The Missing Chacos

So, some of you know the love affair that I enjoy with my Chacos.  Yes, one might think, "but they're only sandals..."  Oh, my friend, if you only knew....  They are so much more than just sandals.  As a runner, my feet are very precious to me.  A runner's feet are also very succeptible to injury and pains of varying degrees.  My Chacos are the only sandals that I can count on to not cause me pain of any kind.  They are the only sandals that I can wear all day long and my legs nor my back will ever hurt.  Oh, my Chacos are very important to my overall well being!

The Youth of Royston First United Methodist Church have heard (maybe not listened to) full lessons taught on Chacos.  See, last summer, my favorite pair of Chacos broke right before we went on our summer mission trip!  I was devastated, but I was thankful that God allowed me to use that situation to hopefully, teach at least 1 or 2 youth members a lesson on falling apart, based on one of my very favorite scriptures from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, "May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, put you together-spirit, soul, and body- and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.  The One who called you is completely dependable.  If he said it, he'll do it!"  My shoes had fallen apart, and because Chacos come with a lifetime warranty, I was able to send them back for repair.  The theme for last year's mission trip was "Broken and Poured Out."  So, we talked alot about how we sometimes have to realize just how broken we are before we will allow God to put us back together and how He doesn't just throw the peices away.  He takes the broken pieces of our lives and fits them back together perfectly, like a puzzle that only He knows what the final picture will look like!!!  Broken vessels do not perform the task they were created to perform.  That is why, in order to fulfill God's purpose four lives, we must allow Him to put our pieces back together, to heal our brokenness.  So, as I awaited the repair of my Chacos, because they were broken and unable to perform the awsome task of supporting my feet, we reflected on all the areas in our lives where we need to allow God to have the broken pieces of our hearts, our souls and sometimes even our bodies, so He may put them back together, so they will perform the tasks He created them to perform! 

Imagine my surprise and my delight, when the next week, I received not just my repaired pair of Chacos, but a BRAND NEW PAIR!!!  Oh, NO, here it comes, another scripture lesson!  Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."  WOW!!!  A pitcher is created with the purpose of holding and pouring water.  When broken, there are times when it can simply be repaired and will be able to then continue holding and pouring water.  But, there are times, when the pitcher might be so broken, that a simple repair will not do....  When we give God the shattered pieces of our lives, He creates us anew.  When we put our hope and our trust in Christ Jesus who gave His life for us, He creates us anew.  We are washed clean by the blood!  Praise God!!!  Only God knows what the completed masterpiece of our lives looks like.  He renews us from the inside out so we "can do the things he planned for us long ago." 

Onto the missing part...my Chacos have been missing for the last few days.  I had looked everywhere, or so I thought.  My mom looked at her house, my brother in law looked at his.  I had decided that I must have left them in the locker room at the gym.  Visions of some college student skipping out of the Fitness Center wearing my Chacos have consumed my mind (not that I think EC students are thieves...but, you know).  Honestly, and sadly enough, it required great focus on my part to listen to Sunday's sermon without thinking about where my Chacos might be.  In my defense, they are expensive sandals and the thought of dropping $100, which I do not have, on another pair, caused me to panic a little.  Now, yes, I know, there is an altogether more important lesson here on how I should not be so obsessed with material possessions and a whole host of other lessons on what I should allow my mind to be consumed with, but this story has a happy ending!!!

 

While cleaning our extra bathroom, for the first time in longer than I want the public to know, I found them in the bath tub!  Now, we do not use the bath tub in this bathroom, before you start to think we do not bathe ourselves or our children.  LilaBelle (third child syndrome-she gets blamed for everything) must have taken them from our bedroom and dropped them in the tub, where they were covered up by beach towels I had laid out to dry from the last time we went swimming at Emmanuel. 

This is the last scripture lesson, I promise, at least for this blog.  Jeremiah 29:13 says, "If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me."  I am not promised that if I look for my Chacos "wholeheartedly", that I will find them.  But, Jeremiah offers us the promise that if we do indeed look for God "wholeheartedly", we will find him.  If my mind is continually consumed with thoughts of God, even during Sunday's sermon, that's OK!  Thank you Chacos (maybe I should write the company) for teaching me yet another AH-MAZING lesson about our AH-MAZING God!!!  And, thank you, God, from the bottom of my heart for your many promises.  Thank you for your Word and that we can count on you to never fail us or forsake us.  Thank you for the promise from 1 Thessalonians 5, "The One who called you is completely dependable.  If he said it, he'll do it!"