The Other Boots

(photo from linkedin.com)

Today we rightly give honor to our veterans near and far, those who’ve gone before us and those we stand beside daily. We should do so every day. God bless you all. Thank you for everything you’ve done for America and her people, and for so many others around the world. Thank you for every sacrifice and every sorrow; for every moment of frustration and every moment of fear. We celebrate with you every moment of victory and triumph and every moment of pride and your safe return from service. We salute you and bless you from the deepest parts of our hearts. And as you do, we bless and salute the ones you love.

(photo from plumdistrict.com)

To those you’ve left behind –

Your love is never forgotten.

Your sacrifices are not invisible.

Your hearts are bigger than the world will ever know.

Your voice is energy; your words are dynamic, even when whispered.

Your tears are saved in a special place as God’s treasure.

Your patience has been tried.

Your questions have gone unanswered.

Your faithfulness is often overlooked.

Your understanding of longsuffering is over-the-top.

Your songs, in your heart - carry tremendous meaning; unfathomable power.

Your pride is deserved.

Your creativity saves the day.

Your dreams are valid.

Your pain is real.

Your wounds are many.

Your confusion is misunderstood.

Your comfort is coming.

Your peace belongs to you alone.

Your joy is sometimes hidden.

Your self-control is tested.

Your prayers have often felt like they were ignored.

But, you are heard.

You are loved.

You count.

You are honored.

You are admired.

You are an over-comer.

You are victorious.

You are envied.

You are important.

You are fulfilling one of your greatest purposes, right now.

You are indispensible.

You are the mortar between the bricks; without you there is no strong tower.

You are the reason love marches forth to protect and defend and conquer evil.

There are no heroes without you, for without you, there is no need for heroes.

Thank you!

I give you all my love, now and always. 

“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Bless are all who wait for him!” – Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” – Psalm 23 (NIV)

Shoes

(photo from fanpop,com)

In my world, we have a plethora of shoe styles, though in third world countries  the average citizens often go barefoot; the soles of their feet becoming tough at an early age.

For us, life is easier when our feet are properly (or beautifully) shod. Man has designed snow shoes to more effectively trek across deep snow. We have so many sports shoes it makes my head spin; walking shoes, running shoes, basketball shoes, football cleats, golf shoes, cross-fit shoes, ballet slippers, tap shoes, etc.

In our culture, people spend mega-bucks on shoes, and even the closets we put them in. Whether it’s the best sports shoe or the fanciest heels, women in particular, are stereotyped as shoe collectors, squandering huge portions of our paychecks on footwear.

Shoes are vital to our attire, our performance, and the protection and comfort of the wonderful body parts we call our feet. It makes sense, to me, that at some point, shoes would be mentioned in the Word of God.

Moses was told to take off his shoes at the burning bush encounter because he was standing on holy ground. But, over in Ephesians 6 we’re instructed to put on a warrior’s attire. This includes a specific type of footwear; shoes made of peace. What might these shoes look like? Peace isn’t a fabric like leather. Let’s look at a few verses from scripture and the meaning of the word peace found there.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand…” – Romans 5:1-2 NIV

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” – Colossians 3:15 NIV

In both places, according to my Strong’s Concordance, the Greek word for peace means: “one”, “quietness”, or “rest”, combined with “being made at one again”. We need to be at peace with God (being made one with Him again) and with ourselves (not waging an internal war over our past, current circumstances or even future events) to effectively present the gospel in our world and to face life’s everyday battles victoriously.

At last weekend’s conference, I listened as Joyce Meyer taught on living from a place of rest and resting in Christ. She pointed out that the first full day of life on Earth for Adam and Eve consisted of a day of rest; day seven, where even God rested from His work. This is where our purposes are realized and we can begin to walk in them.

Without this peace, or rest, with and in God and within ourselves, walking through life will be as painful as bare feet on broken glass. Both arenas of peace are acquired only through Jesus Christ. In Him, whether our feet are bare or wearing Army boots, our feet are beautiful.

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of them which bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” – Isaiah 52:7 NIV

“And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” – Romans 10:15

Or as our pastor put it, “…how beautiful are the feet that kick down the doors of the enemy [setting the captives free]?”

What are your shoes made of?

