This morning, I woke up ready to take on the day!  Seriously, things were going off without a hitch and we were on time and life was good.  I took the big girls to school and then came home to begin getting A ready.  She looked quite cute in her little ruffled leggings and super sweet twirly dress.  She even picked a cute chunky necklace and a big pink bow to put in her perfectly placed ponytail.  I went to the kitchen to finish making her lunch and told her to put on her shoes and grab her backpack.  She came to me in a bit of a panic because she couldn’t find her folder.  We looked for a bit and then decided maybe one of her sisters had accidentally grabbed it as they all keep their backpacks in the reading nook side by side.  Our folder search ate up any spare time and before I knew it, we were on the verge of running late.   I quickly ushered her into the car and we sped off to school.  Upon arrival, I struggled to help her grab her nap mat, backpack, lunchbox, Ted, and her quest box (why does a 4 year old need this much gear for MDO?!?!?!).  We fought our way up the stairs and into class and her teacher commented on how pretty she looked.  I noticed she had a little breakfast left on her face so ushered her to the sink to wash her face before kissing her to tell her goodbye.  There my perfectly dressed little princess stood before me smiling as I glanced over her to proudly bask in all her head to toe adorableness.  That’s when I noticed it…

There before me were her big toes gleaming out staring me in the face.  I could immediately feel my smile contort into an open mouthed gaping state of shock.  I froze absolutely horrified and began to panic.  You see these old glittery toms had become her “play shoes”.  She would slip them on and frolic outside to play for hours.  Recently, I had noticed her dragging them along the concrete as she rode her scooter and thus had ripped holes in the toes.  I told her to throw them away and that I would get her a new pair.  I trusted that she had but they’re her favorite shoes all broken in and comfy like that and so I guess she couldn’t bare to see them go.  I began to explain the situation to her teacher and vowed to return shortly with a less beggar looking pair.  I drove home in a hurry eager to grab some decent foot ware and return them to my little darling.

As I left the school for the second time after delivering suitable shoes, something hit me.  I have holes in my shoes too.  Not literally.  Metaphorically speaking.  My life is imperfect.  I often fall short of the mother, the wife, the daughter, sister, friend, and Christaian that I want to be, that I know God wants me to be.  I sin and disobey and cling to things in my life that are broken because they are “comfortable”.  When God tells me, “throw those things out, they are not good for you, I have something better for you”, I ignore him.  I look past those holes because grabbing a hold of something new is scary.  Sometimes new shoes leave blisters until they’re broken in you just have to get through that initial pain before they become your new favorite shoes.  Sometimes it’s easier to put a patch on the holes in those old shoes than it is to risk the blister of the new ones.  But God wants us to have new shoes.  He wants us to be the very best that we can be and he wants us to remember that he’s there with us through that blistery transition period.  I want to encourage you today to look at the holes in your own shoes.  Those broken relationships, that self inflicted criticism, those judgements, those addictions.  Lay that worn down pair of shoes at His feet and exchange them for a shiny new pair.  Exchange them for healing.  Remember, they won’t feel perfect the second you put them on for the first time.  They’ll be stiff and may cause blisters and that’s okay.  It’s just part of the process.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  psalm 147:3