Memorial Shoes
I’m normally not the sentimental type. You know, the type who holds on to every little thing because it holds memory. In fact, I only kept two items from when my boys were babies: their coming home from the hospital outfits and their dedication outfits. I’ve just never been one to hold on to stuff for memories sake. Like, I know some people who keep all of their kids’ baby teeth, and others who hold on to every card ever given to them. But I’ve always been really good at throwing things away, up until recently.
It has come time to replace a pair of Nike tennis shoes that I’ve had for over 5 years. They’re a black-and-white pair of shoes that I got early in the year of 2016. When I purchased these shoes, I didn’t realize the steps I would be taking in them. That they would be tennis shoes and house shoes. That they would be a sentimental piece to a testimony.
In 2016 my husband, Eric, found himself undergoing two brain surgeries after a 12-year battle of what we came to call, “simple seizures,” because of a cavernoma that was found on his brain. God healed him through these two surgeries, thanks to one awesome neurologist, one steady handed neurosurgeon and a bunch of amazing ICU nurses. Of course, I can’t leave out the hundreds of prayers that were prayed for him that absolutely contributed to his healing.
During each trip to the hospital, I wore those shoes. I wore them because they were comfortable and easy to slip off and on. I wore them when we prayed together before leaving the house. I wore them as I sat in the waiting room chair. I wore them every day during our ICU stay, as I would walk the hall every morning to the bathroom to freshen up for the day. I wore them as I would walk to the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I wore them as I sat crisscross applesauce in the chair every morning to read my Bible and write in my journal. I would slip them on as house shoes in the middle of the night to check on Eric.
After five years, I’ve put them through many steps. Every time I wear them, I think about that summer in 2016 and I smile from the memories of God’s goodness and faithfulness.
It reminds me of a time in the Bible when God instructed Joshua to choose twelve leaders, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, to pick up one stone each to build a memorial piece in remembrance of all that God had brought them through – literally through.
Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; so that all the peoples of the earth may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that the hand of the Lord is mighty and extraordinarily powerful, so that you will fear the Lord your God [and obey and worship Him with profound awe and reverence] forever.” Joshua 4:19-24 amp
It can be so easy to forget all of the miracles, big and small, that God has brought us through. As the years pass, our minds move on to now things, to the miracles we need now. Actually, our minds tend to move on minutes after a miracle because we are so excited about discovering something new. Each day we wake up looking for more. We move on and forget all that He has brought us through. Eventually, we allow new worries and new doubts to set in as we forget all He’s done before.
God didn’t ask for the memorial stones to be collected so the Israelites would only have the past to remember his goodness with no hope for tomorrow. He wanted them to build a memorial out of them as a focal point of faith that they could trust Him for greater things to come. They had seen Him work it out once and our God is a do-it-again God!
That’s what my Nikes have become for me, a remembrance of His goodness and faithfulness. A reminder that He has brought us through a storm before and we can trust Him to do it again. I’ll treasure those shoes forever. I may even put them in a shadow box and hang them up.
And you know what? That same summer, after Eric had been healed, my dad was deemed in remission from kidney cancer. Eric is now 5 years seizure free and my dad is 5 years cancer free. And how ironic is it that in 2016 Elevation Church released the worship song, Do It Again? I’m just sayin’.
What do you have in your possession that’s a reminder to be thankful for all He’s done, and also a reminder that you can trust Him for greater things to come?
This Thanksgiving let’s find ourselves thankful for all He’s done and for all He is about to do.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalms 23:6