Day 151

Day 151 of  The Red Shoe Project has me in RED flip flops, once again, and pondering the deep things of God.  Have you ever felt like you were in over your head?  LOL.  That's deep!  But God isn't into drowning me.  He's teaching me to float.  He wants me to trust Him... to believe that He'll hold me up in the depths of those circumstances that can seem so deep and scary...  those places where I can't feel my feet touching the ground.  I can sense his arm under me, making sure my head is above water.  Yup! That's my Daddy!

Have you ever caught yourself trying to make something happen?  It's like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.  It just doesn't fit.  It's not working.  It's not coming together.   The door is shut tight, locked and you don't have the key.  What's with that?

Years ago, I applied for a job at a large investment firm.  I was relocating from Rhode Island to Florida.  The company I had been working for for several years had an office in Sarasota.  I was given an interview with the Vice President of that office for an entry level position in their training program.  I had great references.  It was supposed to be a "done deal!"

Usually, I do extremely well in interviews, but this manager wasn't taking to me.  Even though my resume showed that I was a public speaker and has spoken in front of large groups of people, He insisted that the test I took profiled me as an introvert.  In a very nice and professional manner, I challenged him on the matter.  I remember saying to him... "Just the fact that I'm willing to challenge you on this, shows that I'm by no means an introvert!"  But no... he was insistent that this test is never wrong.  He tossed out my glowing references.  He refused to take into consideration my experience.  He had made up his mind.  Then came those infamous words...

"I'm sorry Ms. Sullivan, but I don't think you'll ever be anything more than a secretary!"

Was this really happening?  It seemed ludicrous!  As I tried again and again, I remember God showing me something so clearly in the back of my mind.  It was a picture of a large steal door...  a vault door, like you'd see in a bank.  It closed shut with a bang, and the lever was turned so that it locked tight. This interview wasn't going anywhere.  It was over!  

A week or so later, my husband (at the time) was on an airplane flying north.  He was chatting quietly with a woman sitting in the seat beside him, telling her about himself, and me, and what we do for a living.  Somehow he ended up telling this gal my work experience and mentioned that I was looking for a job.   A minute or so later, this other woman, seated a couple rows in front of him, came by and handed him a paper with a company name and number on it.  She said that she used to work there and that I should give them a call. She was confident that they would hire me. He relayed the information to me.  I followed up and within a couple weeks I was entering their training program to be an investment advisor.  It was all so effortless.  No pushing.  No convincing.  No forcing.  

It's funny, after I was hired, I mentioned to several long timers at the company about the woman on the plane.  No one had ever heard of her.  They said that no one with that description or name ever worked there.  They were dumbfounded!  An angel perhaps?  On a plane?  Come on... that could never happen!  LOL.

As I am stepping out into this new season of "dying to self", God is asking me to rest in the fact that "my steps are ordered by the Lord."  He's calling on me to trust that "He has a plan for me."  Rather than trying to make things happen, or manipulate situations to get the outcome I'm looking for, He wants me to "Believe that All things are possible!"  

So from here on,  as I step out each day in RED shoes,  I'm going to accept that whatever comes my way is God's plan.  I'll stay connected with Him and He'll instruct me on what to do next.
Okay.  Here it goes!
"JESUS!!!"

Gail