An Oil Change and a Change of Heart!

The Lord afforded Richard and me an opportunity to witness on Saturday morning. We took our car to Wal-Mart to have the oil changed. While there, we spoke to the young man who came out and signed in our car for the oil-change. We were outside with him and there were no other customers waiting on him so I just casually told him that we were headed to the restaurant next door and asked if there was anything we could pray about for him when we were there and ready to ask the blessing. He didn't miss a beat and immediately told us that he has a new baby boy ~~ one week old ~~ and that his name is Japheth and to please pray for him. I said, "Oh, your baby boy has a Bible name. You must be a Christian." He shook his head and said, "No, not really. But my father-in-law has talked to me about that." I told him that he would be a even better husband and daddy is he would give his heart to the Lord and become a Christian, and then I asked if I could show him how. He said that I could. I had a tract in my hand (that I had planned to use at the restaurant) and went through the A-B-C's of salvation explaining each step. At the conclusion, I asked him if he would like to pray for forgiveness of his sin and to ask Jesus to come into his life as His Savior, and that young man said he would like to pray the sinner's prayer. And he did!!! And then he thanked us!! Richard and I urged him to start reading the Bible every day, to pray, and to please go to church with his family and father-in-law on Sunday. He said he would. We told him "good-bye" and went on our way.

We went on to the restaurant and received prayer requests from three people who waited on us in there. This is the most exciting thing I have ever experienced since becoming a Christian!!!

We got our Wal-Mart shopping done and saw lots of friends from church so got to fellowship a bit and enjoyed that. It surely is GREAT to be a Christian! I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God!

Blessings and a Salvation Story

John 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

I am NOT a "super-duper" Christian. I fail my Lord far too often. I get caught up in this life and neglect to think about my service for Christ. The Lord has been dealing with me in this matter. Our faithful Pastor's message on Wednesday night hit me over the head and nailed my heart. I prayed and recommitted myself to be available if God would see fit to use me. I am so thankful that HIS grip is the strongest when I am my weakest. I am thankful for His love, mercy, grace, and long suffering with me.

After Bible Study on Friday morning, I stopped by a friend's home (actually she is my son-in-law's mother and the other grandmother of my grandchildren, but she is my friend!) to visit Carol and her 91-year-old mother, Goldie. I hadn't seen them in several weeks and so much enjoyed the visit with Carol and Goldie, and also with Carol's daughter Mary and granddaughter Morgan who were there.

From there, I was headed home, but I looked at my watch. It was still only 3:00 and so on the spur of the moment, I decided to stop by the "Nails" place and get a pedicure as Amy and her family had given me a gift certificate for Mothers' Day. I had a wonderful relaxing and much-needed spa pedicure. The Vietnamese girl who was "pampering" me was so very sweet. We had a fun chatting while she worked on my feet. As I sat there, I felt "led" to get a manicure~~ my first ever.

A digression...

On Wednesday night, our Pastor talked to us about the urgent matter of witnessing and winning souls for Christ. He read verses on the subject and spoke from his heart regarding his desire that our church be a soul-winning church. I was convicted in my heart because personal soul-winning has always been a weakness in my Christian life. I pray for lost people but have always felt somewhat inept and unsure of myself when it comes to personal soul-winning. During that service, I prayed and asked God to help me in that matter and made the decision to share Christ if God would give me an opportunity. One neat suggestion that Dr. Jackson shared is when eating out (which we do quite a bit of!) is to tell the waiter or waitress that we will be asking the blessing before we eat and ask them, "Is there anything we can pray about for you?" That sounded easy enough and struck me!! I actually was able to do that on Thursday night when I sat in a hospital room with a friend who has had a massive stroke. As the nurses and doctors came in, I explained to them that Angie is a faithful Christian and that I would be having prayer with her before I leave later in the evening. Is there anything we can pray for you when we have that prayer time? (I had a sheet of paper to write down requests.) By the end of my four-hour stay, I had a page of prayer requests that were given to me. That was very special!! And then when I left the hospital at 8:00 p.m. Richard met me at a restaurant so that we could have a bite of dinner together. I asked our waitress there and she gave me THREE requests and thanked me for asking. What a joy it is to serve Jesus while we serve others!!

Back to the blessing on Friday...

