sand in our shoes.

Life is not Pinterest (though I enjoy all the great ideas on pinterest even if I can't follow through with most of them).  It is not facebook (though I love facebook and all it's connective abilities). It is not this blog (obviously.) . Life is not a comfy couch (though I like my couch and love being comfy)....

Life is pretty hard actually. My one year old doesn't think so, unless you take away his rock or pull him out of the fireplace exploring that he so fully enjoys. Yes, life is hard. The gritty sand and rocks from life on this earth gets deep in our shoes and hurts. It makes you feel unwelcome. You know that feeling?!

Growing up in FL i never thought too much of sand in my shoes. Most of the time we wore flip flops which did a fabulous job of dispelling sand. Plus the sand in FL is soft, mostly not irritating (at least to me it wasn't).  Shoes were always a thing that you had to wear because the 7 eleven forbid shoeless shoppers.

AZ presents an entire new set of problems when you think of SAND. The sand here is harsh, gritty, mean, and course. Not the type you want to bring home in a bag and put in your kids sand pile. It is however the kind that gives you a glimpse of how unwelcome we are on this fallen earth. UGH. Recently I wore sandals to a Renaissance festival. BAD IDEA!! The wind was really blowing hard and the entire walkways consisted of gritty, hard, small, rocky sand! It was torture. I couldn't walk without shaking my foot free of pebbles, then only to step down on a few leftover jagged pieces which sharply pinched by soles of my feet. Lesson learned.

 I never really understood how much we don't belong here until this year. My cancer hurt. It dug deep into my comfy little shoes and made my feet feel the ache of uneven ground and misplaced rocks as they jabbed into my tender feet. At times it made me want to scream!! I longed for a place without pain, sorrow, and sickness.

As Christians we have great hope in a DAY when we will no longer feel the pinch and grit of the sand in our shoes.  We can praise God for giving us grit so that we lift our eyes toward heaven in a way that honors our Creator, who created us for His glory and rejoices when we transfix our eyes on him. We will walk with our Jesus in perfect Glory.

Whatever your trial, keep your eyes on HEAVEN. Keep your eyes on Jesus. That cross is not a comfy couch (thanks Aaron M for that illustration... one that I have thought about often the past few years), but what great HOPE and JOY it gives to us as believers. Fix your eyes upon Jesus my friends and don't doubt in his perfect plans for your life!