I am just the blessed one to be able to live life with so many wonderful people that God brings to me, who sit in my chair at the salon.
My prayer is that I will be able to speak God's truth into their lives and that I will serve them in the most unselfish way. And I pray that I will be able to understand who they really are and love them deeply to Jesus Himself. If I have done that, then I can say that I finished a day well spent, from behind the chair, at the salon.
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