Big Pumps to Fill

Knowing that I didn’t have to live up to the legacy of a woman—a human being—took a load off of me. Knowing that I had to walk with Jesus and walk out my own uniquely carved path in him was more gratifying. It was like having the best of both worlds without compromise: I could be my own woman in Christ yet still have a piece of Irene living in me.

That was a marvelous gift from God to me. And it is a gift God gives to all of His girls.

Too often we women want to fit our feet into shoes or pumps that were not designed for us. We look at our mothers, grandmothers, friends and even the pastor’s wife as living examples of womanhood. We might even try to walk, talk, and act like them to no avail. And the only reason we do this is because we haven’t found the value in our own pumps - as designed by God.

The only one God wants us to mimic—live like, talk like, act like and walk like—is Jesus Christ. And the blessing is that we are not required to fill his shoes; we are simply required to follow his steps.

This Mother’s Day, in loving memory of Irene I am going to have her pumps encased in a shadow box and placed on my wall. And then one day, I’m going to have a pair of my own shoes encased as a simple reminder of the freedom God gave me to be myself as he created me.

Happy Mother’s Day!