1. My shoe's mine. Face it!!! Yours is fine I know, but this is mine. Excellent or not, it's still mine.
2. My shoe fits - don’t assume it doesn’t.
3. My shoe is unique, priceless & the best of God's creation.
4. You can’t walk around in my shoe - it is going to be too big or too small for you. Why do you like to wear mine and ignore yours?
5. My shoe hurts sometimes and I cry behind closed doors; I just want you to know.
6. You may think my shoe's old, plain and cheap but I don't envy yours. If you love yours, you will not be so busy with mine.
7. I don’t talk down your shoe - don’t do it to mine. You think yours is spotless? Well, I see some spots but I can control my mouth.
8. I can buckle my shoelace but sometimes I need help with it.
9. My shoe is not perfect but you don’t have to be cynical with your opinion - I didn’t make the shoe.
10. My shoe is my life. Now you know.
Fortunately, I didn’t buy mine; it’s a gift from the Maker. All I want to do is to use it with pride, fulfill its purpose and make the Maker proud. For this reason was I given this gift; (For thou has created all things and for thy pleasure, they are and we're created)
If you have any question, observation, opinion, or criticism about my shoe, please forward it to God, THE SHOEMAKER. This life isn't mine.
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, "what was that all about and who are you"?
Just what the heck are you doing?
That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money.
Why did you do it?"
The young boy was apologetic. "Please mister ... please, I'm sorry... I didn't know what else to do," he pleaded.
"I threw the brick because no one else would stop..."
With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.
"It's my brother," he said.
"He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.
"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the little boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!
God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice: Listen to the whisper ... or wait for the brick!
A boy once said to God, “You know what I want when I grow up.” He then proceeded to give God his list: to live in a big house, to marry a tall blue-eyed woman; to have three sons – one will be a senator, one a scientist, and one a quarterback. He also wanted to be a mountain climber and drive a red Ferrari. As it turned out, the boy hurt his knees one day, while playing football. He could no longer climb trees talk more of mountains.
He ended up marrying a beautiful and kind woman who was short with brown eyes, instead of blue eyes. Because of his business, he lived in an apartment in the city and usually rode the subway instead of a big house. He had three lovely daughters instead of sons and they adopted a male fluffy cat! One daughter became a nurse, one an artist and the third, a music teacher. One morning the boy woke and remembered his boyhood dreams. He became extremely depressed. Heartbroken, he cried out to God: “Remember when I was a boy, I told you all the things I wanted, why didn’t you give me all those things?” “I could have” replied God, “but I wanted to make you happy. Some of those things you asked for could have led you to an early grave.”
In my Army Children’s School days, a few of my classmates and I went to visit a sick friend somewhere in Barnawa, Kaduna. I won’t mention the name of the building because it is still standing and many of you who have been to that state or now live in it will know this particular structure and I don’t want to be arrested because of this story, lol. Anyway, we got there after a long walk but the classmate leading us forgot the specific house. Disappointed, we sat down on the 3rd floor and waited for our confused friend to recollect after we had rained insults on him. Even if he didn’t remember, we had to rest before taking the long walk back to school in the scorching sun of Kaduna. It was amidst that short rest that a few of my classmates dragged us into trouble by throwing particles at some women platting on the first floor.
The women got angry and their outcry alerted the residents of the building who never liked children from my school because of their naughtiness. Within minutes, the building was agog and they were determined to get us. We perceived that one way to get to us was to shut down the gate, so we all headed that direction before it was late. All of us escaped except our friend Emeka. Even at the age of 10, we knew that if the residents got to one of us, we were all in trouble, so we stayed near to see our fate. While our eyes were glued to the gate to fathom what would happen to Emeka, he showed up right behind us laughing. Surprised, we asked how he escaped from over ten grown men with the gate closed. His answer, in my primary school days was just another story of bravery and covered in mystery, but now I know better.
Emeka told us that when he got to the gate, it was closed and a man was waiting there with “koboko” a Hausa word for whip. He couldn’t pass and so he headed for another direction; running more than his legs could carry by the fence of the building. By then, the men were all behind this little 10-year-old boy and determined to get him. Then Emeka saw his breakthrough and it was a water tank. Those of us in Nigeria know how water tanks for storey buildings were built in those days. The container usually stands on a four-legged, 30 foot crane; depending on the storey building. That was the escape route Emeka saw, and when he got to the foot, he began to climb this ‘miracle’ tank that stood erect by the fence of the building. The men stood under the water tank laughing, thinking that Emeka had been trapped. They expected him to climb down when he gets to the top, or they would climb up to get him if he refused to come to them. But Emeka had another plan. He wanted to climb the tank until he was over the fence and then jump to the next compound and escape. The men never expected a-10-years old boy to have the gut to do that. But he did and wowed them. We called him “the brave one” that day because not one of us considered himself bold enough to do that. Unknown to us, Emeka has something working for him and we don’t and that’s THE ADRENAL GLAND – the part of us designed by God specifically for handling situations that look larger than life.
When God created us, He placed on top of our kidneys, a pair of adrenal glands. They are there to provide for us hormones necessary for the production of energy to do the impossible in very difficult situations, like beat up an attacking lion, jump off a moving vehicle in the face of danger, wrestle a bugler, think up unquestionable solutions in tension etc. One of my friends described how he felt when a mad bulldog broke loose and came after him. In his word, “My hair stood erect and for the first time I prayed that the ground should swallow me alive.” Unfortunately, the ground did not swallow him, but he found himself running faster than Usain Bolt. On a normal day, this friend doesn’t like to run and when he does, he’s slow. Something must have happened that day. We all have similar stories to tell when given the opportunity. Sometimes we say God helped us, and I agree. Oftentimes, it’s the adrenalin given to us by God that worked for us.
What causes the adrenal gland to pump through our body? FEAR! When we are in danger, dread rebuke, rejection, the ‘unknowns’ or spend our whole life in anxiety, we secrete hormones the way we would when we see a bulldog, or when we are in Emeka’s kind of condition. Unfortunately, the adrenalin that is produced during those times will not be used except there is a situation to spend the generated adrenalin. So what happens when the adrenalin surges through your body and there is no big situation to combat, like fighting or running away from a bulldog? WE GET SICK! Adrenalin can only be used to conquer seemingly impossible situations like the story of my childhood friend. If not used, it eventually causes high blood pressure, ulcer, headache or a myriad of other diseases. Do you see why those who allow fear and worry to control their lives visit the doctor more often? I believe that is why God admonished us severally in His word to FEAR NOT! Because the moment you start to worry or fear, you put yourself in the hands of numerous diseases.
When next fear or worry sets in, jump up on your feet and fight back, because at that time, we grow bigger than the problems that we stand against. The power is in you. Samson fought a lion and won; David killed a bear with his bare hands and later embarrassed the proud Goliath who looked insurmountable. Paul killed a poisonous snake with his bare hands and Jacob even fought an angel and prevailed. For us Christians, we have more than adrenalin working for us. We have CHRIST. One popular scripture used all the time is, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It is time to believe these words and use them for our salvation.
Don’t spend your life worrying over your difficulties. Instead, stand up and fight the problems. We have the power to fight and win. IT’S ALREADY IN YOU.
