Day 322: A Divine Hair Appointment

I promise that SportClips did nothing to sponsor this posting on MSY.

God brought them into the picture today.

I haven’t had a real haircut in a number of years.  I had taken to shaving my head and then letting it grow for a while…and then shaving it again when it became unruly.  Now, I feel like I actually need to have hair all the time so I needed to find a place to get it cut.

Prices sure have jumped in the last few years.

All week long, I knew I needed to get a cut.  SportClips kept popping into my head when I looked into the mirror and realized my do was resembling helmet hair.  Given my financial situation, I kept putting off the cut I knew was rapidly becoming a necessity.

Today, I woke up early to attend the men’s prayer at Journey Church.  I came home and began to prepare for the boys to visit when I had the overwhelming urge to get a haircut.  Again, SportClips came to mind for no real reason.  I used to go there about four years ago but it’s not like I could be called a “loyal customer”.

I checked around and found most places were around the same cost.  So I gave in to the constant drumbeat in the back of my head for SportClips and said I would go.  I planned to visit the location I visited years ago near Glenstone and James River Freeway.

Instead of taking a road to Glenstone and on to the SportClips, I had a delivery to make so I took an alternate route.  As I drove toward my destination, I discovered a SportClips had opened up in a new location.  So, I pulled off and thought I could get a cut done, drop off my delivery and then go pick up my kids.  Perfectly in line schedule.

I walked in and there was one of the stylists at the counter.  She welcomed me and took my information then said she would cut my hair.  She cleaned up her area then sought to tame the crazy mane.

We began the usual chit-chat that you have when you’re getting your hair cut.  What you do, plans for the weekend, etc.  I started talking about my boys and mentioned that Eli had autism.

My stylist stopped what she was doing and had a surprised look on her face.  I’m not sure she realized she had that look; I only caught it for a moment in the mirror.  It turns out that she has a son with autism.  We then had a good conversation about how many times people who haven’t dealt with autism on a regular basis can’t really understand the things that parents of autistic children can face.

As the cut went on, I began to share a little bit about God in my life and the things He’s been doing.  I really don’t remember how the conversation turned that way but I just couldn’t stop talking about God.   About ten minutes in, I realized what I was talking about and stopped to ask if she was a Christian.  She said that she was so I kept on the subject of God.

Then I discovered that she was in the process of trying to find a new church.  A church that wasn’t too big (because she mentioned she didn’t like big churches) and also a church that could handle children with autism.

A church…JUST LIKE JOURNEY.

Journey has been so great with Eli that it amazed me.  The teachers at Journey actually ask me when he’s coming back because they “really enjoy when he’s here.”  (They also ask about Dale.)

I had mentioned a few times the church and now I was able to tell her that I attended a church where her autistic child wouldn’t be tolerated but warmly welcomed.  A church that would really make her entire family feel at home.  I gave her the address for the church’s website and invited her to give Journey a try.

Will she visit?  I don’t know.  All I know is that today I stopped for haircut that before moving to Missouri I would have done myself; I stopped at a SportClips that I didn’t really know existed when I could have stopped anywhere else; I had one stylist available when I came in; that stylist had a son with autism and that stylist was looking for a church home where her son would be welcomed.

That, my friends, is a God appointment.

So when you feel that prodding that seems to come out of nowhere, stop and listen.  Turn left instead of turning right.  Check out a new coffee shop instead of your usual hang out.  Walk down a different street.  Say hi to the person sitting next to you at the bus station.

You never know when the next moment of your day could be a divine appointment.  But if you look for them, God WILL bring them and you’ll start to see them more often through your day.

And when you have that moment where you obey His leading and He does something like what He did today…you can’t keep quiet.  You have to say “look at what God did today!”  Because this wasn’t me at all…this was God working and I was just blessed to be a small piece of the puzzle.

He will use you too if you just allow Him to lead.

Your turn to share…when have you found yourself in the middle of a divine appointment?