Day 152

Day 152 of  The Red Shoe Project has me running around the house in RED shoes, looking on shelves, between books and under papers.  Someone sent me something that's of utmost importance.  It's been confirmed that it was delivered and received. So where is it?  I can't find it anywhere!   I know it's here, somewhere.  It's probably right in front of my nose and I just can't see it. For all I know, I could be sitting on it, and don't even know it.  LOL.  


My friend Tam said the same thing happened
to her just the other day.  She couldn't, for the
life of her, find her glasses.
  Her husband told her,  "They're right on the table."  She looked and looked and couldn't find them.  Finally, she put her contacts in, to find her glasses.  LOL.  Yup, there they were, right on the table where her husband said they were.  She said she looked there several times, but she was blind to them.  They blended right in with the table and she couldn't see them. But now, with her contacts in place,  there they were!

A few months ago, a friend had decided that he, too, needed a visual reminder to look for  God each day.  He didn't have RED shoes, but his dad had given him a beautiful family heirloom - a men's gold ring with a big purple stone in it.  It was more extravagant than his normal, everyday fashion, but all the better.  It would stand out and capture his attention time and time again, to look for God.  Only thing was, after a few days, he lost the ring.  He couldn't find it anywhere.  It was gone.  He was so upset when he told me, but I had this strange feeling.  I told him, " I don't believe you lost it!  I think it's still in your possession.  You just can't see it.  Let's pray that God will bring it to the surface so that you can find it!"   We prayed.  Several weeks went by.  Then one day, when the ring was almost completely  forgotten about , the man noticed something on the floor of his closet.  He bent down to pick it up.  It was the ring!  It had been there all along, but now he could see it.

That reminds me of a time when I was lost...  separated from God.  I was blind to spiritual things.  I didn't think God existed.  I thought God was an idea... something that weak people needed, like a crutch, to help them through life.  I didn't need that!  I didn't need Him!  I was going to make it on my own.  But I kept ending up, time and time again, in these dark, lonely places.  One day, I got tired of the darkeness.  I got tired of being lonely.   So, as a last resort,  I asked the God, (that I didn't believe existed), if He was real.  My spiritual eyes were opened.  I was found!   I was born again.  And to think, here I am thirty years later, wearing RED shoes each day, looking for God, for a living.  LOL!
Truly, God has such a sense of humor.

So many times, I've lost my keys.  It's time to take off to an appointment and  "Ooops, Where's my keys?"  After looking in all the common places and coming up empty,  I've stopped everything, bowed my head, and asked God to help me find my keys.  Next thing I know, I'm distracted by something.  I end up in another room.  I see something out of place and go to move it.  I open a miscellaneous drawer... whatever... there they are,  The Keys!  They're in the most unusual place.  I had forgotten I was even looking for them.  They just surfaced.

God is really good at bringing things to the light.  So once again, I'm praying for Him to bring this most important gift to the surface where I can see it.  I desperately need His help!   Please pray with me!

Looking at my Ruby Reds and believing for a miracle!
Gail

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