Nail
polish is making a big splash these days. If you don't believe me,
just take a quick browse of Pinterest. (No, guys, we won't take away
your man card if you do. Although if you do start pinning a bunch of nail designs . . .)
I'm pretty sure child #3 alone has “pinned”
about forty-three ways to “do” your nails. It's the new fad.
But
even by those standards, the lady whose hands held my book at the
table stood out. They glittered, swirled, and scattered light in a
crazy pattern of bright. I loved it.
Then
I looked up to see to face attached to the hands and noticed. She
wore the tell-tale cancer scarf tied around her bald head. I
complimented her nails, and she told me the story.
“I
can't look the way I want to everywhere. It's taking its toll, and
not just on my hair. But what I can do, I do. And I can make my hands
stunning.”
And
right then, I felt stunned by far more than her hands.
But
what I can do, I do. I hesitate to add anything to that. It says it
all. What's our excuse for so many things we never do? I've never
done that. I'm not going to make a difference. There are just too
many things in my way. I don't have enough time, talent, money,
whatever. Someone else can. But what if . . . Maybe another time.
What
I can do, I do. She couldn't cure cancer, or make her hair grow back,
or run a marathon for research. But she could look for the positive
in life. She could encourage other women with cancer. She could paint
their nails (and she did). She could spend a day with her favorite
thing—authors and books. She could spread beauty and joy in her
corner of life, despite circumstances far worse than those that
normally make the rest of us start grumbling into our Starbucks and
whining at the first unlucky person to ask, “How's it going?”
What
are your “fingernails”? What can you look at and say, “I'm
going to make that beautiful, no matter what else isn't? I'm going to
take one thing, and do what I can do with it?”
It doesn't have to be a part of you. It could be a part of something around you. A small bit of a larger cancer. Like the Section 8 neighborhood my daughter wants to make a garden in. It won't solve their problems. But it will be one stunning spot.
What
I can do, I do. This lady could face life with courage. And
stunning fingernails.
6 comments:
Yup. I'm with this lady. God trusts me to carry the disease of MS for the time being. He has also gifted me with words. And as long as I have breath I will use them to encourage, to uplift and to point to Jesus. I will use them to help people think God thoughts and I will let His light shine and bring beauty to every corner I find! This I can do.
What an awesome lady--thanks for introducing her to us! I met some amazing people during my cancer journey, but one of the women I remember the most was this young woman with the most beautiful long blond hair I had ever seen. I found out later that when they shaved her head, she donated her hair to make wigs for other women with cancer. People really are amazing!
Everybody wants to save the world, save the planet, save the oceans. Projects like that make headlines and get attention on tv. Those big problems are way beyond most of us. They are even beyond all of us working together. I admire this lady and everyone like her who does what is actually in reach. Too many of us step over the trash on the sidewalk and ignore the person who looks lost in the church narthex. We really need to listen when God shows us opportunities that won't make headlines.
Thanks, Carol. That's what I finally decided about kidney disease as well. I knew God wanted me to go through it, not around it, for his glory. He is always there. Keep up the good words!
I love reading your blog and all the encouraging people on it. People are amazing, when we give them a chance to show it.
So true. It's so easy to think someone else will do it when it's right in front of us. I may have lousy earthly vision, but that's no excuse for bad spiritual vision!
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