whose shoes do you choose

None of us want to ever be described or associated with the thought that we are anyone less than Cinderella.
Just the mere thought of being the ugly sister or any of the other women at the ball, just doesn’t seem right.
Yet many of us, if not all of us, have acted those parts out very well in the production called - real life…
Girls, many times in our lives if we are truly honest with ourselves, we have desired to walk in someone else’s shoes, frequently thinking in the back of our minds how grand it would be……even for just a day.
Some of us have tried and tried to squeeze into them but they were not made for us.

If only we could……..all our dreams would be answered……..just one try of the shoe and our life would become a fairy tale.
 We would try in desperation to squeeze into it,whaterver it may be  with the hope that it  would be the answer to all our problems
I can just imagine the sounds as all those women  saw the Prince  marching into town; masses of women all different shapes and sizes,  knowing in their heart that the shoe was not theirs but frantically hoping it would fit.

It’s funny really, I can envisage this tiny little slipper being presented and women with size 10 feet doing everything possible to squeeze into it, but to no avail. (It’s like the jeans scenario… it doesn’t matter if you can’t breathe, at least you look good, ha-ha.)

Well girls, if we were transparent with ourselves and each other, we could confess that there are times when we ourselves have desperately tried to walk in someone else’s shoes……. I mean come on, their lives look perfect…… they always dress well……… smile beautifully……..have amazing husbands……..and kids……….. .immaculate homes……. laundries (my bane) that never have dirty washing in them……… white tile floors that never get dirty……… and to top it off, never seem tired, look tired, get tired …… arrggghh. Oh and before I forget, they have no stretch marks, cellulite or pimples. And they still fit in, feeding the hungry, visiting the prisons etc. etc.

Girls, how sad can we be? ….. There are no living breathing women on this planet that is perfect. When our heavenly Father knitted us in our mother’s womb He had ONE specific call for YOU and YOU alone.
I believe that as we take the slipper that has been crafted for us to wear, we won’t need to try and squeeze ourselves into anything else, we will never have to frantically fit into something that is not ours to fit into.
At the beginning of the 10th century, a custom practiced in China was foot binding, where girls as young as five would have their feet bound with bandages so that their feet would not grow. It was done more in the wealthier parts of china when the girls’ feet were bound in this manner. Four toes would break on each foot in the first year causing the feet to be deformed.
When we try and fit our lives into the shoes of others we become bound. We don’t grow and we can’t fulfil God’s special design and things break down, as we try impatiently to be someone that we were never called to be.
We too, can end up deformed and stunted in our growth.
We don’t really have a choice of what type of shoes we get to wear as they have already been picked out for us, but as we accept the pair we are given, the colors come alive…..they are a perfect fit…..others look, as we wear our shoes with pride. Our whole posture changes, we see things differently……………………..to be cont

Deb Matheson 2009 ©