The perfect Christmas Heels

       I am in search of the perfect pair of heels for the holiday. I really want a silver pair that I found on Amazon. I am going to be wearing a navy blue dress and I thought silver would be perfect for a winter wonderland themed party we are having.
     However, it is very difficult to buy shoes online when you have not tried them on and have no clue if they will fit. I mean who wants to go through the hassle of return shipping anyway? So I will keep looking for the perfect pair until they magically appear.
     This got me to thinking that we search high and low for everything we need and want (I do not need a pair for silver pumps) but we do not take the time to search for something (someone) that does not take much effort to find. I am talking about the LORD.
     He is in every book of the Bible, in 1191 chapters (interesting tidbit of info; if you take 1191 and read it upside down, it is 1611. really cool how GOD put the same number of chapters in His word as the year that our first English translation would appear on the scene) and on every page. It really does not take much to find GOD, if you are searching. I am thankful that I can find GOD in the same spot every day when I read my Bible. I can find GOD in the same spot every Sunday no matter what pew I happen to sit in. HE is everywhere and His word says that I will find Him if I seek Him with all my heart.
     Am I seeking GOD as much or as hard as I am seeking after those perfect silver pumps? Wow, that is humbling. I better make sure that I am not seeking anything or anyone above Him because His word also tells us to seek Him while he may be found. There will come a day when all of man's finding of GOD ends. I am glad that I have already found Him and that I can not ever lose Him.
     What are you seeking this holiday season? I hope that it is in the LORD.

Christmas Shoes

      I am so excited about the Christmas season. I really did not expect to be happy about it but I am getting into the spirit of Christmas. If you know me at all, you know that I love, love, love Christmas movies. I have been watching them for about a few weeks now. I love any Christmas movie, whether it be sappy romance or Christmas magic. I really adore all of the Hallmark Christmas movies and the ABC Family 25 days of Christmas movies (especially since most are on Netflix.) We just went last weekend to see the new Kirk Cameron movie Saving Christmas. While it is a low budget film, it does not have a low budget meaning.
      I have grown up in a Christian home and have been in church since my mom recovered from my birth, but I have never heard anyone explain why we have certain traditions at Christmas time the way Kirk Cameron does in the film. I do not want to spoil things for you, but I will tell you that it is worth the money you will pay to see it. I am going to give credit where it is due, and that is GOD, but I believe that He used this film to speak to my heart about what my focus should be this season.
      You see, I was looking at this Christmas through selfish eyes. I kept dwelling on not being a mom this Christmas, and this being yet another year in my married life that I do not have a baby to buy gifts for. However, that is not what Christmas means and the focus was never intended to be on us. Christmas is a reflection on what Christ did through His birth, life, death and resurrection. No where in the Bible to we read that we are to reflect on the things that we do not have, only on the things we do. I am to be thankful for His blessings, which He graciously bestows each and every day, and not worry about the ones that He does not. In other words, I am to be content.
      I have been in to Pinterest a lot lately, and I read something that blew my mind. I read a sign that said "If we wake up tomorrow with only the things we have said "thank you" to GOD for, what would we wake up and still have?" That blew my mind reading that, because I get so "busy" with my life that I forget to thank or even acknowledge God. I know that He has been teaching me to be thankful. I definitely take the everyday blessings for granted.
      LORD, help me to be content this season and to be thankful for the blessings that you give, also the gifts of others (even the gifts I do not want)

Running Shoes

             A few weeks ago I heard a sermon on Hebrews 12:1, which says "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."  I have known this verse for years, it even made it's way into my high school graduation speech. However, the way I heard this pastor use it had never crossed my mind. I will try to relay the same message he did while adding some things that GOD showed me through this verse.
            Here the writer is talking about running race ( like you really needed that clarification) and I do not know about you, but I have not run a race since Field Day in elementary school. I have always admired runners, but with allergies and being borderline asthmatic, I never have been. I imagine that it takes some intense dedication. Well, as most runners know, and those who follow the "couch to 5k" program, the more weight that you are carrying on your person, the harder it is to run well. I would agree with that, because the higher the number on my scale, the harder my workouts become. So the writer is saying "to lay aside " the weight that gets in the way of our running. We have this baggage if you will that keeps us from running to our fullest potential. We are are not as effective or productive as we are when we "lay aside" the weight.
            The next part of the verse is "and the sin which doth easily beset us" which gives us no specific sin to point out. It is my opinion that it is not any particular sin, but it is a certain sin that is personal to each individual. For example, I may struggle with lying whereas you may be an honest person. Let's make this verse more personal shall we? "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside the lying which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." I know that I am a sinner, but I do not feel that I struggle with lying, however we could replace lying with any sin that you could think of. The point is, GOD is telling us that if we do not "lay aside" our sin or struggle, then we can not be as effective as HE wants us to be. HE has so much more in store for us, but our sin is getting in the way. We all sin every day, but that is not what HE is referring to. HE wants us to "lay aside" our struggles and our strong holds so we can finish strong and even finish 1st place.
             I do not know about you, but this verse has some powerful truth that I need to catch. GOD wants to use me and He wants to use you. Will we "lay aside" the sin and be used of GOD? I know I want to be used of HIM and I want to bring honor and glory to HIS name. Lord, help me to run my race without the baggage that I so often hang on to. I want to cast it down at your feet, run well, and finish strong.                                                                                                   

