The Brazilian Wax That Changed My Life

As a woman, self-care is of the utmost importance to me. Most people that know me will tell you: I LOVE being pampered. That includes anything from massages, pedicures, and waxes (not really pampering, but “upkeep”), to a day off from work and quiet devotion behind a closed door. Now, as a Christian woman, who I allow to handle my self-care services is even more important. What do I mean by that? Well, once I realized just how powerful the transferring of energy and spirits was, I started (silently) praying over the people that I would allow to touch my hair, my hands, and most DEFINITELY my lady parts when it’s wax time. That may be TMI, but hey, YOU’RE the one that clicked on a post called “The Brazilian Wax That Changed My Life” *shrug* lmbo ?

Anyway, over the past few years, as I really started to develop my walk, God has literally placed me in the hands of some amazing believers. My nail tech Corinn, for one, is someone I truly consider a sister in Christ. She knows some of my deepest, darkest secrets (lmbo), and she is THEE best nail tech I’ve ever encountered. Over the past 3 years, as she’s worked on my hands, God has also used her to work on my spirit and heart. She’s truly been a major blessing to me both creatively and spiritually.

After a TERRIBLE Groupon experience with a very un-gentle “wax-lady” (I won’t even call her an esthetician), I decided to go back to a wonderful Black-owned spa called Dawning Tranquility. And it is EVERYthing it sounds like. I had my first wax with Dawn In February of 2015. I’ll never forget because I was going THROUGH some things that day, and almost canceled the appointment. However, I went and somehow ended up explaining to her some of what I was going through. She blessed me with cupcakes from Sweet Lobby, across the street from her spa. That was when I KNEW I’d be a patron for life. Just kidding [well half-kidding at least, I love a good cupcake]. Dawn was able to take what can be a very painful,  uncomfortable process and help me breathe through it. [Don’t miss that MESSAGE].

After that first visit in 2015, I fell off the waxing wagon. I just figured there were ways around the pain. Indeed there were, but none of them seemed to get the job done quite right. Go figure. More recently, I decided to once again subject myself to the torment of regular waxes. Thankfully with Dawn, it is not so torturous at all (there is a God!!). She was just as soothing and efficient as I remembered, but this time I started pouring out my faith teas. Long story short, she helped me to acknowledge a few things about myself:

1.) I tend to brace myself for pain, literally but TRULY figuratively. When you know something is likely going to hurt, what do you do? You tense up, right? So as she would get ready to pull away a strip, I would freeze and get tense, not realizing that by doing that, I was actually holding in and maximizing the pain. Once I started to relax and trust the process, it became far more bearable and it was over before I even realized.

2.) My prayer, meditation, and devotional time are not in vain, and it is most certainly not just for me. Recently I’ve been kind of struggling in my prayer life. I’ve been feeling like my prayers are hitting the ceiling and dropping back into my lap. In my most recent visit to Dawn, I once again just started pouring out my heart and soul to her. In that appointment, I said something to her to make her say to me, “God sent you here to tell me that today.” I had been reading through Proverbs and was like “Yes, yes, what awesome repetitive wisdom!” (Forgive me, Lord). But I just wasn’t feeling like it was applicable to my exact point of need at that moment. And I was right because it wasn’t just for me. In retrospect, it brought to my remembrance 2 Corinthians 1:4 (MSG):

“He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.”

Now even though it wasn’t a situation where either of us was in “hard times”, God allowed me to read His wisdom and subsequently pass it on. He wants us in His word so that when the opportunity arises, we can share it where applicable.

3.) And that brings me to my third and final point. My relationship with God is not just about me. It’s not really about me at all, actually.  It’s so easy to get caught up in what He can do for me, praying for myself, and my needs and wants. But my relationship with Him is about what He can do through me for the glorification of His Kingdom. How did I get all this from a Brazilian Wax? Only God knows 😉