Day 360

It's the day after Christmas -- Day 360 of  The Red Shoe Project.   The house is quiet as I putter around in my RED socks.  All the hoopla, festivities and Christmas singing is over for another year.  Let me just say...
"I love it all!"   I hope all of you, dear Rubies, had a wonderful day with family, friends and of course, the Lord!


I don't know about you, but I don't
 start packing up all the Christmas decorations until after January 1st.
The house is so pretty at this time of year.  Between all the ribbons, bows, ornaments, cards and  stockings, the atmosphere is filled with a sense of Divine Anticipation.

It seems that  "Anything is Possible!"   

I like to let that thought linger as long as as I can.

Today my daughter headed out to visit with some friends for a few days.  I have the house to myself.  At first I was a little nervous.  "What am I going to do with myself ?"   Jordan and Pauly are in Jersey.  My son, Joe, is in Colorado.  And now Gracie is in Orlando.  Then it dawned on me...

 I've got three whole days 

of just Me and The Lord! 

What final work does He want to accomplish in my life these last few days of the year?  I'm not sure if I should shout "Hooray!" or  "Oh no!"  LOL!  We could be having a praise party, or the Lord could be performing some heavy duty heart surgery on me.  What's it going to be?  Maybe a little bit of both?

I met with my spiritual mentor today.  I told her that I was feeling quite vulnerable.  With all the  cleaning I've been doing in obedience to God, it's like I have no past.  When I look over my shoulder, there's nothing there.  There's nothing to hold onto.  It's a little scary.  I feel like everything behind me has vanished.  POOF!

It's only scary because the safety harness has been removed.  I was accustomed to having all sorts of  "stuff"  in my life --  ideas,  memories,  ways of doing things,  traditions to fall back on.  In reality, most of that was unprofitable.  It didn't work in the past,  so why would I think it would work in the future?   It was just taking up space in my life.

 Sometimes  "stuff"  makes us feel safe,

 but that doesn't mean we are safe.  

It can be an illusion.
(Kind of like a parachute that 
doesn't open when you jump!)

Someone once told me that when they were really little their mother put a safety harness on them and tied one end of it to a tree in the back yard.  I know that sounds kind of harsh, but in the old days, no one batted an eye at such a thing.  I suppose it seemed a rather good solution to keep a small child from falling into the pool or from running out of the yard and into the street.

Today I happened to come across a picture on the internet of a pregnant woman strapped into her car with a rather elaborate seatbelt.  Surely it was to protect her and the baby in case of an accident.  Yeah... she wouldn't be going anywhere.  She looked immovable!  I guess what I'm realizing is that while harnesses may provide protection, they can also be rather restrictive.  Hmmmm.  Just something to think about.

Truth be told, as I fly into the New Year without my old safety harness, I'm either going to fly or I'm going to fall flat on my face.  You can't talk about flying all the time and then never actually do it!  I've been flying all year.  You have been my witness that God has been with me every step of the way.  I have no doubts that He will continue to be with me from here on out as well.

He will be my safety harness.

Him - alone!

That's the next step for me!

I will trust in Him, His Word, and His voice. 

 I'll listen and I'll obey.  

For the first time, in who knows how long, I will be soaring without all that baggage!  What a difference that ought to make!  Sounds exhilarating!

In RED shoes, 
Gail

Day 359

Day 359 of  The Red Shoe Project just happens to be Christmas day.  How wonderful!  It doesn't matter how old I get, I love waking up on Christmas morning.  There's a unique anticipation and excitement in the air that's like no other day.  This day, my feet were sticking out of the covers, clad in RED socks, of course.

When I first opened my eyes this morning, there it was...
the "BELIEVE" sign.  God's voice is always so clear when I first wake up and today, of all days, He whispered, "When did you stop believing?"  Was God rebuking me?  Ever so nicely, I must say, but a bit of a rebuke all the same.

"What?" I responded.

"When did you stop believing the promises I've spoken to you?  Last week you were all excited in your prayers, professing and believing all that is to come.  Today, you've shelved some of those promises.  Why is that?"

"Ummmm... I guess it's because I don't see any evidence of them." 
I retorted rather sheepishly.

"So what?  You just give up because they haven't come to pass yet?"

"Oooops!"

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not yet seen."

