My Shoes

My shoes are my shoes. I walk in them and time shows the pattern etched inside. I walk and walk. Sometimes my walking is in vain as I can’t accomplish what I planned. Sometimes my walking is my joy because of where these shoes have taken me. These shoes can tell a story. They can tell you the story of my life. It can be a joy-filled story or a story of pain and sadness. It can be a story of adventure or of simply a walk in my neighborhood. I can also get out of my shoes from time to time and then there would be gaps in the story they can tell. My shoes can rest and yet still transport me to another time as they sit back, take a break, and let my mind wander instead of my feet. 

What if I change my shoes, then what?! Shoes can tell of different occasions. They can tell of life experiences. They can tell of the fabric of life. The intertwining of life. The people of life. 

But, it’s the everyday shoes that have the real story to tell. The shoes that take you everywhere and know everything. The shoes that you can rely on. They steady you and support you in all you do. 

The Future Together with Our God

As we go forward this year, do we go with God? Do we have the Almighty at our side knowing that with Him there is peace, joy and wisdom for all at hand. Do we lean on Him and know He shapes our tomorrows? 

Do we foresee that the future will be God developed and do we accept whatever His hand may bring forth? 

Such questions should be at the front of our thinking and each day should bring delight as the answers work themselves out. Such surprises sometimes, to be sure, but day-in and day-out we go with God onward. The future is His and we pray we will walk assuredly into it, with joy, knowing God is for us and heaven on earth is possible.

Barking at the Moon

Barking at the Moon

A dog barking. Just for the sheer pleasure. The joy. Does he like his own voice or does he just get carried away. How long can it go on & on & on... The bark can stay a bark or it can then gravitate to a howl. Even a broken howl. A barking at the moon kind of song, in fact. Do you think the bark has connected him to a primitive brain wave that calls to him and sends him into a reverie. A subconscious connection that delights him and carries him away into a world of his own sounds. 

And what about us? Wouldn’t we like to go into some blank space sometimes where we can just delight in the nothingness. The void. A rest of sorts. Without sound & yet listening. But for us, we know we’re never alone. For a dog, he has his everyday pleasures and being lost in barking at the moon may be one of them for him. 

For us, a soundless place would be divine. Yes, actually. Soundless, yet filled with all the hope, love and joy that will make your day a thing beyond. An act of solitude that will fill us with a vision of all the possibilities a day may hold. A simple event in your day that will turn you around from introspection to what awaits you next. And you know that you’re walking in a plan for your life made for you before time began. You come out of your special soundless place assured that all your days are ordered and you just have to ‘be.’