From flip flops to galoshes

       So I was out of town a few weeks ago and then I got sick and have been getting migraines from being very dehydrated, so my hubby and I wanted to go on a get away weekend to Charleston, Sc. I have always wanted to walk on the beach in Charleston, so I was so excited to go. We were to leave yesterday and return home tomorrow. 

       So, I was planning on going to Walmart Thursday morning to get some flip flops for the beach, but when I woke up, it was raining and I wasnot expecting that. Okay, so anyone who knows me, knows that I have a very bad habit of never checking the weather. I once packed tank tops to go to my niece's birthday in March, it was warm in Arkansas but if I had checked the weather I would have known that Ohio was expecting snow. Needless to say it was a very cold weekend.

       Anyway, I thought I was lucky to be going to Sc bc I would be relaxing on the beach while Ga was getting flooded. Wrong, my hubby texted me and said we should postpone our travel plans bc Andrea (a fun planned, weekend ruining tropical storm) was headed to Charleston and we could get trapped and likely everything we had planned would be closed anyway. I was so upset. I had already considered texting him to tell him we should postpone, but I had no idea about tropical storm Andrea.

      So now, we are here in Ga and I am thinking I should have bought galoshes. I love the rain because it is something new to me. Growing up in the desert I did not get a lot of oppurtunity to see rain, and I love it!!! I feel like there is a peace about it, which is ironic because it is called a storm. I feel like I can sense the presence of GOD right there with me, protecting me from every strike of lightening and every crash or thunder. If I can sense HIM so near in the physical storms, why can I not feel HIM ever present in the spiritual ones? I trust HIM with the most violent of tornadoes and hurricanes, but I try to take matters into my own hands when it comes to the things I am trying to get victory over. Oh LORD, help me to sit back and watch the storms of life pass by.

Ballet Slippers

I always wished I could be beautiful and graceful like a ballerina. I love to dance (only around my house where no one can see me and laugh) and I would love to glide across the stage like Ginger Rogers. Well, the dancing genes were never given to me, but my niece Emma is a ballet dancer, she is only for, and she had a performance this past weekend and I was able to go and watch her on the "big stage" (I just love the way she describes things in life) dance like a pretty dancer. As I watched her dance a thought occurred to me that so much time and preperation goes into each dance that these beautiful ballerinas dance. Emma works all school year long on only learning two dances that she performs in May. so much work goes into each number and the dances last a little under three minutes a piece. As I watched her dance, I wondered if there was anything in my life that I was that dedicated to, something that I spent from September to May learning and mastering. My conclusion almost freightened me, there was nothing that came to mind. Surely as a Christian, I have learned to be diligent in Bible reading and Scripture memorizing... no I can not truthfully say that I have. Have I learned and studied all that I can to do the very best job that I can (I am a Christian, wife, friend, and keeper of my home) so that I can have a successful life in Christ? Again, I can not truthfully say that I am.That thought is scary. I want to be more diligent, more studious, andlearn more about HIM. Oh LORD, help me to be diligent. LORD, make me into a beautiful ballerina. :)

