Day 175- Icy Hot

By far, one of the most difficult encounters of the year was today. It all began as I walked into a small barber shop to get a haircut. The lady that was cutting my hair, Tiffany, was a loud and proud individual who was quick to voice her opinion. I had prayed before I arrived that the Lord would give me boldness to share the good news, but I had no idea how the conversation would begin. The conversation turned to spiritual things almost immediately as she realized that many of the tools needed to cut my hair were not plugged into a socket. She leaned down in disgust and began unraveling the cords, while she was wrangling with the cords she blasphemed Jesus' name at least four times. It bothered me so much that I leaned down and said, "That is called blasphemy. It is a very serious offense." Realizing what just came out of my mouth, I began to sweat uncontrollably. Tiffany looked at me a bit surprised and said, "Really?! Is that what you call it?" At this point I could tell that I had hit a nerve so I remained quiet. The cold silence was interrupted when she commented that I must be religious. I looked into the mirror and noticed the other five customers waiting on my answer. Tiffany informed me that she was a Catholic who has a problem with swearing. She said, "What can you do? I go to confession. I should be okay, right?" I responded with a grunt allowing myself more time to think before responding. She then asked, "Tell me! What do you think?" Still sweating, I looked at her and said, "I'm going to tell you the truth, but don't take it out on my hair." I then shared the gospel being careful to note that her good works will not save her. Her demeanor completely changed from this point forward. With every customer listening to our conversation, I told her that I cared about her and that I was willing to risk offense so that she would be prepared for eternity. Everyone in that barber shop heard the gospel today. It was very hard being the odd man out, but when dealing with eternity it was the right thing to do.

P.S. She cut my hair a little too short. :)