Day 209

Day 209 of  The Red Shoe Project may consist of twenty-four hours, but almost an hour of that time went missing during my prayer walk today  in RED sneakers. 

With two thirds of my walk completed,  I turned the corner and came upon the property with the big pink house.  The house was recently picked up off it's foundation and moved  way over to the back corner of the property where it now rests on stilts. The land around it has been completely leveled.  The beautiful garden that I used to sit in to pray is a total, abandoned mess.  The brick pathway that ran through it has been torn out.  The greenery and flowers are overgrown, dried out, plucked out, and stepped on.  

There used to be a pump in the middle of the garden that took  away any excess water during heavy rain storms.  It's gone now.  A few weeks ago I stopped by to take a look and the whole garden was like a big mud puddle.  Today, the puddle was gone, it's all dried up and the earth is like hardened clay. 

No matter!  This garden is where the Spirit of God dwells.  To me, that means it is an altar to God.  There have been no demolition crews or workers here for months now and there's no fence around the property.  Sorry!  I couldn't resist.  God only knows how much longer I'll be able to do this.  I side-tracked from my walk and headed down the stone driveway to what remains of the garden.  


It was early afternoon and the sun was beating down on that desolate property. Fortunately the forsaken garden was still home to a tree that provided me a little shade.  I stood in the middle and did a full circle.  What a mess -- the dried up garden... the plowed up property... the overgrown grass, the house held up on stilts.


I just wanted to cry!  It reminded me of the story of Elijah at the Brook Cherith. That was the place where the ravens fed him during the drought.  But one day... the brook dried up!
(1 Kings 17:7)

What was I doing here?  "Speak to me Lord!  One more time in this place, I ask that you speak to me!"  



I closed my eyes and shut out the scenic mess all around me.  A cool breeze blew through the garden as I felt His Spirit rumble inside me.  At first all sorts of random things were popping in my mind.  "What if someone saw me on the property? - especially praying  -- what would they think?"  I could be mistaken for a crazy person.  LOL.  Then I thought,  "Come on!  Who cares!"  

I kept pushing through the ideas and pictures popping into my mind.  "Okay Gail... Focus!" 
As I attempted to push aside the collage of craziness in my head, I asked the Holy Spirit to tell me who to pray for.  At first I had nothing, so I waited.  I continued to focus.  "Lord, show me who you want me to pray for."  Then a picture of someone popped into my mind.  I went to prayer on their behalf.  Another face followed and another and another.  One by one I lifted each person up before the Lord.  I asked God to give favor, to bless, to have His way, to heal and to meet specific needs.

The names and faces in God's prayer line flowed continuously for some time and then suddenly... they just stopped.  My prayer feeder was empty.   Just like that!  Nothing.  All done.  I opened my eyes.  Yikes!  There I was sitting on a stone chair at the edge of the old garden.  My hands were lifted up and the Peace of God rested upon me.  How glorious!  I just love that.  Oh.... it looks crazy!  But I love it all the same.  I thanked the Lord, and moved along.  The prayer party was over -- at least for now.

I smiled and sang a happy tune to myself as I walked that last mile home.  It was a good day... a RED shoe day,
and it had just begun.

Gail