Wednesday's Word

Where’s Your Mindset Set?

The Blue Shoe

Colossians 3:2: Set your mind on things above, not on things of this earth!

Welcome to Wednesday’s Word @ Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United. Grab your favorite beverage and your Strand of Faith and let’s go tie some knots because honestly, as a dear friend once told me, mind over matter matters! ^SJ

Last week was a hard week in my court-reporting world, but life is just like that; you have to take the good with the bad, ride the waves of excitement and hold steady when there’s a lull. Over the last several months, I’ve become accustomed to spending at least one if not two days of each week in L.A. and I absolutely enjoy it. However, it’s become a bit more challenging as I’ve gotten a lot older. ☺ Each time I go into L.A., I’m up at 4:00 (no easy feat nowadays) to have my Coffee Hour with my Abba, figure out what needs to get taken care of in the ministry, pack my equipment, and of course some pretty shoes that I can easily slip on in exchange for my tennis shoes before I enter the office where I’ll be reporting for the day. Well, last Monday was no exception. I packed everything, including my favorite pair of blue shoes – they took me two years to find – a pair of Aerosoles. Not only are they incredibly comfortable but they’re really cute too! I mean too much of my wardrobe is based on these blue shoes! 

This particular day turned out to be a shorter day than expected because my 2:00 had cancelled, so I made a hasty decision to try and get the next train back to San Bernardino. This was a challenge and would require some fast-paced walking, maybe even a few moments of jogging down the streets of L.A. to reach the Red Line about a mile away.  Now, there’s something funny about a woman lugging 50+ pounds of equipment down the boulevard, sort of, and yet, I fit in as just another “different,” perhaps a bit crazy lady in the streets of L.A.!  I should be in amazing shape with not an ounce of fat on my body, but Menopause has pushed that image on pause!

So I made it…with a few minutes to spare! I got comfortable and got right to work editing my job and then working on upcoming ministry stuff. An hour and a half passes by quickly and this day was no exception. As the train pulled into the station, I looked out the window and saw my husband waiting for me…and my heart smiled. I headed for the exit and suddenly my smile faded as I realized that the shoe I had hurriedly placed in the side pocket of my case was…GONE! The conductor’s voice came over the intercom, “doors closing, door’s closing,” 

I yelled out, “Hey, I need to check inside. I lost my shoe!” I didn’t wait for a response and left my court reporting equipment out (can you believe it; over 6k worth of stuff!) while I ran back in…only to discover my shoe wasn’t there. I was devastated. I know that may seem like a strong word for losing a stupid shoe….but I seriously looked for just the right pair of blue shoes for two years and had just found these three months ago. I loved them! 

As I walked toward my smiling husband, all I could do was exclaim about my lost blue shoe. “Tell me where to get them and I’ll go buy them for you.” That did make me smile for a minute. As soon as I got in the car, I didn’t waste a minute and started to Google Aerosole shoes, and could not find my shoe anywhere. This began to really consume me and I allowed it to pretty much ruin the rest of my day, especially when I went into my closet to plan what I was wearing for my next day, which was back in L.A.! Everything I wanted to wear required those darned blue shoes!

I had a dream that night of finding that blue shoe and I knew just right where I lost it. I saw myself in the middle of the street holding on tightly to my lost blue shoe while cars went zooming by me, blasting their horns. I mean this dream was real…that is until I went there the next morning and it was nowhere to be found. Disappointment washed over me worse than my longest hottest hot flash and suddenly this verse came out of the hallways of my heart and echoed in my brain: “Set your mind on things above, not on things of this earth”!

 I continued walking up Wilshire Boulevard but immediately my mindset was changed, no longer set on my lost blue shoe. I know that our Father cares about everything that concerns me so I have hung on to the one blue shoe with the hopes that one day, somehow my other one will make it back to me, and if not, it will serve as a reminder about my mindset, that it should be set on things above, not on things of this earth…or blue shoes!

Oh, to gain an eternal perspective so external circumstances lose their power!

Evinda