Day 84 Leaning on the promises....

 

Saturday evening at home my dad would call to all us children to bring him our church shoes.  He had a box with cans of different colored shoe polish and he would use an old soft cloth to put a new shine into our “Sunday best.” It was interesting to me to see all the polishes. The smell of the old wax polish intrigued me as sometimes I watched his labor of love with our shoes.

Dad had a practical nature and buying shoes was one place that reflected that nature. We would go to the shoe store and I would see pretty shoes, bows, buckles, soft soles.  “I like those shoes, can I try those on?” I would ask in my little girl voice. “No,” he would respond, “Look at these.” He would then pick out sturdy oxfords, or penny loafers, with good solid soles, and plenty of leather. Those would last. 

The only exception was our Easter shoes.   Mom would take us to some of the nicest stores around. We would look at beautiful fluffy dresses, pinks, pale yellows, blues and beautiful shoes, bows, buckles, delicate.  They were truly beautiful. Every year I got one of those beautiful dresses, along with beautiful shoes. I would usually get to pick from racks of hats adorned with colorful flowers, ribbons and bows. To complete the outfit I would get clothes and a purse to match my shoes. Back in those days, women carried handkerchiefs and I would have a sweet little embroidered new hankies to tuck in  my little purse. They would give me my offering and oh so proud I would put it inside the pockets of the new purse feeling rich and proud.  I’m not sure who enjoyed this more, me or mom, but it was a tradition I loved. Once, a neighbor girls mom, let me know how little she liked me and included some smart remark about all my nice clothes.  They were poor, had a lot of children and never had beautiful Easter dresses.

I was a lucky child indeed.

So on Saturday night, Dad would line up our shoes, polished, cleaned and mom would iron our clothes. Those were the days before wash and wear and she took pride in turning us out for Sunday’s pressed, polished, and gussied up.

One Easter Sunday, the local paper came by the church to see all the churchgoers in their Easter bonnets, with all the flowers upon them…. Our family was selected to be photographed and next paper day our picture adorned the front page smiling into the camera in our finery, captioned, The Dray Family On Easter Sunday.

Recently, pressed with needed to conserve I went back to the sturdy shoe mentality; I bought a pair of Romeo shoes. Thick sole, lots of leather and oh so comfortable. The miles I walk in the treatment center are cushioned by their sturdiness. I’ve taken a few jokes about the shoes, and a few rude remarks. The shoes however will last me a long time, they were a good investment.

Another good investment and tradition for me has been reading my Bible daily. For me, it’s as if the fabric of my soul is like those Saturday night shoes, dusty, in need of polish. My life is like that. I start out each day with good intentions but life, my inner nature all combine to soil my soul so to speak. Without the renewing of the Word in the Bible, showing me places in my character where I’ve become ragged and worn, I would quickly revert back to becoming a person who not only was not at their “Sunday best” but not much good for Monday through Saturday either.

          Some people say, “I don’t need God in my life. “I’m a good person. I try to help people whenever I can. I don’t need religion as some sort of crutch.”

Well, I don’t fight or argue with those people, for them they believe what they believe. For me however, it’s been different. I need God.  I need His forgiveness and cleansing for all the dumb mistakes I’ve made in the past, and all the dumb mistakes I make daily. I need His strength, His love to transform my life, emotions, intellect moment by moment.

Another tradition I love, and have grown to cherish is finding promises in the Bible and then claiming them as my own. A promise is something God says in the Bible, and each person has the privilege of “claiming” it for themselves.  There are different how-to’s about this process. There are different explanations of what makes this work. My understanding is that the Word of God is  spiritually alive. That through the supernatural, spiritual nature of God when He speaks it is more than words per se. There is power, and life in His words that extends for all eternity. The story of creation tells about a God so powerful that when he spoke, worlds were created.

In my Bibles, when there is a statement about what God says He will do in response to an attitude, action or need in a person’s life, I claim that promise as my own. In the Psalms, (one of my favorite places to read), when it says,

When Robin calls upon me, I will answer. I will be with Robin in trouble and I will deliver her. I will rescue Robin and honor her. Psalm 91:15

I put my name in there. When I pray I thank God for His Word to me, and His promises and I claim them for myself and my family. I’ve heard it explained like this:

 A rich man visited a large city in the United States. He observed one man who worked very hard in a large hotel. He was polite, he hurried to help people and was always busy.  After inquiring about the man he learned he had many children and a sick wife.  They were all very poor and were struggling to make ends meet.  This story touched the rich man’s heart and he wrote out a check for the man for $10,000 dollars.  Upon leaving the hotel he told the man how impressed he was with the hard work he did and wanted to make him a gift.  The man beamed proudly and took the check.

A week later, the hotel manager happened to enter the back room where the man had a small desk. There on the wall the man had framed the check and was displaying it proudly, he did not understand what it was worth.  The manager found the man and explained that he had to use the check and discover the richness of the man’s gift.

God’s promises are like that. We each individually have to use, or claim the promises to discover that like that check, they are of great value. God doesn’t lie, and He doesn’t change.

In that same church of my childhood we used to sing many encouraging songs.  A favorite of mine was, Standing on the Promises.  The message of that song is that with God’s Word and promises we can be secure, in the storms, through the storms and beyond. How thankful I am for that.  Today, I will wear my sturdy shoes, claim my verse for today and go out into my Saturday world. 

My plans are now, early morning, still before dawn, to attend my Weight Watchers meeting, go buy groceries, come home and load the truck up to go to the dump. A simple life, everyday tasks I love.  All the while, my inner soul will be standing on the promises in my sturdy shoes, praying that God will give me strength, wisdom and purpose.

To each of you in your Saturday world have a blessed day and may your journey take you to your own continued discovery of the power and comfort of the promises of God.