Day 68

Day 68 of The Red Shoe Project has been set aside as a Day of REST.  No RED shoes today as I putter around the house, doing nothing!  LOL. That's pretty funny because I find it almost impossible to do just that... nothing.  Have you ever tried it?  What's the secret to success for that?  You wouldn't think it would be so difficult.

Have you ever noticed that when your "day off" finally rolls around, there's still plenty to do... just not at the office?  Clean the house.  Do the laundry.  Shop for groceries.  Give the dog a bath.  Pick up the dry cleaning.  (Deep sigh!)  It's an endless list.

I confess, I didn't quite get it right today.  I did give the dog a bath.  I did several loads of laundry.  I mopped the floor.  I cooked.  And I puttered around a lot in between those things.

But, even still, I keep hearing His voice whisper to me, "Don't do anything!  Just rest."

There have been times that I thought plopping down in from of the television would bring rest... but that's not the kind of rest I'm looking for today.  TV wont replenish my soul.

So I've listened to some soft music.
I've prayed with a friend.
And now I'm off to bed early to curl up with The Good Book.

Tomorrow will be here, soon enough, and the RED shoes will be back on!

Gail

Day 67

Day 67 of  The Red Shoe Project  found me wearing RED shoes and celebrating the fact that two of my guy friends are joining with me on this daily "Looking for God" venture.  Although RED SHOES are really NOT their thing, both have found value in the idea of having a standout, in-your-face, visual reminder to look for God.  

Jim has been sporting a men's scripture bracelet, almost from Day 1, along with keeping up with the daily blog postings!  Kris, on the other hand,  just told me last week that he was looking for something to help him be more aware of this God that he can't see or touch.  Today he told me that his father had just passed a family heirloom along to him.  It's a men's ring hosting a big purple gem.  Kris isn't one to really wear jewelry, let alone a  ring, with a huge purple  stone, no less. Yes, I said purple! But that's perfect.  It sticks out like a sore thumb... and that's just what this Red Shoe Project is all about.  After all, if your "shoes" blend in... well, that really doesn't work, does it?
THANK YOU GUYS for traveling this Yellow Brick Road with me!

Recently I was talking about The Fruit of the Spirit and how that attracts people to consider Christ.  Galatians 5:22 lists the true Fruit of the Spirit as...

Love,   Joy,  Peace,  Patience,  Kindness,  Goodness, 

     Faithfulness,  Gentleness  and Self-control.

The Source of these fruits is GOD. We know that  because they are fruits of the "Spirit" which is a reference to The Holy Spirit,  and He is GOD.

Today, I couldn't stop thinking about the idea of "Faux Fruit."  Faux is a french word that means "false."  You've heard of "Faux Fur?"  That's a fancy term for "Fake Fur."  Generations ago, women of wealth were often found wearing beautiful fur coats.  Somewhere in the late 80s or so, factions spoke out against the use of real fur for clothing when technology could easily produce synthetic variants.  Now a days, far fewer woman are wearing "the real thing!"

So what might "Faux Fruit" be?  It is the false or fake version of God's original.  Take LOVE, for example.  The Bible tells us that LOVE is from God.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. 

 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

 I John 4:7, 8   

So if the LOVE one is considering doesn't have anything to do with God... if the people involved aren't  born of God... if they don't know God... Sorry to say this, but according to the Bible,  it's an imitation.  It may look like love.  It may have a lot of the same features.  Some offerings of it may be higher in quality and some may be cheap imitations.  But take a look at the label.  Is it real?  Does it meet the criteria that it takes to be called Original?

I know that this is one of those things that people don't like to talk about.  Why?  Because some don't want to pay the price for the real deal.  It's costly.

 Everyone wants LOVE in the purest sense, 

but not everyone wants God.  

So some settle for what else is available... they settle for Faux.  Sometimes people don't want to wait for the real thing... they want it now! so they settle for Faux.  Some even feel that they are not worthy of the real thing, so they settle for Faux.

To "settle" for something means to accept or agree to 

something that is considered less than satisfactory.

Can you think of a time in your life in which you have "settled for faux?"  Why?  Why did you settle?

For those of you who just straight out don't want God, I can't help you.  But for those who are willing to "consider Christ,"  know this...  Christ paid the price for you when he hung on the cross.  He died that you might experience
The Real Thing.  The Original.  The Highest Quality.  -- Not just of LOVE, but of all the fruits:  

Love,   Joy,  Peace,  Patience, Kindness,  

Goodness, Faithfulness,  Gentleness  and Self-control

My Ruby Slippers may be Faux, but there's one thing I know for sure,
my God is real!

Gail

Day 66

It's Day 66 of  The Red Shoe Project.  As I run around town doing errands, I'm wearing the cutest little pair of RED vintage sneakers that my daughter gave me. People seem to love contributing to my RED shoe wardrobe.  Hey, if they fit, I wear them.  BUT even more wonderful to me, is when they wear their RED shoes along with me and share what God is doing in their lives!

As I meet and talk with different people about  The Red Shoe Project, many tell me that the world can be a difficult place to live in these days.  It has it's challenges to say the least.  Darkness is often lurking around the corner. Disappointment and despair are abundant.  Emptiness fills many a soul.