Hebrews 11:1

The other day, I was flipping through the t.v. channels and came across a newer release of "Peter Pan."  In one of the scenes,  Tinkerbell is mischievously flying all over the place creating havoc.   For some reason, that reminded me of a much older version in which Tinkerbell is dying and Peter Pan tells the audience that if they would believe, Tinkerbell would come back to life.
"If you believe,"  he said,  "Clap your hands as loud as you can!  Louder!  Louder!  That's it!"   So now I'm wondering...

Have I killed Tinkerbell with my unbelief?  

LOL.  Well... you know what I mean.  There's just no way to make it sound pretty.  Unbelief kills promises.

"For without faith it is impossible to please Him..."

Hebrews 11:6

Last night, I actually attended two Christmas eve services.  One was at my church and one was an outreach in the park, downtown.  Both events included candle-lighting.  In a candle-lighting service, the minister takes his candle and lights the candles of a few of his leaders.   They, in turn, go out into the congregation and light the candles of those around them.  Before you know it, everyone is lighting the candle of the person beside them.  Within seconds, everyone's candle is lit.  It's absolutely beautiful, and so inspiring!

At the service in the park, however, there was a cool breeze that unexpectedly snuffed out several of the candles, including my own.  No worries, the person beside me leaned over and re-lit my candle.  All was well!  I didn't have any problems after that.  It stayed lit for the remainder of the service.  I was even able to relight someone else's candle that had gone out.

I bet I can use that same process in regards to my forgotten promises.  With God's early morning rebuke to BELIEVE,  I have decided to  re-ignite my faith for those things that I erroneously pushed aside.  I'm putting those lost prayers back into my feed and processing them, once again, in my prayer closet.  I do believe it's all good!

What about you?  Are there promises and prayers, hopes and dreams that you have forgotten about merely because you haven't seen them come to pass yet?  Perhaps this is the sign you've been waiting for that there's still HOPE.   Why not put them back on your prayer list today?  

"May the God of hope fill you 

with all joy and peace in believing,

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit

you may abound in hope."

Romans 15:13

In RED shoes, 
Gail

Day 358

Day 358 of  The Red Shoe Project just happens to be Christmas eve.  Some days never turn out as you expect them to, -- RED shoes or not!  Today was one of those days.  I awoke at 9 a.m.  to a text message from my dearest friend.  She had taken her husband -- who was experiencing severe chest pains --  to the emergency room at 3 a.m. and was now waiting to talk to the doctors.  Within minutes, people were lifting up prayers to the Lord.  With that, the peace of God fell upon her and by early evening, her and her husband were on their way home for Christmas with a prescription for a change of diet.  That was such an answer to prayer!  Thank you Jesus!

Late in the afternoon, I joined my friend at the hospital and we had a bite to eat together.  By that time, the scare was over.  God has shown Himself faithful.  She was grateful knowing that within hours they would be home resting this Christmas eve.  As we sat there in the little cafe drinking ice tea and munching on our veggie sandwiches, I realized how blessed I was to have such a great friend.  I was glad to be there with her.  As we talked about the Lord and His goodness, all I could think about was:

"What a great way to spend Christmas eve!

The church I attend had four Christmas eve. services starting at 3:30.  I went to the very first one,  just to be sure that I didn't end up missing out.  It was wonderful.  What I enjoyed most of all, however, was the ride from the parking lot to the front door of the church.  My friend, Dirk, was a volunteer for the special services and saw me get out of my car.  He whipped over in the little golf cart and offered me a ride to the door.

"Merry Christmas!"  he announced, 

bringing joy to my soul.  

"Merry Christmas!" I responded.  

You see, Dirk is one of the guys that rededicated His life to Christ this past year in my Starting Point discussion group.  Earlier today, he messaged me that he had been thinking about what I had said regarding Divine Partnership.  

"I'm a military man,"   he told me.  

"Instead of partnering with God, 

I prefer to think of myself as a 

soldier in God's army!"   

How awesome is that?  It brings joy to my soul that he sees himself as a warrior for God!  What a great Christmas present!  Thank you Jesus!

