Day 351

It's Day 351 of  The Red Shoe Project and we are a week away from Christmas eve.  I've noticed that more and more people wear RED during the holiday season and that, of course, includes...

RED shoes!

Today we had a Christmas party following

The Bonfire, so I wore my party shoes:

 RED patent leather pumps.

Perfect for the occasion! 

Last week, two of my dearest friends moved into a new home.  I stopped by for a quick visit and ended up staying for hours.  Most of their furniture wasn't even moved in yet.  They had a little make shift table set up in the kitchen with a couple of folding chairs to hold them over until the movers came with all their stuff.  We sat their drinking tea, nibbling on goodies, and sharing the goodness of God.

Before leaving, we all gathered around in a circle, held hands and had a wonderful time of prayer in which I proclaimed prosperity over them.  God spoke a powerful prophetic word regarding Divine Abundance in their lives.  As I prepared to leave, my dear sister acknowledged the prophetic Word spoken and received it.   Apparently she had recently attended a SOZO meeting and The Holy Spirit told her that God was going to give her a Golden Pear which symbolizes prosperity.

As I drove away that evening, God had a little chat with me in the car.  "You know that Golden Pear you have hanging on your Christmas tree?  You should give it to Carolyn."   I responded with great enthusiasm, "What an awesome idea, Lord!"

You see... I have had this golden pear ornament for well over a decade.  As lovely as it is, it has never quite fit with the decor of my tree.  Every year when I pull it out of the ornament box, I always think to myself, "What am I going to do with this pear?  Hmmmmm.   Oh well, I'll just hang it over here!"  In fact, I said those exact words just a couple of weeks ago -- apparently for the last time.  LOL.

Right before running out the door this morning in my RED shoes,  I noticed  "The Pear"  hanging on the tree.  I gently took it down, wrapped it in Christmas tissue paper and
popped it in a gift bag.  When Carolyn showed up at The Bonfire,  I smiled and said,
"Make sure you see me before you leave today.  I have something for you in my car!"


When the party ended, Carolyn and I walked out to the car together.  She was all smiles when I told her I had a gift for her.  "Okay... don't get too excited,"  I said.  "It's not anything new and it's not anything big,  but it has your name on it.  God wants you to have it."

When she unwrapped "The Golden Pear,"   I thought she was going to fall to the ground.  Her eyes immediately flooded with tears.  She could barely speak.  It's funny how that happens when God gifts something to you, personally.  I mean really --  this  Golden Pear is not anything special to look at.  You could probably buy one for a few dollars.  To be honest,  this one is so old -- the only place you'd be able to get another one like it would be in a yard sale or in Grandmother's attic.

But because it was so personal, none of that mattered to my sweet sister.  The moment she laid her eyes on it, something struck her at the core of her soul.  It was a true gift from God and with it came the fulfillment of an intimate secret between the two of them.  God had told her that He would give her a Golden Pear and there it was!

My sister probably already has that Golden Pear hanging in a special place in her new home.  To her, it is priceless!  Talk about simplicity!   God -- You're wrecking me, once again!

In RED shoes, 

Gail

Day 350

A key component of  The Red Shoe Project  is fasting.  Today is Day 350.  As I slipped on my RED flats and headed out the door with my daughter, I was hit head-on with the realization that my fasting has been about so much more than food!

A good friend of mine, Kelly Parr, is an expert when it comes to fasting and healthy eating.  She has studied and practiced these disciplines for years.  She understands all the details regarding the proper way to fast.  For example, she would tell you that there is a weaning on and a weaning off process before and after the fast itself.  Not to mention she could tell you exactly how to do that correctly.

Today my daughter asked me to go with her to the local shopping mall.  She had a couple errands she needed to do and preferred not to go alone.  At first I said no, but then, after thinking about it, it seemed like such a small request.  She rarely asks me to help her out with things like that and besides it would get me out of the house for a while.

Off we went in the car.  Oh my gosh... I had no idea what I was getting into.  A week before Christmas -- Jammed parking lots -- Shopping at the mall --  What was I thinking?  The good news is that the stores were actually pretty empty.  I was surprised.  But even still, I think I've been at the mall once this entire year.  Shopping is one of the things I've been fasting.

That might sound silly to you, but shopping takes time, focus and money.  We all know that it's not that difficult to spend an entire afternoon at the mall, trying on all the latest fashions and spending all sorts of  money.  Yeah... that hasn't been on my agenda this year.  The one time I did go to the mall was to help a friend find a couple pairs of pants she needed.  We were in and out within an hour.  To be honest, I haven't really had the money to shop and my time and energy has been on getting to know the Lord better through His Word and prayer.

Today's onslaught of commercialism, holiday advertising and special pricing was a bit of an avalanche!  Oh my gosh!  Suddenly I felt quite overwhelmed with Christmas.  It was like a sugar-rush!  With each store, I could sense the attack on my spirit by the enemy's holiday propaganda.  What happened to my peace?  Suddenly I felt naked, as if someone had stripped me of the contentment of Christmas.

Okay, so perhaps I am exaggerating slightly.  I'm sure it just seemed a bit much to me personally, considering my focus on this Red Shoe Project of mine.  But I realized something:

 As I've been looking for Christ 

each day for 350 days now, 

I've been living Christmas all year long.  

In contrast to that, the mall seemed 

empty of the Peace,  Joy and Cheer 

that Christ brings me each day!

