the tale of the puppy and the cole haan shoes...

one day a girl bought some adorable ballet black patent cole haan shoes for her trip to europe that was coming up. the shoes had nike air and would be perfect for the trip...they were cute and comfortable. here they are at king ludwig's castle in bavaria germany... aren't they so cute?!

despite their cuteness, they weren't worn much after this day due to all the walking causing two blisters on the poor girl's feet. :(

when she returned home from her long trip, she was extremely tired! she started to unpack her suitcase but wasn't able to really do much of anything but sleep! the next morning she woke up to her little dog chewing the heel of the right shoe! he of course got a huge lecture from her, but it's really her fault you see...she gives him her old shoes to chew on so he probably thought this was his present from her trip. the girl was so sad about her ruined cute ballet black patent shoe...and she was still so tired...

a week later, after she had recovered from the trauma of the incident, the girl took the shoes to the cole haan store to see if they could be repaired. as the the sales lady went to check with the manager, she was entertained by a lady with a little yorkie by her side, who had very short hair and was trying on cole haan scarves as headbands. alas, the news came back...the damage was too much and couldn't be repaired! the girl was sad and said she would browse a little before deciding what to do...

she looked but decided to wait on replacing the shoes or on buying new ones...hey she hadn't tried the shoe hospital yet! so she went back to get her shoes to leave and the sales lady couldn't find the shoes! where were they? it was the strangest thing that had ever happened! she said the lady with the dog must have taken the dog-chewed shoes with her on accident. the girl was assured the lady would be contacted and her shoes would be recovered.

the weekend passed and still no sign of the lady with the dog and the shoes...so the manager told the girl he would replace her dog-chewed shoes with brand new ones! could it be true?! as the girl went to pick up her new shoes, she couldn't help but have a smile on her face...not only for getting a second chance at wearing the new shoes again, but also for being part of such a funny story.



with that smile still on my face as i looked at my new shoes, god showed me how this story related to him and my life.

here's the symbolism i saw:
the shoes...represent me.
the chew marks....my sins.
the gift of the new shoes...the free gift of salvation through jesus christ!

the shoes were a complete gift, something i didn't deserve, that i didn't earn and couldn't fix on my own; no matter what i did, the damage was too much!

just like me with god. i come to him with my imperfections and sins...and he washes me clean. i am a new creation in him...just like my new shoes! thank you god for showing me more about you through this, and also for blessing me with a perfect pair of shoes. :)

therefore, if any man be in christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 corinthians 5:17

every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. james 1:17