End of Summer Prayer
It wasn’t the book bags sitting expectantly by the front door that sent my heart lurching into my throat tonight. Nor was it the alarm clocks we set in each bedroom as we uttered prayers of thanks for an amazing summer. It was the shoes. Dusty football cleats and battered running shoes; practical new tennis shoes and staid tie-ups. Sensible shoes marking the end of summer.
I picture shell-shocked toes racing for the bright yellow bus tomorrow. In my mind’s eye, I can see them sitting silently in class and walking steadily in straight lines; rushing to practice and dangling impatiently from the kitchen barstools while homework is completed. And my feet feel cramped and my heart feels heavy.
I want to pull the flip-flops out of the closet. I want to stop the flip-flopping in my heart. So I ask Him– the Maker of those feet that have spent a summer tiptoeing after butterflies and dipping in cool waters, bounding across emerald yards and digging in grains of sand–to show me the next step. Lord, how do we carry a barefoot summer into a bustling school year? How do we continue to skip and saunter on Holy Ground when our feet are stuffed into schedules and stipulations, carpools and classes?
And the Lord reminds me of Moses, crammed into a commonplace life bound by desert sands and wandering sheep. The ordinary besieged with glory.
“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground…” –Exodus 3:5
I bend down and touch the row of shoes by my front door. And pray for the feet that will fill them. I pray blessing over the ground upon which they will tread tomorrow- the locker room and the lunch room, the playground and the science lab– Holy places because He is there. May these feet not simply pass by.
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” –Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
I straighten the backpacks and dust off the shoes. Father, teach us how to live with barefoot souls.
The Overflow:
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” -Acts 7:33
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” -Acts 7:33
I loved all those pictures of shoes loved all summer! BEAUTIFUL! I am thankful to have them all home, but I still pray for them…life is so fun and filled with adventure!