Holiday in Heels

Anyone who knows me, knows that my favorite thing to wear is heels (or clippy clops as my niece calls them). When I think of heels, I think of being dressed up and looking fancy. For example, you would not wear heels if your hair was thrown up in a ponytail like a messy housewife, but rather you would take the time to make your hair presentable. I feel the same way about the holidays. I would not invite family over for a holiday meal and have them eat a cheesburger and fries on a paper plate with no napkins, but rather I would deep fry the turkey, make the gravy, and fix the stuffing and bring out the fine china. Sometimes I feel like this is the case in my Christian walk. I feel like I wake up and read a chapter or two and check it off my list instead of praying and setting my heart and mind up for the things that GOD has for me that day. I thought about this a few weeks ago in my ladies Bible study. Every New Year's since I have been married, I have made my resolution to be faithful in my devotions, I ask GOD to not even give me rest until I read me Bible, because I want to be found faithful. I can tell you that by GOD's grace I have not missed a day in over 3 years. I can also honestly and transparently say that I have not learned much in those 3 years of devotions because I did not prepare my heart for what GOD had for me. I threw my hair up into a messy bun just to wear my finest heels (so to speak) and I did not let GOD speak to me. Oh sure, on the outside I looked Spiritual because I did not forget to read my Bible, but I did not have much Spiritual growth during that time. In Bible study we are learning about the life of Daniel and his walk with GOD. Daniel, I believe, is a man who set his heart up for the devotions and time he spent with GOD. If we were to put it into a worldly scenario, he would have been the guy who woke up early to take a shower, slick his hair back with mousse or gel and shine up his nicest pair of church shoes. Now I do not mean to sound vain bc I am not trying to say that looking your best is the same as acting your best. I am just saying the I don't think that Daniel would have been the one to roll out of bed 5 minutes before his devotions and wipe the sleep from his eyes and read. I believe there was a preparation process for him before he spent time with GOD. Perhaps he confessed sins or sang praises to GOD to set his heart in motion for the blessings GOD would pour out. I definitely do not think that he half-heartedly spent time with GOD.
        Just like Daniel preparing his heart, we wives prepare our homes. I can almost guarantee that no woman I know just woke up and let her house stay the way it was when she had family coming over for Thanksgiving. Probably like me, every one of you cleaned your house, decorated for the holiday season, changed the sheets on the bed for out of town guests, and probably bought candles or plug-ins to fill the room with holiday cheer. There is a lot of preparation that goes into the holidays, that is why the holidays remind me of heels. There are preparations for heels as well. You would not pick just any dress to wear with your heels but rather you would choose a nice dress and make sure that they match. You would do your hair and make sure that your make-up is perfect. You would, hopefully, be clean. You would  prepare yourself to look nice. Let's spend our holidays in our heels :)

I love shoes! Perhaps that is why I chose this name for my blog. I have realized that the shoes you wear can be characteristic, or symbolic if you will, with obstacles and scenarios of life. For example, my husband wears combat boots. To wear these shoes, one has to be; brave, courageous, and ready for battle. A few months ago I had to wear these combat boots. I did not enjoy wearing them for even a single minute, but I had to be brave. Let me start from the beginning. In mid May my husband came to me and told me those words that every military spouse dreds "honey I am being deployed". The sound of those words bring fear to every woman who hears them. My husband has only been deployed once, but I have heard from other spouses that it does not get any easier with each deployment. However, my husband would not be leaving until several months later, and his order had been cancelled 3 times before, so I did not think too much about it at that time. The rest of the summer cam and went so fast that by the time I knew, it was October and time for us to make our last memories before he left. We decided we would go to Branson the first few days of Autumn to see the , and on the way up we got what to me was the scariest phone call ever. Friday morning we began our drive towards Branson. About and hour into the drive my husband's phone rang. The moment it rang my stomach dropped and I just knew that it was the call I had been dreading. You see by that time my husband had a window for deployment, that weekend. I knew in my heart it would be Sunday, not sure why or how I knew but I was right. We finished our trip and had a great time at the Dixie Stampede. Then Sunday came, we went to church like normal, though no one knew what was going on, and made our way to the base to say goodbye. Ladies, if you know what I am talking about, that last kiss feels scary and cold. When you hug you soulmate, the love of your life and the one that GOD gave you, goodbye it feels like your heart is being ripped out of your chest. I felt completly numb, like I could not breathe or even move. The drive home was very lonely and all I could do was beg GOD to reveal His presence unto me. I needed to feel Him near. I never felt so alone in my life. As I drove home I sobbed and prayed, until suddenly a still small voice said unto me (not audible) "I know how you feel. I am right here with you. I will never leave thee not forsay thee." Those words washed over me life the waves of the ocean. What did I have to be afraid of? GOD has never failed in supplying my every need. I have never known hunger, or thirst or begged for shelter. My GOD has supplied everything. I determined right then and there that I would strap on those combat boots and be brave. The months went by, but they did not fly by like I thought they would. More life they crept by slowly, life the saying "slow as molasses in winten time." At last I could welcome my sweetheart home and take off these boots. As he stepped of the plane though, it dawned on my that GOD did not want me to stop being brave. Oh trust me, I don't wear those boots; every day, I just put them on when I need the extra stength. Ladies we never have to go through anything alone. Our GOD has promised us to be with us always.