Pauline (the young Vietnamese nail lady) took me to her manicure table where we were now sitting face to face. After another few minutes of chatting during which I found out she is 31 years old, married, and has a gorgeous 4-month-old baby girl named Connie), the Lord urged me to ask Pauline about her spiritual condition. I said, "Pauline, do you go to church?" She answered "Yes, I am Catholic." I then asked her, "If you were to die tonight, do you know you would go to Heaven?" She looked up from working on my hands, and said so very quietly, "No, I don't." I asked her if I could share with her how she could know, and she said, "Please do." WOW!!!! I didn't have a tract out or a Bible with me BUT the Lord quickly brought to my mind the A-B-C's of how to be saved. Very quietly as there were people all around, I shared with Pauline this way:

"A" ~~ ALL ~~ the Bible says that ALL have sinned. Pauline, have you ever done anything wrong? And she said "Yes, I have." I told her that is called sin. Because of Adam and and Eve, we are all born sinners and can't help but sin. It is our nature to sin, but sin is wrong.

"B" ~~ BELIEVE ~~ "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Pauline, God sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to earth. He was born a baby boy but lived a perfect life and at age 33 he was crucified on the cross for our sins. But, Jesus Christ didn't stay dead. He arose on the 3rd day and resides in Heaven with God the Father. Pauline was looking me straight in the eye the entire time but with such a precious humble look on her lovely face.

"C" ~~ CONFESS ~~ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. I told her that if we confess our sins to God and then confess that we believe that Jesus is the son of God and that He died for our sins and rose from the dead, we can be saved ~~ become a child of God. "Pauline, would you like to pray and ask God to forgive you of your sins and invite Jesus to come into your heart and be your Savior?" She had totally stopped working on my nails for this entire encounter and never took her eyes off of mine. She said, "Yes, I would."

Another side note here.... I have trouble hearing and concentrating when there are other conversations going on around me. That happens to me at home with all of the family here, in church, at restaurants, etc. The nail shop had been busy with several customers and all of the employees taking care of them. The place was "abuzz," but the Lord just totally shut the noise out of my ears so that I could concentrate on what I was doing ~~ which I didn't even realize at the time but humbly and thankfully realized later. As Pauline and I were about to bow heads so I could lead Pauline through the sinner's prayer, I quickly looked around and the room was empty!!!! I guess the customers had all finished up and were gone and the employees were all in the back room for a break. (I had been there for 2 hours by this time and it was 5:00 but the shop doesn't close until 7:00 so that I didn't feel rushed in the matter at hand!!!)

Back to the story...

I explained to Pauline that we would bow our heads and that I would lead her through the sinner's prayer. She prayed that precious prayer asking God to forgive her of her sins and inviting Jesus to come into her heart and be the Lord and Savior of her life!!!! When we finished and both looked back up, she had a big smile on her face and said, "Thank you."

I asked her, "Pauline, does your Catholic Church teach you how to live for God?" She said, "No." I told her that she needs to find a good Bible-preaching church so that she can learn and grow in her Christian life. Her faith will make her a better mommy, a better wife, a better daughter, a better person.

Another "miracle." I don't know a LOT about the city we live in, BUT when I asked Pauline where she lives, I KNEW the area, KNEW of a good church, and personally KNOW the pastor and his wife. I told Pauline the name of the church and pastor and I got her email address so I can send her the service times, etc. I will call Bro. Joe and Debbie today and tell them about Pauline so they can be on the look-out for her. I asked Pauline if she has a Bible and she said she does. I gave her a tract (I finally found ONE in my purse and wrote the name of the church and pastor on it) and asked her to go home and read it last night as it would remind her of what God had done in her heart. And I urged her to read her Bible daily and to pray. She was so very open to everything I said and she seemed genuinely happy about her decision to accept Christ and in turn to be accepted into HIS family. It was the most exciting 2 hours I have spent in a long time!!!

Pauline's husband is unsaved and her Vietnamese parents are here and won't understand her conversion if she tells them. She said they are leaving to return to Vietnam in 2 weeks. I am praying that Pauline will witness to them and invite them to go to church with her on Sunday! Her husband works on Sundays so that frees her up to go to another church. Please pray that she will visit the church I recommended for we know it is imperative that she gets into a good church so that she can grow in her faith.

Hmmmmmm.... I will have to start getting regular pedicures so that I can check in often and encourage her in the Lord. Please pray for Pauline ~~ my Baby Sister in Christ.

(Lord Jesus, I have missed so many witnessing opportunities during these 35 years of my Christian life. I thank you for allowing me to see first-hand yesterday that, when you go before me and prepare the way, you can use even me to tell others about your wonderful saving grace. I ask Your forgiveness for my unfaithfulness in this most crucial area of my Christian life and pray that you will empower me and enable me to be a soul-winner for the rest of my life. Please use me as You see fit. In Your Precious Name I pray, Amen.)