Day 200

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...

 "That's not enjoyable to watch!" 

 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

Day 199

It's Day 199 of  The Red Shoe Project.  I have popped on my RED sneakers, taken Pauly for his walk, and am eager to get out the door for a prayer walk, myself.  I've sidetracked a little by listening to some worship music and taking care of some important emails. But before I do one more thing,
I simply must sit down and write this piece before I lose the full impact of it.
It hit me like a 2x4 when I was walking Pauly.

God's treasures are often so far beyond 

my understanding of Goodness

that sometimes it's hard for me to grasp 

ahold of them in my mind.

(NGC772 spiral galaxy)

"Call to me 
and I will answer you 
and tell you great 
and unsearchable things 
you do not know."
Jeremiah 33:3

Yikes... I can't even believe that I'm going to attempt to to put this into a language that you can understand. It's one of those "God-things."  He brings revelation of some phenomenal concept, that I'm just barely able to grasp in my own mind, and I venture to release that verbally to you, in a way that makes sense.  This task is near impossible!  His ideas are too big to fit in my little head! So when He overlays them there for me to see, they spill over the boundaries of my mind.  No wonder I can't get them into words.

(Andromeda Galaxy)

Isaiah 55:8-9 (AMP) says...

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 

neither are your ways 

My ways, 

says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 

so are My ways higher than your ways, and 

My thoughts than your thoughts."

A dear friend recently asked God to use him.  Shortly after that prayer, an email crossed his computer for volunteers at the National Veteran's Wheelchair Games being held in Tampa.  He took that as a divine invitation and signed up.  The other night, my friend joined us in our Monday night Bible study and I asked him to give a testimony.  Oh my gosh... it wasn't seconds before he totally lost it!  Here's this BIG guy, sitting in a circle of six people, and he is sobbing, almost uncontrollably, as he shares what he describes as one of the greatest "privileges" or "honors" that he's ever been involved in. 

"But without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to Him, (in prayer), 

must believe that He exists and that He 

rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

So often our concept of  "rewards" is monetary. It's that big salary increase or winning the lottery. Have you ever received one of those invitations to a time sharing presentation?  Come out and you'll receive one of these great prizes:  A new car!  A cruise!  A dream vacation! The newest electronic device!  or even CASH!  Now, I'm not saying those things are not exciting. What I am saying is that God operates on such a different level.


Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) says...

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more

than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that

is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,

for ever and ever! Amen. "

As my friend let out a deluge of tears in his attempt to share... apparently there was no need for words, for three of the others in attendance, who also happened to be veterans, began to tear up and weep themselves.  This is not what my friend Jim refers to as "leaking,"  this was more like a broken dam.  What's really interesting, is that as I'm writing, this very moment, the heavens have suddenly opened, and from my window I am witnessing the most incredible downpour.  It appears that these sudden torrential rains are flooding my front yard.  Talk about visual effects!  Seriously... it was bright and sunny just minutes ago. 

So here's my point...

God's treasures are priceless!

Their value so far surpasses anything with a dollar sign.  Pure love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness... can't be measured in money.  Understanding God's mind, even if it's just for a moment, can't be bought.  Seeing life from His vantage point and experiencing those accompanying emotions in my little human heart... it's almost beyond human capability.  And...

Being used by God... 

in a way that no one else 

may even take notice of, 

can end up being one of the 

most profound, heartfelt, 

overwhelming events of one's life!

I'm so very thankful that my friend sacrificed his pride and shared his experience with me.  For a moment, all of us present,  received a special touch from God.  My friend may not wear RED shoes, per say, but He is pursuing the nearness of God in his own unique way.  I'm so glad his journey crossed my Yellow Brick Road.

Gail

Day 198

Today was the 198th Day of  The Red Shoe Project.  My feet have been in RED sandals all day as I've gone from one end of town to the other.  This morning I was up bright and early for "The Bonfire."   Remember yesterday's caterpillar?  Well, I posted that blog around 2 a.m. and just eight hours later, Bonnie was delivering a message that was so tightly connected with that blog it was uncanny.  Uncanny is another word for supernatural.

