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.