In Their Shoes

Both of my girls have gone through stages this year where they like to try on other family member's shoes. Abby mostly tries on mine, but Grace will try on anyone's shoes that she can. One day when Grace brought me Abby's shoes to try on, I thought of what it's like to be in Grace's shoes.

The night before, for some bizarre reason, Grace had been wide awake between 11 and 1. I believe in taking care of my babies at night--I want them to trust me to take care of them even when it's inconvenient, and I believe with all my heart that it's what Jesus would do. So I got up with her. And when I started to feel desperate, Cameron stepped in for a turn. (Thank goodness for a husband who will help at such times!) But there were definite moments in those two hours when I was frustrated and wondered why in the world she was awake. Were her incoming teeth bothering her? Was her stomach hurting? Was she getting sick? Did she have a bad dream? Or did she wake up to review and ponder her new toddler vocabulary? I will never know. But do I spend enough time thinking about what life is like in her shoes?

When I am helping Jake with his homework and feeling frustrated that he can't remember a word, do I remember that it really is a lot of work to begin to string letters and sounds together into words and sentences?

When Abby is pretending something in her little preschooler world and I want her to finish a task or hurry to go somewhere, do I pause to remember the joy of childhood and let her finish what she's doing?

My mom sent these cute wooden Dutch shoes, and both girls love them!

Do I think of what it's like in their shoes?

Do I think of what it's like in Cameron's shoes when he gets up early to go to work all week and has school all weekend?

Do I think of what it's like in my neighbor's shoes? Or the shoes of the rude driver in front of me? Or the grumpy person at the check-out stand? Do I think of what I could do to lighten their burdens?

Isn't Christ's knowledge of what it's like in each of our shoes one thing that we adore about Him?

I don't have Christ's omniscience. I don't even have His perfect love. Not yet. But I can keep trying to think of what it's like in someone else's shoes.