New Shoes

Apr30

I love buying shoes. But I’m also frugal, so I don’t buy shoes that cost a lot of money. And, compared to many, I don’t actually own very many pairs. But I love to buy them. I have something in mind  now that I’d like to go hunt for, and I do have some money saved up in my little allowance budget, so I think I might hit a couple of the nicer department stores this weekend and see if I can find what I’m looking for. My husband doesn’t understand this. He doesn’t need to understand it; he just needs to live with it. I’ll stay on my side of the closet.

Did you know that the Bible has several things to say about feet and shoes?

The first one that comes to mind is Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'”

Then there’s  Ephesians 6:15 and the armor of God: “With your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

There are quite a few others verses mentioning shoes (or sandals, really, as that was the common footwear in Old and New Testament times). I guess the point I want to make is that what we wear on our feet is important.

Not our physical feet, our metaphorical feet.

“Your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”

Are we ready to go at a moment’s notice? If God calls us, will we talk to our neighbor? Our co-worker? Our friend? Are our feet ready to move?

Jimmy Choo makes some beautiful shoes (and for a mere $600, a pair can be yours).

But I like what Jesus is asking for better: proclaim peace, bring good tidings, proclaim salvation, say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Put on your shoes. Let’s go!

Thankful today for:

237. choices

238. digital photos

239. miraculous healings

240. birthday celebrations

241. that my husband is back in Florida

242. math answer books

The Truth is in the Fiction

Apr28

I just finished reading Jan Karon’s Home to Holly Springs, the first in the Father Tim series of novels. My husband first got me interested in these special books, of which this is a kind of “prequel,” which take place in a Blowing Rock-esque town in western North Carolina. He grew up around there, and I can hear his kin in the language of the people Karon paints.

I had a friend on Goodreads call the books “comfortable.” I agree. They are a place of calm in a busy world.

Anyway, this conversation between Father Tim and his new friend, T, at Tim’s childhood home in Mississippi struck me.  I don’t want to give anything away in case anyone wants to read the book, so I’ll just say that Tim is facing something very difficult, and T questions him about it.

“How does knowin’ God help you out in a case like this?”

“I believe He has a purpose for everything. I believe He’ll bring good out of this, maybe even a way I won’t like very much. It’s His call, not mine.”

“Seems like any God a’tall would want you down here bustin a gut, not leavin’ it all up to Him.”

“Seems like. But it doesn’t work that way. We’ve got to let Him do the heavy lifting. We’ve got to grunt, that’s for sure, but we’ve got to let Him lift. The challenge is to trust Him. Right now, I’m trusting Him. Running a little scared, but trusting Him.”

Amen.

Thankful today for:

234. air conditioning

235. Sunday morning

236. only two more nights alone

Care Full

Apr27

I have a friend who lost her husband to cancer three years ago. Every time I am sad or lonely because my husband’s been gone for almost two weeks, I think of her. At least I have the hope that my husband will return on Monday. She has no such hope.

Tomorrow, my church will be serving the community in what we call Vista Serves. It’s a coordinated effort throughout the church to help wherever we are needed. My family will be going to Jo’s house to help her with some things that have needed doing around her house. Things that around my house, David would normally do: fix a light fixture, replace a shower head, build a small guard around young trees. Or they are things I would do if only I had the energy and weren’t completely wiped out from having all the responsibility of the entire house resting on my shoulders.

I’m worn out from my husband being gone for two weeks. I can’t even imagine how Jo feels. I’d like to sleep in on a Saturday morning, but it is my privilege to spend half of my day at Jo’s house.

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” Deuteronomy 10:18.

Instead of being full of the cares of this world, bearing the burden alone, we will be full of care for those who need our help around us.

 

Thankful today for:

231. the ability to help

232. abundance

233. community

Waiting on God

Apr26

I consider myself an OK waiter, meaning that if I have to wait for something, depending on what it is, I usually can do it pretty well. Standing in line at amusement parks, waiting for something to come in the mail, stuff like that. But when it comes to the big things–waiting for a husband, to have children, to get a new electronic gadget that I just can’t live without–those things aren’t always easy. And God doesn’t work on my time schedule, apparently. Obviously.

Recently, my brother-in-law Ron lost his job. We’re talking a month ago. Tuesday, he got a new job. Wow. Not only that, it’s a good job, not just a something-to-tide-me-over kind of job. My sister reports that he said it has everything he was looking for in a professional environment. Again, wow.

They were settling in for the long haul. We know people who have been out of work for months and months and months. Is Ron holier than all those other people who just think they’re trusting God, but obviously they’re not or God would have provided for them already? I think not. And I’m sure my sister and brother-in-law would agree.

Isaiah 55:8 says, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD.” We cannot fathom the ways of the Lord.

I didn’t get married until I was 29. I have friends who married at 19 or 20. I wanted to get married younger. Why didn’t God act sooner?

I didn’t have my first child until I was 35. I surely didn’t plan that one. Unwed teenagers have unwanted children all the time. Why didn’t God let me and David have one of those years before?

I want a red Mustang convertible. Other people have red Mustang convertibles. How come I can’t have one? OK. Maybe that’s not the best question to ask. Forget that one.

Point is, God does not act the same way twice. Just as every person is unique, every way that God deals with each person is unique. As Aslan the lion in the Chronicles of Narnia series is fond of saying, He’s telling us our story, no one else’s. What He does with someone else really is not our business.

It’s His. And He’s very good at it.

Thankful today for:

225. My story

226. potential

227. a new job for my brother-in-law

228. creativity

229. new songs

230. corrective lenses

Guarding My Heart

Apr24

“Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).

I have mentioned before that I have heart issues. Every once in awhile, I have these spells of arrhythmia, always in the middle of the night, sometimes for longer period than others.

My doctor says they’re not dangerous, just annoying and disconcerting.

It happened the other night, but only for about 5 minutes, so I was grateful for that. But because it was the middle of the night, and I was alone because my husband is out of town, sleep was elusive for the rest of the night. And the regular skip that I have in my heartbeat was more noticeable and more pronounced because of my circumstances.

If only the sin and wickedness that hides in my heart could be felt as easily.

When the skip in my heartbeat becomes more pronounced, I do a check: what am I stressed about? Am I getting enough sleep? What am I taking control of that is the Lord’s to direct?

Since my husband is out of town and will be for another week still, the answers to the above questions the other night were: everything, no and everything. My guard on my heart was definitely down. Prayer is what it took to be on guard again.

Because I have been separated from my other half for too many days now, I also have to keep my heart guarded in another sense. And I pray that his heart is guarded as well. Vulnerability makes us weak. But he’s out of cell range most of the time, busy with his own schedule, as am I, so our communication is sporadic. Again, pray keeps up the guard as we spend so much time apart.

What will flow from my heart today? It is well guarded at the moment, so love, joy, peace and all those other wonderful fruit of the Spirit should be the result. May it ever be that way.

Thankful today for:
216. A good night’s sleep
217. Field trips
218. New ministry partners
219. God’s mercies–new every morning
220. Toddler hugs
221. Paychecks
222. My washing machine
223. Finding a fun new show on TV
224. The variety in God’s creation