New Shoes

I have just moved to a new church. It is the first time I have made a new beginning with a church in over 20 years. I am looking forward to the new challenge. When I was packing to make the move, my wife sized up the situation and said, “You need some new clothes.” It is important for you to know that I am the kind of guy who needs to be told when he needs new clothes. Some people dress for style. Some people dress for comfort. I just dress to cover my body. So I don’t care much about clothes. Okay, I don’t care anything about clothes.

So, upon my wife’s advice, I have begun purchasing new clothes. If you are around me on a daily basis, don’t expect to notice my new clothes. I tend to buy new clothes that look exactly like my old clothes. Black slacks, blue oxford cloth shirts and that’s about it. But today I bought new shoes. Okay, they are exactly like my old shoes. Except they are new.

I was reminded of buying new shoes when I was a kid. Do you remember how it felt to have new shoes? One popular brand was PF Flyers™. I remember getting a new pair when I was going into the third grade. When I slipped them babies on I had no doubts that I could outrun every kid in my class. I was wearing Flyers™ and I was sure I could fly. They felt great and I felt great wearing them. Later in life the shoe to wear was the black, high-top Converse All Stars™. The Chuck Taylor model. Lace up those bad boys and I was finally going to be able to dunk the basketball. Look out Bob Cousy and Bill Russell, here I come.

New shoes or not, I was never fast on my feet. My baseball coach made a big deal out of timing my run around the bases with an hourglass, And after years of practice the best I could finally do was barely touch the rim and I never could dunk the basketball. But I never lost the excitement that having new shoes brought to my life. New shoes mean new hopes and new expectations.

So, today, I lace up my new shoes and prepare to run faster and jump higher than I ever have before. Figuratively speaking, that is. It is my hope that, with the help of my new shoes, I will be a better man than I have ever been before. I am going to be a better husband; a better father; a better Christian and a better pastor than ever before. Yep, watch out for me and my new shoes. We are going to do great things.

Copyright © 2012, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved