If These Shoes Could Talk

Have you ever noticed how much of a person’s life you can piece together just from taking a peek at their shoes?

For example, if you glanced at the heels on my shoes you may assume that I’ve recently developed a short girl complex! On the other hand, if you saw the worn soles and permanent tongue creases on my husband’s sneakers you would probably guess that he is a runner or at least athletic in some sense. You would be correct about both.

Shoes have the ability to tell a person’s story without ever saying a word.

With 4 sets of growing feet, my house is full of shoes, girly shoes…and full of stories. Each pair represents seasons of life past, present and future.

And well, oh the memories…The white high-tops, trimmed in pink, purple, green and silver glitter remind me of my oldest daughter’s baby Punky Brewster phase. She loved colors and matching was not a consideration! The white fur, lace up, boots with dangling poof balls remind me of my twin’s first winter of walking. I have vivid memories of them waddling across the floor, with pink skinny jeans securely tucked in at the ankle, as I watched with mixed emotions of excitement over first steps and anxiety over the fact that the boots were white! 

And then there are the gold strapped, slightly wedged, heeled sandals with pedaled flowers lining the side. At one time they belonged to my 10 year old and now her younger sister anxiously waits for her foot to grow just enough to claim them as her own!

Today, if you were to stop by our home for a surprise visit, you would be greeted by various sizes of white sneakers and navy blue and white saddle shoes, 16 shoes in all! They live in a perfectly straight line at my front door (most of the time…ok not really). They represent the present—school days—and in just a few months they will have a story of their own.

I won’t take you to the laundry room where we have baskets of shoes both matching and mismatched, dressy and casual. 

Shoes. Everywhere. Tossed here and there. And although they take up a lot of space, and can get a bit messy, I am reminded that they make up the stories my life.

So when it comes to the shoes scattered around my house I've decided to cherish them- the mess they make, the seasons we have outgrown and the future they represent. They are a big part of what makes this house our home.

I pray for the shoes that line my front door daily. I pray that God would keep them safe as they journey through this particular season. I pray that he would direct them, fill them and keep their daily wear and tear to a minimum. And for the shoes we can no longer wear, I pray that the seasons they represent would not be forgotten, but that the memories they carry and the stories they keep will one day be used to bless someone else. 

Look around your home, what stories are laying at the bottom of your stairs, scattered across the bedroom floors or tucked away in a closet? These are the memories. God sometimes uses the things that create the biggest mess to remind us that we, you and I, are watching and experiencing His stories unfold right before our very eyes. Cherish it.