My Boots Story: “Weigh Me Down Or Get Down With The Way?” And “Can’t Stroll With A Worn-Out Sole"

So, my titles for today’s thoughts are: “Weigh Me Down Or Get Down With The Way?”  And “Can’t Stroll With A Worn-Out Sole".  My boots story!  First, let me say before I get on with my story...that I have always loved boots and wore them often, but when I broke my foot many years ago while singing at a church...   What?  Yes, I walked off stage and misjudged the long step.  Bam!  Anyway, I started having to wear my Roper boots laced up real tight to stop the pain that would come several times a year.  Never did heal right.  But, my point is...I learned to live with the pain because I couldn't take medication.  The boots were tough and I was gonna be, too.  What started as a bad thing, became my symbol to get me up and kick butt everyday...no matter what the day brought.  And I began to wear them every day!  Just like my fingerless gloves.  That's another story.  So, back to this story....  Last night at our Family Night at church, things were cooking…the food, the preaching , the music and the Rickyism after.  Ricky?  A smart young 10-year old that makes me smile.  We were playing air basketball and he asked me to run and do a jump shot as high as I could.  Okay!  You’re on!  I ran and jumped, but didn’t get too high…and I really love basketball.  I was thinking and laughed and spoke out loud. “These 2-ton, 4-inch Skecher boots of mine won’t let me jump very high.  He simply said, “No complaintants”.  It was his way and fast comeback that made me smile.  I said, “but, but…these boots are… okay…no excuses.  You got me.  Next week, you’re on…no boots, this time…or my old ones, if I can get new soles put on.  (click on the photo to see my delightful boots.  You see, my other boots are 15 years old and made for riding horses.  They cost a fortune and have stood the test of time.  They wrap around my feet and legs like my own skin.  They didn’t, at first.  Ouch...did I have "complaintants"?  PIMP LOL...  Yes!  They hurt while breaking them in.  That's why they call it "breaking them in"?  They break your feet before they break in.  When somethings broke...it usually hurts something, right?  So, the first place I wore them was the “Gettysburg Battlefields”.  We were visiting my Grandmother in Pennsylvania.  She was very sick with cancer, but wanted to take us there.  She was tough like the boots.  On the way to the Battlefields, we stopped and bought the boots at my Uncle Pete’s store in Abbottstown, called “Adleblute’s, which I used to work at as a kid.  It had everything and my Pap and Grandma ran it.  It is mostly for Western clothes and all now.  My Uncle and my cousins run it.  I treasure them all and the memories of that  place.  K…back to the story.  Well, this all got me thinking…you know?  About complaints.  About heavy things!  And I’m not talking heavy as in cool, man!  I’m talking burdens.  Stuff that keeps you from sleeping.  Stuff you should pray about.  Give to God…His burden is light.  Easier said than done, sometimes, right?  Well, a lot of things were weighing on me…like those 2-ton 4 inch boots, right?  I can, hardly walk around in them.  They keep me stuck to the floor like weights.  You could throw me into the ocean and I would sink, I am sure, if you were mafia and you were a hit man…I mean you did say you knew the Fatha, right?  I’m hoping you are from New York and that was just your accent, right?  PIMP LOL.  Sorry, too much humor this morning.   Back to the boots…  My favorite boots, my Ropers, are finally wore out after 15 years and I’ve been having to get used to these heavy ones.  They are gorgeous boots that I’ve had for 10 years, but never wore.  Why?  Because they weight a ton.  No complainants!  The upper boot part of my Ropers are still wonderful.  Tough as leather and a little cracked, like me! But, I have to be polished once in a while like my boots…if I want to shine…& last. Be preserved & resistant to all the stains.  My boots have a sole underneath all that toughness, too…& some strings attached…that get a little knotted up sometimes and have to be untangled to hold things together!  A little worn, like me, but polish up nice.  They are strong and tough, still, but, the heels and soles are almost gone...can hardly see them from all the strolling in life.  Really the most important part of the boot.  Can’t stroll, if there’s no sole!  Like us…our leather, our skin, can be worn, but intact…but if our “sole” is worn out, we got to get it fixed!   Can’t stroll without a strong sole.  Won’t make it far, in either case…the road… or the road of life!   It’ll be a long road.  I can get them resoled if I can find someone that still does that sort of thing.  Gotta find a reputable “Repairer”  Our soles get wore out from time and not being taken care of or just wear and tear from walkin’…strollin’.  We need to go to the Master Repairer and get resouled…just like my boots.  He is a “Shoo-in”!  PIMP LOL.  Kind of a play on words that everyone gets mixed up.  It’s a race horse that's so fast that you can merely shoo it across the finish line rather than having to urge it on with stronger measures.  That's a “shoo-in”: an easy winner. It is humorous to me when this expression is misspelled “shoe-in” because to “shoehorn” something in is to squeeze it in with great difficulty and sometimes, pain.  And, I guess sometimes, God has to do that with us when we bring our boots to Him!  Right?  Whichever you bring and whichever He gives…a Shoo-in or a Shoe-in, it won’t be heavy!!  Now, that’s heavy!!!  TNT LOL.  One more thought…  Those old boots of mine?  The Ropers?  They’ve seen a lot and been through a lot with me.  They’ve been all over…from The Gettysburg Battlefields to Life’s Battlefields.  Anybody walk a mile there?  Right?  We all have! You know that saying?  “You try to walk a mile in my boots”.  But, really?  We all have those miles and the thing is?  Will we walk a mile with someone…like He does?   If it’s not too much or too heavy, right?  We all have those “heavy” things in our life that can either weigh us down and sink us…or give us balance.  Sounds cliché’, but we can’t let things weigh us down. We gotta get down with the Way.  That way?  We bear one another’s burdens.  God is always thinking of our best interests when he gives us these life lessons.  Remember that song by the Hollies, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”?  Click here to listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1KtScrqtbc  while you finish reading this.  Or listen and then finish.  Anyway, that song says it all.  That kind of heavy…is not encumbering…it is balancing.  Enlightening, no encumbering!  That’s how God made us.  To carry one another’s burdens.  Sometimes, we forget that we are here to serve one another.  That’s how we serve Him.  We get so wrapped up in our life that we carry our own burdens for so long that they weigh us down.  And that can be a long road…a long way…a long “weigh”…to stroll.  So, today?  Help make someone else’s load lighter.  It’ll take the load off of you.  Now, that’s heavy!!!  PIMP LOL!  OK, 2 more final thoughts.   Sometimes, we feel so weighed down by our own life, by the weight of the world... that we don’t feel like walking a mile with someone else.  We rather just give them the boot, instead of wearing their boot…or shoes…you know?  Walkin a mile in their shoes?  Or like the Samaritan in the bible who was the only one to help… you might be that someone today or this week to pass by someone in your life who needs help.  And they may not even be able to ask.  Carry him  today…pick him up.  It’ll pick you up.  He ain’t heavy, he’s your brother.  Heavy stuff to lighten your day!  Remember, we all have our crosses to bear.  Leave me a comment…tell me about your miles…stop by my other posts for some humor and hope and click on the pictures for...well?  The bigger picture!  Have a new page called Space Place and cool offers throughout my Place here.  Gotta go get those heavy boots on now and go lighten my load.  Grocery time tonight and bills...now, that's a load.  Anyone wanna lighten it for me?  So, my way?  Give what weighs me down?  To God.  Yep!  That’s heavy… and He’s my Father….  That’s the only Way!  And He already carried the biggest weight ever...for all of us.  Weigh cool, right?  Way!!!   Trace