Bonnie and I facilitate The Bonfire together.  Truly God has given us an incredible unity with each other and Himself for this ministry.  Today's message proved that.  We tried and tried to touch base with each other yesterday.  I kept missing her and she kept missing me.  We never did get to go over the intentions of today's meeting in advance.  I wasn't able to connect with her until early this morning while in route to the meeting.  I asked her,

"Did you get a chance to read the blog I just posted?"  

Her response was negative.  

"Better take a look,"  I said,  "I posted your picture." 

She was able to take a quick look just prior to walking in the door.  It was a complete confirmation of the direction that God had given her for today.  It all came down to this... Yesterday, while I was examining that caterpillar on the blade of grass, God was speaking to Bonnie about discussing the concept of  Spiritual Transformation in her presentation to the women today.  Afterwards, several of the ladies commented that God spoke directly to them through this "caterpillar"  message.

It's the same Spirit that

speaks to Bonnie,

 that speaks to me,

that ministers to the women.  

"UNITY"  

oneness -- in one accord -- uniformity -- in agreement

Jesus said, 

"where two or three are gathered together ,

 in My Name,  I am there with them."

Matthew 18:20

Undoubtedly, great things happen when people come together, in like-mindedness, to accomplish something.  It's team work at it's best.  But even better is when people come together in one accord and submit themselves to the Holy Spirit for His will to be accomplished.  With the Holy Spirit at the helm, "All things are possible!"

I cant help but think of Acts 2:1 - 4

"For when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, 

they were all in one accord, in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,

 as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled 

the whole house where they were sitting.

Then there appeared to them divided tongues, 

as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

 and began to speak with other tongues 

as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Immediately after this occurrence, Peter, now filled with the Holy Spirit,  preached his first message.  Over 3,000 people gave their life to Christ that day!  

This is the same Peter, who witnessed the troops drawing back and falling down when 

Jesus stated, "I am He!"  

(John 18:6)   

He didn't  "get it"  at the time... 

that Jesus was God.  

He proceeded to cut off the soldier's ear and then denied Jesus three times.  But after being in one accord... after being filled with the Spirit, He "got it!"

I want to "get it" too!  

Dont' you?

If the Apostle Peter can miss it, so can any of us.

So I'm determined to stay in alignment with God, in unity with God's people, and in sync with His Spirit....

All in RED shoes, of course!

Gail

Day 197

It's  Day 197 of The Red Shoe Project.  My RED flip flops have been on and off all day, as I've gone in and out of the house, several times.  

I woke up this morning feeling kind of strange.  I wasn't sure what was up, but before I even got out of bed, 
I didn't like the way I was feeling.  
I remembered my friend Kami's perspective of the enemy in the corner proclaiming, "Oh no!  She's awake!  Let's get her before she even gets going!" 
With that in mind, I took authority and gave the enemy an earful right off the bat.
"Get out!"   I demanded from my pillow.  "You're not welcome here.  No tresspassing!  In Jesus' Name... O-U-T!"


I quickly got dressed and headed out the door to bring Pauly for a walk.  It was a delightful morning, but even still, I was uncomfortable.  I almost didn't know what to do with myself.  "What is this?"  I thought.  I called my friend, hoping we could meet.  Nope!  Not an option.  I remembered a study I did recently on encouraging oneself in the Lord.  I guess it was going to be one of those days.  But then I remembered a key point from that study:

God often uses those times 

to get me alone with Him,

 one-on-one.

My walk with Pauly had just about come to an end.  Usually he's eager to get back into the house and get some water to drink, but today he was stuck on one particular spot of grass, sniffing.  Okay... I understand that dogs love to sniff.  It's a dog-thing.  I can respect that.  But it seemed we were in one little spot a long, long time and I was getting restless.  Just then something caught my eye.  What was it?  It looked like a caterpillar of sorts.  

