New Shoes

It's fun getting new shoes, right?! It is the breaking in of the shoes that isn't so much fun. I got a new pair of shoes for the school year-brown leather. They were so cute, but they hurt my feet so much! I wore bandaids on my heels because the shoes cut into them, and I had red marks from the buckle at the top of the shoe. It took everything I had to keep my shoes on until I got home! Infact, I usually drove home barefoot because I couldn't take the pain. But, I loved the shoes, and I needed them. So, I endured the pain because I knew in time the pain would stop.

Mark and I (and the boys) left everything familiar in our lives about a year and a half ago-we changed jobs, churches, and the boys went to a new school. We knew we had to make the change, but it hurt. We have been trying to fit into our new life, just like I was trying to fit into those new shoes. There was a period of hurt. The boys trying to make new friends, missing the old ones. Mark trying to learn the new job, doing things that didn't come naturally to him. And myself, putting on bandaids for the hurt I felt, and trying to help everyone (including me) fit in. I knew it would take time. But the waiting was difficult.

And then it happened. I started noticing the pain was going away. We were healing from all the "red marks" and "heel cuts". We were able to look at the past and accept it for what it was, and look toward the future. We were starting to feel more comfortable with the "new shoes." Our life was starting to fit.

Today marks a special day for us. We are becoming members of MCC (our new church). It is more than just becoming members...it is the sign that the "shoes" are broken in. It has been quite a journey that has led us to this day, but all along God has brought specific people in our lives this past year that has inspired us, believed in us, encouraged us, and were simply there for us. God has taught us so much about Himself, and has revealed so much about Himself that I sit here amazed!!

The brown shoes? They're broken in now. Without the pain, there would be no enjoyment of these shoes. And just like our life, sometimes we have to be uncomfortable in order to better appreciate the comfortable.