shoes

Things I Found While Cleaning Out My Closet

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I guess it pays to clean out your closets periodically. Or bi-yearly in my case.

I made some interesting finds:

1) three sets of minor league baseball cards. One was from the 80’s featuring the now-defunct Memphis Chicks, formerly the AA farm team for the Kansas City Royals. Another featured the Memphis Redbirds circa somewhere around 2001. The last had the ’86 Huntsville Stars baseball team.

2) Some shoes I hadn’t worn in years and had forgotten I had. I’m wearing them now and they’re actually quite comfortable. Plus, they look like new.

3) A flyer for upcoming events for the college & career ministry of Germantown Baptist Church, where I attended before I moved to Nashville. And by upcoming, I mean upcoming for the year 2004.

It pays to clean house every now and then.

Things I Love 29: She’s The Tear That Hangs Inside my Soul Forever

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island hammock

“How my eyes see, perspective, is my key to enter into His gates. I can only do so with thanksgiving. If my inner eye has God seeping up through all things, then can’t I give thanks for anything? And if I can give thanks for the good things, the hard things, the absolute everything, I can enter the gates to glory. Living in His presence is fullness of joy- and seeing shows the way in.” (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are)

Just to give you a context for this particular blog, I have the TV on. Late Night with Conan O’Brien to be specific. So I apologize in advance for any random goofiness that filters into this blog. Oh wait. That’s filters in every other time. Never Mind. Back to #836.

836) Impromptu dashes to Starbucks in the pouring rain for a cold foam mocha that was totally worth it.

837) A tall glass of orange juice.

838) Conan’s wacky brand of humor.

839) Watching a thunderstorm from a safe place.

840) Hugging my grandmother and telling her I love her.

841) The way my little niece’s eyes light up when she sees me.

842) The way the song “Easy to Love” as sung by Ella Fitzgerald perfectly captures the way I feel about a certain someone.

843) Any day without Fox News.

844) Bacon.

845) Kevin Bacon (just because he’s the coolest . . . and in a very non-gay way).

846) Peanut M & Ms

847) The most recent screen adaptation of Les Miserables.

848) Changing machines that could turn my brother into a puppy (if only I had a brother).

849) Finally getting past level 33 in Candy Crush Saga.

850) Melatonin that helps me sleep at night.

851) James Bond movie marathons.

852) Encouraging facebook messages sent at just the right time.

853) Remembering when Bruce Willis had hair.

854) BOTH pairs of  Crocs that I still wear, regardless of whether they are in fashion anymore or not.

855) Every single episode of Firefly and the movie follow-up called Serenity.

856) Pretty much everything Joss Whedon has ever been associated with.

857) The peace of God that comes out of nowhere when I least expect or deserve it.

858) The drive-in movie theatre in Watertown.

859) Driving anywhere late at night with good friends.

860) That the wheels on the bus DO go round and round.

861) That Nosferatu is still the creepiest and most effective adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

862) God picking me up every single time I fall.

863) The concept of flying monkeys. Brilliant.

864) The ending of It’s a Wonderful Life that tears me up every single time.

865) That the thief on the cross was the first person Jesus welcomed into heaven.

866) Never having seen a single episode of Honey Boo Boo (a record I intend to keep going).

867) The first two Die Hard movies (after that. . . . not so much).

868) True beauty that comes from within.

869) Those rare moments when I am totally selfless and God-focused.

870) That God knows me and calls me by name.

What I Learned About Grace From Swing Dancing

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I went swing dancing tonight. There was much fear and trepidation at first, and quite honestly, I expected to be a one-and-done and convince myself once and for all that I can not dance.

It started rough. I did well with the lessons part, but once it came to the actual dancing, I panicked and forgot everything. I even was going to use my knee as an excuse not to dance anymore tonight. But a friend convinced me to give it another try. I realized I was stepping too far back at one point and seriously throwing off my rhythm.

Once I got that part corrected, it was like my confidence went through the roof. Or at least to the rafters. I even enjoyed myself.

Then I got to thinking. Swing dancing is more than just doing steps. It takes grace.

Life’s a lot like that. Relationships are a lot like that.

When I have friends who do and say things that I don’t quite understand and seem hurtful, I need to give grace.

When friends seem to withdraw and aren’t as friendly as before, I need to give grace.

When I find myself falling back into old fears and doubts, I need to give myself grace.

Giving grace simply means that there’s more to the story than I know. It means that I would probably do much worse in that other person’s shoes.

So, I plan on going back in two weeks to swing dance again. And I plan to be better at giving grace to those around me, including myself, who need it most.

My question to you is this: who in your life deserves for you to shut them out but who needs grace from you instead? Is it you? Is it a friend who has messed up with you lately? (OK, that’s three questions. I cheated. Sue me)

Grace makes everything more beautiful and is itself beautiful because it is undeserved, unexpected, and always needed.

Once again, I choose grace.

It Runs in the Family

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boots

When I was little, I used to love to go over to my grandparents’ house. One of my favorite things to do there was to find a pair of my granddad’s boots and walk around in them. They probably came up to my knees and were way too big for my little feet, but I didn’t care. Just the fact that I was walking in my grandfather’s shoes was enough for me.

Fast forward about 30 or so years. I’d been living in Nashville for 5 years and felt the time was right to complete the acclimation by purchasing a pair of cowboy boots. I mean, I’d already started listening to some country music (just not the kind where the girl thinks the tractor is sexy).

I looked at a lot of boots. There was one pair of Dan Posts (shown in the above picture) that I was drawn to the first place I looked. No matter how many other places I looked, I couldn’t find any others that seemed to call my name the way these did. I can’t explain it other than to say that these boots spoke to me.

I shelled over $230 bucks for these bad boys. I know in cowboy boot world, that’s not a lot. Boots can easily get up into the $3000 and up category, especially if they’re custom made. But that was a LOT of money for me to spend on shoes.

It turns out that my grandfather’s favorite kind of boots were Dan Posts. I didn’t find that out until after my purchase, but it was a kind of  confirmation for me that I had picked the right pair.

Now every time I put them on, I feel like I’m walking in his shoes, so to speak. And it feels good. It makes me grateful to have been a small part of a legacy of love.