Later in the evening, my youngest daughter announced that she needed me to help her with a important craft project she was working on.  It's been many years since I worked on such artistic endeavors of the sort. Regardless, we put our heads together and tackled the job.  Several hours later, we successfully completed our task.   It was Christmas eve.  -- just the two of us -- sprawled out on the floor with ribbons, scissors, a hot glue gun, glitter and more.  Working together like that on a specific project was really rather glorious!  There we were functioning as a team!  Now that it's over,  I find myself shouting in my soul, "Thank you Lord for such a blessing!"  I can't quite put into words what that was all about, but it was one of my best Christmas eve's ever!

Today was filled with all sorts of Christmas festivities.  To name a few, there were  Christmas carols, last minute shopping, not one but two Christmas messages, candle lightings, and even a snow machine.  Don't get me wrong, all those things were great.

But what has me as content as can be 

is the time I spent with my family and friends 

along with the assurance in my heart that Jesus is Lord!

Merry Christmas dear friends!

Gail

Day 357

Today is  Day 357 of  The Red Shoe Project.  Oh my gosh!   As I sit here gazing at my RED shoes I'm just now realizing that there's only 8 days left in the year.  Where has the time gone?  There's part of me that wants to start planning for the New Year, but God continues to remind me not to jump ahead.  That's probably been one of the biggest lessons I've learned this year...

Staying in the present moment.

God's always telling me...

Forget about 

the past!

Focus on today!

No forging into tomorrow, 

until it arrives!

The Red Shoe Project is all about looking for God today and writing about that experience.  Holding onto yesterday prevents me from moving forward and experiencing all that God has for me today!  God only knows how many blessings I lost, in days of old, when I spent way too much time thinking about what could've and should've been.  It's easy to get trapped in those places, but once you're set free, you make it a point never to be ensnared again!

Rushing into tomorrow is just as much of a challenge and I've found that there's usually a lot of worry attached to it.  "What if this happens?"  or  "What if that doesn't happen?"  Worrying is a time waster and more often than not, it's the stomping ground of spiritual warfare.  If you want to spend your time there, prepare for a struggle.  I've learned that walking away from it is far more productive.  If I have concerns, I pray and present those concerns to God immediately and move on with my day.

Lately I've been using "the secret weapon." A day doesn't goes by in which I'm not bombarded with crazy thoughts that want to pull me into the past or push me into the future. Sometimes the littlest things will trigger thoughts and behaviors of my past life.  It might be a song or a smell...  a particular place or an activity -- even the mere mention of a name. 

BOOM!  Like a hook on the end of a fishing line, it snags me and attempts to reel me into a past memory.   I've learned to take authority in Jesus' Name  and break the line!  With that,  I begin praying in the Spirit.  I've noticed that when I pray in the Spirit, the spiritual warfare immediately backs off!  It's instantaneous relief!  Ahhhhhhhh!  

Far too often, I don't know what's going on, let alone how to specifically deal with it, so I let the Holy Spirit pray for me.  He's specifically equipped to do just that!   Lately I've been praying a lot in the Spirit -- quite a lot!   It's a lot easier and a lot more productive than worrying!

Just this past week, God has repeated something to me three times: "WAIT!"

He doesn't want me making decisions on my own about the New Year.  

He has a plan, and He will reveal it to me in due time.   

A friend of mine told me an interesting story the other day.  Years ago, she and her husband knew a couple that was going through some difficult financial struggles.  Their house was about to foreclose.  They needed $10,000 in order to stop the foreclosure and get things back on track.  The two couples prayed together for God's divine provision and unanimously felt that God was saying, "WAIT!"  

Later that day, my friend and her husband sensed that God wanted them to give the couple the $10,000 they needed.   With that in mind, they went to the bank and made arrangements to get the money.  Meanwhile, a day -- maybe two-- went by and the other couple announced to them that they had decided to move forward and filed for bankruptcy.  Little did they know that my friend and her husband had the check in hand and were about to deliver it.  But the door of opportunity to assist was now shut  -- prematurely -- because the couple did not yield to God's direction to:  "WAIT!"  

Many of you have asked what I will be doing in the New Year.  Today, I am not sure.  For now,  I am waiting.  I'm praying a lot in English and I'm praying a lot in the Spirit.  I'm doing my best to stay in the present, so that I can give all I've got to God in these last Red Shoe Project days.  You'll find me worshipping and praising God whenever possible, and you know I'm always looking for an opportunity to testify of His goodness!  I am confident that He will let me know what's next, when He's ready -- probably as the ball is dropping in Times Square on New Year's eve!

In Red Shoes, 

Gail