Do Your Shoes Match?

I picked them up and threw them into the washing machine. They were covered from our hiking adventure with dried up mud.  You couldn't see what would be revealed after the mud had been washed way.

They tumbled through the washing machine, pounding against the side, twisting and turning through the suds.

The machine stopped  and I opened the lid.  Grabbing down into the darkness I pulled out the shoes.

Aaaahhhhhh........THAT was the problem.

As we ran out the door, I yelled back..."get your shoes! we are going hiking."  We ventured off to grab two more boys for our adventure.  "Adventure" would be a very good word for what happened, but at that time it was being used as an adjective to heighten our walk along trails.

They giggle in the back seat as Benjamin charged himself for the day.  Only boys can think up these things.

The day was cool for an August in Texas and the path was dry..............until we got back into the woods.  Our adventure began as we started walking through MUD, and more MUD, slippery MUD!  The shoes, which I hadn't even looked down upon, were being coated with MUD.

My shoes were weighing down with  MUD.  I hadn't planned on MUD!  I started to encourage my discouraged hikers to push on.  We were now Hobbits with heavy, large feet.  We were on an adventure.  "Just around the bend", I quoted from the Wind and the Willow, we would find dry ground.  At first they just kept complaining and I questioned my own sanity.

We swatted at mosquitoes, while increasing our stride.  I started to tell our fellow hikers that I was glad their mothers loved me and yes, this was a stupid idea.  I felt if I beat them to the punch line it would be better.  Then I just got silly. What do you do?  We couldn't go back, that was even further.  I said, "Okay, no more complaining and for each complaint you have to give me two positive statements about our hike."  Well, I can't say I was a genius, but I do know the Lord heard my cry for help.  Out came the most precious "positive" statements.  My heart begin to overflow.

They begin to be thankful for each discovery.  For the grasshoppers flying before us...and most of all for the MUD!!!

The next day the shoes revealed the reason Benjamin got a blister on his heel.  He had grabbed two different shoes!

Now isn't that life?  We grab the wrong shoes, yet we walk on.  We have a blister, but we still have to learn to look for the positive.  The MUD we hate, because the MUD that turned a regular hike into a real.......                                                                            ...ADVENTURE!

I think these boys will remember our ADVENTURE, and if not, I know I sure will. What a lesson I learned. Just a change of attitude can save the day.