I looked at this big plot of land, made up of thousands upon thousands of blades of grass.  There, on one little strand, crawled a fuzzy little caterpillar.  It was bizarre.  I even turned my head a few times in the other direction to tend to Pauly, and when I turned back, there he was, still crawling on that one blade of grass.  What was so important that my eyes kept coming back and focussing on this little guy?  I couldn't believe that I kept finding him.  It was as if there was a magnifying glass right over him that made him boldly stand out.

That's when I remembered a presentation that my friend Tammy and I did a year ago on TRANSFORMATION.  I spoke to a group of business professionals about the process we go through in moving to that next level of success.  Tammy did a scientific teaching on how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.  Now that I think of it, that's where I met my friend Bonnie.  Tammy invited her to paint while she spoke.  Bonnie painted the most beautiful pic of a monarch butterfly!

In summarizing the transformational experience, I talked about how the butterfly can't continue to wear it's caterpillar coat because there's no slats for its wings.  Tammy said it would be like wearing a pair of spanx that were two sizes too small.  UNCOMFORTABLE is putting it mildly.  LOL!

As I perused over that thought in my mind, God confirmed that I was in a season of transformation and that would feel funny, maybe awkward, and certainly uncomfortable at times.  

Then He whispered to me that 

today should be a time of 

seeking Him more deeply.  

Before I got involved with anything, I was to spend time truly worshipping Him, seeking His face, looking to get into His presence.  Since I had absolutely nothing on my agenda, I could do that!

Once in the house, I got things situated so as to reduce opportunities for distraction.  I sat myself down in the living room,  popped in some ear buds, pressed on some worship music and turned my heart and focus towards God.  

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the words of each song.  After awhile,  I made the words of the songs personal.  As I sang them, I wasn't singing a mere song anymore.  I was singing the words directly to God.  My heart was all in,  backing up ever word that proceeded from my mouth.   Then that song, "Hosanna"  came on.  There was something in the middle of that song -- a phrase -- that broke open an access door to God's presence.  Hallelujah!  There I was, standing before God, worshipping beyond measure, lost in the glory! I did a little dancing.  I did a little shouting of praise!  I waved my hands in the air.  It was a wonderful morning.  

My daughter came home and fixed lunch. She asked me to join her so I did.  We cleaned up afterwards and she was out the door, once again, off to the gym to work out.  I thought about throwing on some gym clothes and working out myself, but no... something inside me beckoned me to worship some more.  More?  I'd already spent a few hours worshipping Him.  Even so, maybe I wouldn't work out today.  I could do that another time.  

I sat down by my computer, turned on some worship music and started in on some Bible research.  It wasn't long before that music created a tugging on my heart that was almost unbearable... so I stopped what I was doing.   I turned up the music, closed my eyes and entered in.  Almost instantaneously I was swept away.  The Holy Spirit took over.  I found myself praying in the Spirit.  I slipped down off my chair and onto my knees.   I cried.  I groaned. I bowed down before the Lord.  It got a little intense there for a while.   I thought I might give spiritual birth to something right there and then.  WOW!

Suddenly, it got real quiet.  The Lord showed me some things and whispered secrets into my heart.  Sorry, I can't quite put those secrets into words just yet. They are prophetic wishes I'm not at liberty to share at this time.  It doesn't really matter -- they wouldn't mean much to you -- because they were meant for me, alone.

That's okay because your time will come when He has something just for you.  We all have a time.  Ecclesiastes 3:1 says...

"There is a time for everything, 

and a season for every activity 

under the heavens..."

So just how did I get there?   Here's some thoughts:

• I removed the distractions.
• I wasn't on a time clock.
• I pressed in and waited.
• I threw my heart into it.
• When I got there,  I let go.
• And when it was over, I came back for more.

It's late now.  My RED flip flops have been kicked into the corner of the room. Pauly's gone for his evening walk. 

I've put the trash out for the trash collection in the morning.  

I've even finished my blog early.  

I think -- just for the fun of it -- I will 

play those songs one more time.  

Just a little more, Lord?   

What harm is there in that?  

Maybe there an encore waiting for me.  

Gail