His Marvelous Ways

Most Contents Listed on ​Left Side Bar of Home Page

Over time she became very good at making both herself and others to appear more beautiful by the world’s standards.

Focus on the outward appearance was absolutely required of her. Hair, skin, nails, clothing - all of it had to be perfect.

If only she could just read and write and study! But there were groceries to buy and bills to pay.

So she kept a stack of reading and writing materials inside her station drawer.

Some days there was no time for it, but she secretly welcomed a rescheduled appointment or cancellation (Don't tell anyone!) because it meant

an open space on the appointment book so she could enter the library in her drawer.

The other stylists usually chattered about fashion and jewelry and hair trends and body shapes and makeup.

She never fully fit in with the salon crowd.

She did love the people though. For some, no hands ever touched them except for hers.

She prayed for them as she washed their hair. Often she had an opportunity to minister the love or

grace or wisdom of God to a heart or mind as she polished their outward appearance.

And sometimes the Lord would send a “client” to minister to her.

He could place anyone He liked in her chair for whatever His purposes.

Forty years and thousands of cuts and colors later, she is still standing behind a salon chair.

She has read, studied or written portions of many books while at work. She is also close to a lot of

wonderful people with whom she’s been privileged to spend 2 or more hours every 4 to 6 weeks for many years.

She has a thousand stories and ten thousand examples of dialogue gleaned from actual conversations with people from

nearly every culture, religion, profession, vocation, trade, social class, age and part of town; People with an innumerable

variety of worldviews, personalities, dispositions, strengths and weaknesses. She’s got the inside scoop on every restaurant, church,

school, University, Government agency, travel agency, vacation spot, neighborhood, law office, orphanage, hospital, doctor…on and on.

She knows others in ways no one else knows them and knows things about them that no one else knows.

She prays that she’s influenced some towards the Truth of the Gospel and asks the Lord to forgive her for

any words she has spoken that have hurt or caused another to stumble. She prays that

He would bless and provide for each one in all their individual needs.

She still struggles with the vanity of this “beauty business” and she still longs to just write.

But after standing before a salon mirror for so long, she now looks in the rear-view mirror and realizes that

the Lord set it all up so she could read and study and write, and also

place her hands on those whom no one touches.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one

can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.