(photo from theguardian.com)

(photo of sneakers from en.wikipedia.org; photo of brown suede shoes from tafreehmella.com; photo of funky looking sports shoe from dress-dress.com, my apologies, the caption feature of blogspot wouldn't work on those photos for some reason.)

Self-Discoveries

(My photo)

Discovering anything new can be exciting and often, scary. Even if we discover something as exciting as inheriting a million dollars from a relative you didn’t know existed might carry an element of fear over the responsibilities of spending it wisely. Of course, discovering a tragedy is about to occur will instill fear, but to a questioning mind, the “why” behind it might be exciting, or to someone wanting change, the excitement might come in the aftermath of the tragedy.

I can think of discoveries where excitement could come without fear; little ones, and where fear could engulf without excitement; those that catch you off guard.

Most of my recent discoveries are about me. Some of these little discoveries tip the scale like a teeter-totter. While the discoveries provide fascinating explanations for a huge percentage of the ponderings in my mind, new ponderings take their place. I’m completely thrilled to find out there is an “off button” for all of this pondering! Bummed, though, that this is only a temporary solution. {{{sarcasm}}} “Apparently Ambien is an addictive substance the [old] doctor won’t give me indefinitely.” But, a swing in the positive direction reveals that while the [old] doctor gave pills, this new one has a bigger agenda filled with all sorts of telling revelations, knowledge and “fixes” – and he’s not only willing to share them with me, he’s eager!

So, yes, I’m excited. But, yes, there’s apprehension. But the uncertainties won’t   overwhelm me. I have the peace that passes all human understanding (Philippians 4:7), I know that God already saw this and is well ahead of me. God created me from nothing and knows everything there is to know about me; He knows how I can make the best of everything He created me to be. I love being me; I just don’t always understand being me! I love my quirkiness, my imagination, my openness, my ability to reach outside of myself, even to the embarrassment of many around me; which always makes me giggle. My trust in God gives me peace on the inside that, though it tries, even the outside can’t betray. The peace that comes from knowing and trusting God has brought me through everything I’ve faced so far, and will take me on to glory. Yes, I have His peace, and yes, I'm filled with His joy. Yes, I am blessed.

I plan to occasionally share my discoveries through blogging. Maybe as I explore who I am, you’ll see glimpses of yourself the mirror hasn’t revealed yet. Though I’ve been rather vague in this post, I’m a pretty transparent woman, I’ll expound. You may not accept everything I share; you may resist it or laugh at it; that’s okay, too.

Comfort

(photo from beliefnet.com)

Recently we pondered spoken words. I hope you’re still pondering them, those we speak – and those spoken to us.

Words don’t have to be profound to have an impact on our lives. So don’t let the lie that you’d don’t have anything important to say stop you from speaking to people. God brings people across our paths for His own reasons.

A few years ago my daughter moved to Nevada. It tore my heart out. The day she left, I cried so much I ran out of tears. My boys have also moved away or left for a season or two; they must think I have ample supply of tears. It's all really just part of letting go.

Before my Princess actually even left, I sat sitting in the back of the parking lot of one of my most frequented stores, sobbing on a ridiculous level. Seemingly to me, out of nowhere, two women were standing at my window. I hadn’t even noticed them pull up and park next to me. I guess I was in my own little world, which happens often, I’ll admit.

Staring in my window with loving faces, they sent their love straight to my heart without even knowing why I cried so violently.

I tried to pull it together and rolled down my window. They asked why I was falling apart and I told them. Without hesitation, they began to pray for me, out loud. There was no embarrassment or even asking if it’d be okay to pray.

When God sends you, He knows who He’s sending you to.

I doubt that they knew they were on a mission when they left their house to go shopping that day, if indeed they were even there to shop. God could have drawn them there just for me.

God knew I needed a audible voice to speak comfort to me that day, and tangible hands to take mine in theirs to lift my heart up to our Father. He knew my need, and He met it. He’s good like that.

This brief interaction burned itself into my memory and reminds me to never ignore God’s prompting. Whoever He sends me to comfort needs and deserves that comfort as much as I did.

Trust and obey.

I like this verse, perhaps because I already consider myself to be peculiar: “Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:” – Exodus 19:5 (KJV)

And I’m reminded of an old Keith Green song, To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice. (1 Samuel 15:22)  Listen to the song by clicking here.

(picture from prlog.org)