Yet, people are searching...  yes searching for answers.  They are looking for "The Good" in life.  They are starving for things like:  Love,  Joy,  Peace, Patience,  Kindness  Goodness,  Faithfulness,  Gentleness and  Self-Control.    Do such things even exist?   Where are they?  Galatians 5:22  refers to these good things as "The Fruits of the Spirit" and they are found in people who are divinely connected with Christ.

The difficulty is sometimes found in getting people to "consider Christ"... to just look in His direction... to open the Bible and see for themselves.  That opportunity is rarely offered these days in a safe and inviting manner.  So they try everything else that is being offered, first.  I know that all to well because that's what I did.

I still remember the day that someone challenged me to give God a chance in my life.  He asked me if I was willing to give myself 100% to God and see what happened.  I thought to myself, "100%?  That's serious!" Then this little voice in my head said, "What have you got to lose? You've tried everything else.  Why not give God a chance?  Go on... Go for it!"

With that, I said, YES and asked God  to show Himself to me,  and to lead and guide me through life!"

God stepped right up to the plate and took me up on it!  He showed me He was real. And He woo-ed me into an awesome relationship with Himself...  A Divine Partnership that is about to hit the thirty year mark.  That's right, thirty years!  Mind you, "The back door" was always there to walk out of if things didn't pan out... if this "God thing" wasn't all it was made out to be. But no... I've never had a reason, to leave.  I've never even gotten close to that back door. He has proved Himself to me, over and over again.

You know how I even got to that point?  I saw FRUIT in someone's life.  When I went to work out at the gym,  I saw a glow and a joy on an aerobic instructor's face that I couldn't quite shake.  It was so different.  She had something that I didn't... and I wanted it!  I wanted to be around her.  I wanted to figure out what "that glow thing" was all about!

Her name was Cindy.  She brought me to a birthday party and introduced me to some friends. I immediately noticed that they all had that glow too!  They were all so nice.  The next day, I made it a point to go to church with one of them.  At the end of the service, a man asked me if I was a Christian.  My response was...

"Well, yeah... kind of...  sort of... well, maybe,  I'm not so sure."

Of course my mother had always told me that I was a Christian.  But I had a feeling that what this guy was really asking me was  "Am I like THESE Christians? "... and well,  No... I wasn't.  I didn't have that thing... that glow... that joy... that peace that they all seemed to overflow with.  

Well, the rest of the story you know.

So what about you?  

Are you a Christian?  

Maybe it's time to pop on some
Ruby Slippers of your own and consider Christ? ...look in His direction?  ...open the Bible and search for yourself?  Give God a chance?  Ask Him to show Himself to you?

I'm here if you have questions.

Gail

Day 65

Day 65 of The Red Shoe Project finds me in St. Pete, FL bundled up in my warm RED socks, looking at a beautiful view of the beach and surrounding area. From the 10th floor condo, where I'm visiting my sister, it's a beautiful sight.

The weather was cool today for Florida, mid 60s, but the sun has now set, the temperature is dropping significantly, and the wind is howling like a mad man!!!  Somehow that has got me thinking about the "wrath of God."  YIKES!!!  I have to be honest with you, as a Child of the King,  I don't often think about God's wrath.  Personally, I don't want to see Daddy get mad.



As a kid growing up in Arlington Massachusetts, I was the same way with my natural dad.  I can remember a time when I was about eleven.  I must have done something wrong that day, because  (1) I was hiding upstairs in my bedroom,  (as opposed to mingling downstairs with the family),  and (2) my dad called for me to come down... he wanted to talk to me.  I wasn't even half way down the staircase, and the tears were flowing.  I remember my dad saying to me...

 "Why are you crying?  I haven't even said anything yet?"

My dad was not a man to ever yell or get out of control.  And with three women in the house, he was definitely the King of the Castle.

 I was crying because I knew I had disappointed him. I never wanted to disappoint my dad.  He loved me and I loved him.  In fact, he didn't just love me, he totally delighted in me.  It was a good thing to be around my dad.

With God the Father, I 'm exactly the same way... I love to be around him!  And I don't want to see Him upset, (at least not with me),   not because I'm afraid of Him... but because I love him!  So you can understand my surprise in recently having met with several people who were taught that God demands perfection and if you fall short, you are going to hell! Case closed!

Really?  Well, let's re-open the case.  I find it sad that so many people have discontinued their search for God and taken the nearest exit to The World because of unbalanced, erroneous teaching engulfed in religiosity.  "Religiosity" is when it's all about the rules, period!  The result of that is a haunting and dreadful fear of God.

Don't get me wrong.... God is All-Powerful... Great & Mighty... The King of Kings and Lord of Lords! I wouldn't want to fall onto His bad side. With His breath, He could easily blow out an entire country! But God is also The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace,  The Wonderful Counselor, The Friend that sticks closer than a brother.  His name is Faithful and True!   Did someone forget to mention that?

So what I'm loving these days is the opportunity to talk with people about the Fullness of God and ALL that He has to offer us... To show them the loving side of God that somehow got overlooked or left out...  To help them search the scriptures to see for themselves who God really is...  To better decipher what's true and what's false...  And to usher them towards the opportunity for a Divine Connection of their own... A Relationship with God, not a Religion!

Red shoes and all,
I'm taking a stand on that!
Gail