"Take off your Shoes..."

September 12, 2013

Dear Ones,

  The summer is quickly approaching an end and the weather has begun to cool just slightly hinting that the crisp days of fall are on their way.  In fact Kelsi, the Show Hope summer intern, and I even broke into the Hot Spiced Apple Cider the other day in place of our usual afternoon coffee break fare.  I love fall…

  With each changing season there are things that remain the same and yet different, I thought of this the other day as I flipped through photos and came across one that made me stop and smile as I considered it- a long hallway filled with shoes.

  The summer is always a bustle of activity with guests and groups who come to visit, come to learn, come to share, come to love and laugh, cry and delight in the beautiful children who abide under this big roof.  Whenever these guests are in our home we ask that they do not wear their outdoor shoes into the children’s nurseries and so the hallways grow collections and groupings of shoes outside the doors.  As I go about my day I often pass these shoes and smile to myself thinking, “Take off your shoes, for the place you stand is Holy Ground.”  When you consider that these precious babies belong to the King of Kings who has said He will be their Father and now we have the honor of holding, cuddling, loving, caring for, helping to bind wounds and broken bodies, and singing lullabies all the way to the gates of heaven.  This is Holy Ground- the Creator of the Universe has drawn close, He walks the halls with us, spends the night hours watching with us and over us, He is the sustainer of life, and the Comforter in death, He is the healer, and He is here.  The shoes are just a simple visible reminder to me of that very fact and I pray that the beautiful feet that fit into those shoes will carry not just the story of this holy ground and the little ones who live on it but also the Good News of Him the very Giver of Life and Salvation to a world that is dying to know Him.

By His Grace Alone,

Mariah