The Unclaimed Gift: Toenail Polish and a Beautiful Woman

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.””

I am definitely not a girly girl. That just totally goes without saying. I love to dress up once in a while but for the most part I am a jeans and sandals kind of girl. My nails are a complete embarrassment unless they are fake, my hair is always in a wild swirl around my head, and this fifty year old body isn’t going to show up on any infomercials anytime soon claiming to have found the fountain of youth.

My sweetheart knows what makes my heart sing and he totally came through again. A gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure and an excellent massage therapist who knows what deep tissue really means. (if I don’t say ouch a couple of times during the massage, it’s not a massage) An appointment for my hair was in the middle of all that, leaving me finally feeling like a normal woman. I do not know what it is about a pedicure but when you can look down at your toes all painted up with pretty colors and a cute design, you just feel beautiful.

As I sat in the chair at my nail salon, watching videos of Josh Groban on his Awake tour (I once paid a week’s salary to go see him…..sad but true), I became aware of a commotion at the doorway. The girls at the salon were rushing to welcome a lady coming in. Her face was twisted and marred, one leg in a brace, one hand shriveled up, curling inward. Her mouth could not smile but wow did her eyes sparkle and shine. She was carefully lifted up into the chair, the metal attachments were removed from her legs, and gently her feet were placed into the warm water. Her daughter lovingly wiped her face and kept up a running one sided conversation, answered only by the look in her mother’s eyes.

The salon ladies carefully rubbed her legs with scented lotion, taking care with each foot that was curved in an obviously painful arch. She was treated with so much love and respect; it was hard not to cry just watching the entire thing. When it was all done how her face lit up as she looked down at her shiny polished toes. In spite of all that she had wrong, her whole world was right because she felt beautiful.

How I was humbled by the entire scene that played out before me. Here I was complaining of every little annoyance in my very blessed life, most of which are self induced. What had I done for anyone else this week? Whose feet had I washed? Whose toes had I painted? Whose eyes had I made sparkle? On the very week that Christ taught us the very meaning of selfless giving, I was caught up in thinking only of myself.

Lately I have become acutely aware of the simple things that are needed by most people. Sometimes I get caught up in the grandiose scheme of doing great things. What most people need is just a little polish for their toes or a moment of your time or a coffee from their favorite coffee shop. I learned a great lesson when I understood that while the world would not see the polish on the toes of that beautiful woman, she would. While the world would not know what those ladies had done, God would.

Dearest Father God, Thank You for lessons learned in a nail salon. Thank You for showing me how to share simple gifts. Let me be aware of those who just need to feel beautiful when the world sees them differently. Keep my selfish desires from overshadowing the real needs of those around me. Let me remember that Christ taught me the greatest lesson of all when He washed the feet of His disciples just before He sacrificed His life for them. Even in the face of His greatest struggle, He still thought only of serving those He loved. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, Amen

scripture from NIV Bible