Today is Day 200 of The Red Shoe Project. I started off the day in my RED sneakers, prayer walking three miles. I'm starting to think of this time as my daily meeting with the CEO. Only thing is... He's my dad, (Father God), so it's not overly formal. LOL. We had a good chat today and discussed a variety of things. There was one thing in particular that we talked about that I found very intriguing. It has to do with how I perceive people.Often when I look at someone, I take into account the whole package... the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now I'm an optimist, so I will be the first to admit, I tend to view things more like: the good, the not so good, and the "outstanding" things that I don't really want to comment on! LOL. I try to stay positive but, don't be fooled, there's not much that gets by me. I usually bring those "outstanding" things to God and ask Him what He thinks.
Today, however, God wanted me to see that sometimes it's not about the whole package.
Sometimes there's ONE particular thing
that a person brings to the table that
God wants me to take home.
On occasion, God will bring someone into my life for a very specific purpose. Sometimes I get caught up in the details of that person. Maybe they talk too much. Maybe they're too loud. Maybe they're too spiritual or not spiritual enough. Maybe they're a little rough around the edges. Maybe there's a quirkiness about them that bothers me or makes me a little uncomfortable. I could tend to just sigh and say "Forget the whole thing!" and write off the whole meeting.
But I can hear God say, "No! Don't do that! Don't miss what I've got for you here! All that other stuff isn't important! Push it aside and just focus on what is!"
It's kind of like the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." An old friend of mine always says it this way, "You've got to learn to eat the meat, and spit out the bones." I guess that all comes down to the same thing: Don't get rid of everything, just because part of it isn't any good. "Keep what's good and get rid of the rest."
I popped on my RED dress shoes and headed out the door for dinner with my girlfriends. We had a stop to make first at someone's house. While there, I met a few people that I didn't know. They were very nice, but the mix of people and their personalities was a bit overwhelming for me. When I finally got home tonight, I felt like I'd been in a whirlwind. I was totally depleted!
I sat down and re-read my blog which was waiting to be posted. It was just what I needed. I didn't realize that God was going to give me a true-to-life experience before the day was over. Even better... I'm realizing that God knew exactly where I was headed for the evening, long before it happened, and had me write down His thoughts on the matter, before I even left the house. How awesome is that?
I've kicked off those RED dress shoes, walked Pauly and now I'm ready for bed. I've "kept the baby" -- "spit out the bones"-- and have asked God to highlight what my "take home" was from this evening's adventure. There were actually a few things. One: I met a few new people, that may end up becoming good friends. Who knows? Two: It was a good night out with the girls. One person in particular really needed the fellowship and I was glad to be part of that special time for her. I know there were other take-aways as well, but something in particular was shared in conversation that really enlightened me. It's so good, I'll dish it out to you in my own words.
"When I'm in a hurry with life, God tells me He's not in a hurry to go anywhere. Where's He going to go? He's everywhere all the time. LOL. He's not in a rush, and He'd really like me to slow down. He wants me to take one thing at a time and not be in such a rush all the time to get to the next thing. It's like kids on Christmas morning seeing all the presents under the tree and just ravishing the gifts, ripping off the wrapping paper, barely looking at what's inside and rushing to rip open the next one and the next.
The Father says...
He wants to sit back, relax and enjoy watching me open each gift. He wants me to delight in the colorful wrapping paper, the bows and the ribbons. He wants me to see the cute card that was picked especially for me. He wants to see the look on my face when I finally open up the gift and see what's inside.
He wants me to take it out of the box, figure out how it works and experience it fully. He wants to see my reaction.
He wants to see me laugh.
He wants to see me smile.
And then... maybe it's time to go back to the tree and find the next gift.
There's no rush!
He's not going anywhere!
Either am I for that matter."
Isn't this story insightful? To me, it's a golden nugget! I do believe I was able to push aside the things that didn't really matter and find the heart of God.
Until tomorrow,
Gail
I popped on my RED dress shoes and headed out the door for dinner with my girlfriends. We had a stop to make first at someone's house. While there, I met a few people that I didn't know. They were very nice, but the mix of people and their personalities was a bit overwhelming for me. When I finally got home tonight, I felt like I'd been in a whirlwind. I was totally depleted!
I sat down and re-read my blog which was waiting to be posted. It was just what I needed. I didn't realize that God was going to give me a true-to-life experience before the day was over. Even better... I'm realizing that God knew exactly where I was headed for the evening, long before it happened, and had me write down His thoughts on the matter, before I even left the house. How awesome is that?
I've kicked off those RED dress shoes, walked Pauly and now I'm ready for bed. I've "kept the baby" -- "spit out the bones"-- and have asked God to highlight what my "take home" was from this evening's adventure. There were actually a few things. One: I met a few new people, that may end up becoming good friends. Who knows? Two: It was a good night out with the girls. One person in particular really needed the fellowship and I was glad to be part of that special time for her. I know there were other take-aways as well, but something in particular was shared in conversation that really enlightened me. It's so good, I'll dish it out to you in my own words.
"When I'm in a hurry with life, God tells me He's not in a hurry to go anywhere. Where's He going to go? He's everywhere all the time. LOL. He's not in a rush, and He'd really like me to slow down. He wants me to take one thing at a time and not be in such a rush all the time to get to the next thing. It's like kids on Christmas morning seeing all the presents under the tree and just ravishing the gifts, ripping off the wrapping paper, barely looking at what's inside and rushing to rip open the next one and the next.
The Father says...
"That's not enjoyable to watch!"
He wants to see me laugh.
He wants to see me smile.
And then... maybe it's time to go back to the tree and find the next gift.
There's no rush!
He's not going anywhere!
Either am I for that matter."
Isn't this story insightful? To me, it's a golden nugget! I do believe I was able to push aside the things that didn't really matter and find the heart of God.
Until tomorrow,
Gail
