The saga of the green stained shoes continues. Boy, the Lord is really working on me with those shoes. Hannah wore them to her daddy/daughter dance and had a wonderful time. Two days later it snowed and the kids were out of school for the next two days. The day they went back she wanted to wear the shoes to school and got mad because I wouldn't let her. I mean, there was still snow all over the ground, it was melting and wet and muddy, and they're just flimsy little satin flats.
The next day I gave in against my better judgement and let her wear them. A lot of the snow was gone by then, and I told her that if they went outside for recess that she needed to stay on the blacktop and not run around in the grass. It was still too wet and muddy in places, and I knew those shoes would be ruined. She assured me she would be careful, and off she went.
When she got home in the afternoon, she took her shoes off at the front door and held them up to show me the new stains all over them, this time from the mud she sank into at recess! You can imagine my reaction...I won't even go into it.
We let the shoes sit for a couple of days and let the mud get good and dry. When she was looking for shoes to wear to church on Sunday, I suggested the green ones. "But I can't wear them anymore," she tells me. "Did you forget that they're ruined from the mud?"
Unbelievable! After all we went through about getting those shoes, and she was ready to just throw them away. Instead, I grabbed a shoe brush from Joey's shoe shine kit and went to work brushing away as much of the mud as I could. They cleaned up surprisingly well, they were just left looking a little dull on the sides. She was able to wear them to church and once they were on her feet they looked fine.
Once again the Lord had a lesson for me from those shoes. I was able to brush away the dirt and grime and restore the shoes to wearable condition. In the same way, when I submit to Jesus' brush he is able to wipe away all the sin that would otherwise keep my heart a muddy mess. And just as the mud left behind some stains on the shoes, often my sins leave consequences that must be dealt with. But I know that the Lord will help me with those as well when I humble myself and admit my mistakes and allow his grace to enter in.
Instead of throwing us away as Hannah was ready to do with the shoes, God looks at us and sees beauty and potential. It might take a lilttle scrubbing to get to it, but how blessed we are that he considers us worth the effort!
"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10
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