Nails done, Jesus done, Everything DID

disclaimer: these are NOT my nails.

So when I went to my regular nail spot yesterday to get em did, I was hooked up with this nail lady who is not my regular nail lady since I didn't make an appt. As soon as I sat down, I noticed a little Buddha on the desk, and suddenly I knew the Holy Spirit was prompting, especially since we've been emphasizing sharing the Gospel lately. My first thought was, "REALLY, God? You are not gonna make me share the Gospel with my nail lady today. This is expert level on evangelism - she's a stranger! And usually I need to prepare myself and  pray first and get in the zone to share the Gospel. I'm not ready today, but next time."


So fortunately, I gauged that she wasn't a talker. (Usually, they spend the whole time without engaging in conversation with you, or they'll start asking questions like "Do you have boyfrienddd?") But then she started talking about how it has been hard for her to sleep lately, and I start asking her questions about that....which led into her talking about her being so stressed out...which led into how she was having financial problems....which led into her talking about how she doesn't know what to do with her life....and how her life is really hard right now.....


She wasn't really being a Debbie Downer, but you could tell that she was genuinely hurting. We were having a really genuine conversation, and at one point, she got teary-eyed and needed to take a break for some kleenex. But at this point I realized that God was setting the stage up for me to share about Jesus. No doubt I was scared though. I honestly didn't know where to start, and the whole time I was praying for God to just give me the right words...


Finally, after some silence, I asked her if she ever prayed. She said she prayed to Buddha and one time even with a Catholic person at the church she walks around for exercise sometimes, but bad things always happen to her right after so she said that doesn't help. I was like, "Oh no, roadblock! Okay now what." Then I said, "You don't know what to do, you've tried everything..and if there's one last thing for you to try, then trust in Jesus." I shared with her a short testimony of how Jesus has changed my life, especially during the hard times how he's been my hope and peace. She really didn't have much to say after that, but she let out this big sigh and then she changed the conversation. Her coworker and another customer came in to sit down next to us too so I got scared to continue the conversation.


When she was done with my nails, we were talking about where I work, and I invited her to come to church. At first she said she was too busy, and then later she said that hopefully she can go to our church one day. Even though she finished my nails, she sat there and continued to just let out how she's been feeling lately. Since I had to go to class, I took out my wallet to show her it was time for me to go though. We went up to the front and she said she usually doesn't share her stuff with people, and she didn't want to say in front of her coworkers but she is always going through some really bad family problems. As I finished paying, I gave her a hug and held her hand and from the bottom of my heart I told her that again, she needed to trust in Jesus alone and to really believe in Him, and everything would be okay.


Even though I don't know if she will, I asked God to consistently keep her in my prayers so when I come back in 3 weeks, she can testify that her life has changed in some way. Then our Lord Jesus can take the credit and prove that He is the only one that is faithful and true, and worthy to be accepted in our lives. Hopefully we can continue our convo from there. I totally didn't expect that Jesus would be in our conversation before I walked into the nail salon. But God reminded me after that there are so many people in need of Him because of we are so limited as humans, there comes a point where we will lose control of our lives and we need a Savior not only for our situations but for our very souls.


Even though I didn't get to go into the full Gospel story with her, the experience of sharing about Jesus was not as scary as I thought. We have a lot of fears when it comes to sharing the Gospel - for her it was fear that I would be offending her Buddhist beliefs. There will be times that the Gospel is offensive, but it is never to be regretted - it's the TRUTH! When it comes to sharing with the people I love most, I fear rejection and disapproval....


For the longest time it's been hard for me to follow up with my friend Andrea since she accepted Christ during our last outreach event. There have been many opportunities and long drives between SJ and SSF with her, but thankfully God prompted me to finally follow up with her about her relationship with Jesus and guide us into that conversation last night. I'm excited for this because she can be my soul sista and partner in changing our homegirls for Jesus too! Pray for her to really understand the value of a personal relationship with Jesus.


And last night my sister slept over and we talked about Jesus in her life. Since she accepted Christ, I could see that God is changing her to rely more on Him. He's even changing her desires to live for Him and not herself anymore. But right now she is in a hard place in her life and she doesn't have a church family, so please pray for her too.


Sorry this was super long, but God can use us to bring His Kingdom on earth. I realized that sharing the Gospel is a lot easier when we constantly remember that this is what we are called to do as his followers. Always be prepared for any situation, any moment.


"Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching." - 2Timothy 4:2


"Instead, you must worship Christ as the Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." - 1 Peter 3:15