There is an upside however.  As we headed home, my daughter said she had a surprise for me.  She turned on the radio station that was playing Christmas music and drove me around the neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights.  "Ahhhhh... look at that one!"  "Oooooooo, I like those lights!"  "How pretty is that -- Look there!"  What fun we had together!  I was refilled with joy by the time we pulled into our driveway!

Now I'm exhausted, in RED shoes, and hunkering down for the night!
Gail

Day 349

It's Day 349 of  The Red Shoe Project and I wore my brightest, sparkliest, RED shoes as I headed out the door for church!  It's the sabbath, so I won't be saying a lot today --  I will be resting.  But I am compelled to share at least one testimony about seeing God today.

He's everywhere!  

Have you noticed?  

I  was running a little late for church this morning.  When I arrived, the service had already begun.  The worship at Suncoast is much like a concert,  thereby the lights were dimmed significantly in the sanctuary. 

When I attend the Sunday morning service here, I always sit with my friends on the far left side, five or six rows back from the front.  Today, however, they weren't there.  I took a seat by myself, only to notice that they were sitting right up in the front row.  I picked up my stuff and moved forward to join them.

We didn't say a word to each other until the service was over.  The lights came up and Wendy threw her arms around my neck.  "I've been reading your blog everyday," she said with a sniffle.  "I just want you to know that God has had you on my heart and mind for several days now!  I'm praying for you.  You inspire me!"  

What happened next was extraordinary!  I could feel that coat of protection, over my heart, melting.  It was dissolving in God's presence.  You know... I was thinking my heart was pretty soft these days.  I didn't think I had put up any walls.  I didn't think that, until I felt the walls coming down.  

Down.  Down.  Down.

With each tear she shed,

more of my heart opened up 

to receive God's love.

Oh my gosh!  The water faucets of my eyes started gushing tears.  "Wendy!"  

I shouted.  "You're wrecking me!"  She just hugged me tighter and we had a good cry together.  I so love that girl!  She is so sensitive, and today God anointed her tears to touch my heart in such a powerful way!

It was all good!  Are you kidding me?  I'll take that kind of wrecking any day.  God is continually at work -- stripping away everything that gets in the way of my sensing His presence.  I'm okay with that, because I don't want a hardened heart.  I want a soft, supple heart that can feel what God feels.  Watch out!  All sorts of things will harden one's heart.

Just walking out the front door each day -   

Turning on the television set, 

Reading the newspaper, or Scrolling through facebook -

Life in general --  will harden your heart. 

 It will desensitize you to the 

POWER and PRESENCE of GOD!  

We need more Wendys to channel God's love through their hugs, tears and loving words.  Their actions  bring balance to all the obstruction the world dumps on us daily.  I'm so glad God put Wendy in my path today!  I needed and received everything God gave me through her.  What's so remarkable is that she didn't even know that God was using her!   Thank you Lord! 

In RED shoes, 

Gail 

Day 348

Today is Day 348 of  The Red Shoe Project.  From the moment I woke up and put on my RED shoes, there has been an anticipation in my spirit.  I couldn't wait for tonight to arrive!  That's because I would be celebrating one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Traditions are something that we do year after year after year.  If we don't, things aren't quite the same.  In fact, that's why we do them, because the one time we didn't, we regretted it.  We felt like we missed out!  So we made it a point to return to that practice the next year, and we've been doing it ever since.

Tonight I attended the annual performance of: 

"This is Christmas"

with The Ditchfield Family Singers 

at the Sarasota Opera House.

I've been attending this event for years, but this had to be the most outstanding of them all.  It was AWESOME!  Incase you've never seen them, they are the epitome of Christmas cheer.  Stephen and Bernice -- better known as "Mom & Dad" -- and their three sons (Nathaniel, Michael and David), one daughter, Stephanie, and two daughters-in-law, Gina and Taylor, make up this fabulous singing group.  

You know, you can't really call them a singing group.  They are so much more than that!  Every Christmas, they administer the most amazing performance of Christmas music to hearts that are thirsty for true seasonal bliss.  The favor and anointing of God rests upon them, as the Holy Spirit  moves throughout the audience touching people's spirits with the pure message of Christmas.  

But that's not all, there are grandchildren now that are singing as well.  Four boys in all.  WOW!  What performances they gave.  This really put it over the top for me.  That's because I've seen them grow from babies to teenagers over the years.  The audience loved it too!  I'm not the only one that returns year after year.  So does everybody else.  It's like a family gathering.  You would have thought those boys were all of our nephews.  How thrilling it was to see the gift of music being passed down to the next generation.

My dear friend Christin Ditchfield, (well-known author, conference speaker, and radio personality), continued her place in the family as the evening's Master of Ceremonies.  She doesn't sing... but that doesn't mean she doesn't have a voice.  At this traditional event, she opens the door and invites the audience into her family's living room per say.  As she speaks from her heart, she welcomes you in -- front and center -- to enjoy all that's being served.  And what a meal it was -- soup to nuts!

Although it is difficult to say what I enjoyed the most,  (because its all so good), my absolute favorite is the same year after year.  It's when Stephen and his daughter-in-law, Gina sing "THE PRAYER!"  I don't know what happens during that song.  It's as if the Holy Spirit just blows away anything that is hindering true Christmas spirit in my heart!  Yup... It's Powerful!  I'm unable to say anything but "Bravo!" when it's over.  

I've kicked off my heels and I'm off to put on my jammies and relax a bit before retiring for the night.  Perhaps sugar plums will be dancing in my dreams tonight.  Anything is possible after all that!

Be blessed this Christmas Season and wear your RED shoes whenever possible.  God is everywhere to be found!

Love to all!

Gail