I had a hard time deciding this morning what shoes I could wear to church today. As you know my knee surgery was a few weeks ago and even though I am walking pretty good, the type of shoes that I wear...make a real difference if I am going to hurt or not. Yes, I am 50 years old and I obviously know that it really doesn't matter what shoes I wear to go to church, but I have always tried to look my best when getting ready to worship on the Sabbath. We have always taught the kids, that the reason we wear our best is so that we show respect to the Lord; but also we tend to act differently when dressed appropriately. I try to remind them to never become casual with their relationship with the Lord, or casual in their clothing that they wear to church.
So I had to realize that my thoughts about my ugly comfortable shoes today was wrong. I know better and when I see others who have to come to church in a comfortable clothes or shoes, I don't think bad and judge them. I actually wonder if it is because of their back pain or from something else. So I wasted time and energy on something that was no of importance. I was just feeling sorry for myself, sorry that I can't wear regular shoes because of my back and now my knees. How shallow I have been. My oldest brother lost both of his legs in the Vietnam war, I won't even tell you what he would have said to me, if he would have heard me complaining this morning? Yes, I need to try harder. When I read this story (which I will try to share part of with you) it reminded me to once again...to put things in perspective. I need to be more than grateful that I am able to attend church, that I can even walk, that I have feet and I can afford shoes. Yes, once again...even at the ripe old age of 50...I am still learning!
I've always felt fiercely loyal to people that others tend to look down on, and I noticed a lonely old widow at church who didn't seem to me to get much attention. So I adopted her as my grandma. I was 14. She lived close by my Jr. high school, and I would drag my group of friends over there and make her day by having lunch with her and introducing my friends, and looking at her pictures and listening to her stories. In church, I always took care to sit her with my family and make a huge fuss over her. Well, one Easter, I showed up in a pretty pastel dress my mom had sewn for me, and this sister was so excited to show me what she had brought me. She said I just COULDN'T go to church without an Easter bonnet. I think she was from Denmark and bonnets were the thing there. She gave me this terribly old hat that was black and had white lace on it.
It really didn't go at all with my dress and was obviously old and out of style to boot, but when my friends told me I looked ugly in it, I held my head high and jutted out my chin (sign of stubbornness) and said I was NOT going to hurt an old woman's feelings just for the sake of fashion. I wore that ugly old hat all day long to each meeting and stared back at everyone who stared with a gutsy "so what about it?" look in the eye. Nobody said a word. This little adopted grandma was so terribly thrilled that I wore her old hat and gave it to me as a present.
Would you doubt me for a moment if I told you that I still have that old hat and that it is one of my very most precious, prized possessions? ~ Linda Cherry 1997 The Idea Door
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." ~ Winston Churchill
"When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about." ~ Albert Einstein
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