Old Shoes

These are my 4-year-old daughter’s shoes. For the last three months, I’ve been trying to get her to wear her new shoes. But she won’t. She just wants to wear these old ones. Every day she passes over all the new shoes in her closet and wears these. Over the last few weeks I noticed they were falling apart. The front of the shoes tore and you could see her socks. I wanted to tell her that it was time to throw them away and start wearing her new shoes, but then I thought, “who cares if she wants to wear these old shoes, she’s not hurting anyone. She likes the shoes. They are familiar. They are comfortable. She knows how to get them on (for the most part). It’s not a big deal”.

A few days later, we were on our way to the store and my husband said to my daughter, “get your new shoes, you can’t wear these anymore. It’s raining outside. The front part is torn and your feet are not protected. Your toes will get wet. It’s time to throw these old shoes away”. She didn’t argue with him. She went upstairs to her closet and put on her new shoes.

Later that day, I was reflecting on my husband’s comments and realized there are some “old shoes” in my life that I need to get rid of too. There are some old habits, old routines, old perspectives, and old thoughts that no longer serve me well. Although they are familiar, comfortable, and convenient; they are no longer able to protect me. They are leaving me exposed.

So today I walk away from the OLD habits, routines, thoughts, and perspectives that are holding me back from being all God calls me to be. I pray for the courage, strength and boldness to embrace the NEW, the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable, and the inconvenient.