I came close to wrecking an expensive pair of shoes the other day.
I normally keep my shoes in good shape for a few years, but this pair I almost lost within six months of buying them.
When I was in my teens I remember my mom complaining that I wrecked running shoes (sneakers) in no time. But that was when I was young and foolish.
This week I got a call that there was a flood at our church. And when I was putting on my shoes to leave, I remember Lily saying to me, “You shouldn’t wear those; wear something old.”
But I thought that the call about the flood was an exaggeration so I said, “Don’t worry about it; they’ll be okay.”
Since then Lily has reiterated several times that she told me not to wear those shoes.
Okay, so she was right.
When I got to the church the flood was definitely a flood. In places the water was pooling on top of the carpet, and there was a little lake that spanned a hallway into two other classrooms.
The job was way too much for the one shop vac that we have, so I immediately called our carpet guy to get him on the job – fast.
The thing about flooding is you’re not usually the only one who’s flooded and so we had to wait a few hours for the carpet guy to actually arrive.
I figured I would do some prep for the professionals.
I had a helper who was madly using the shop vac in one hallway. But in the rooms we had all kinds of furniture that needed to get to dryer ground and out of the way for the carpet cleaner.
I decided to be the mover while we waited for water suction reinforcements.
The problem with that was it meant I had to walk through the pools of water in the various rooms to get the furniture out.
By the time I was done, so were my shoes. They were soaked through but looked okay.
When I got home, I told Lil that my shoes were really wet. And that was the first time she said, “I told you not to wear those shoes.”
Well, after letting them dry for two days, I still needed to blow some some warm through them.
When they were finally dry, they also looked ruined. The leather uppers had lost some of their shape, and there were white marks all over them.
That was the second time Lily said, “I told you not to wear them.”
But graciously she also said she would try to do something with them.
That evening she brought me my shoes and said, “Look at how well they turned out.”
I was amazed! They looked basically as good as they did before the dunking. I thanked her for all she did, and she reminded me one more time that I shouldn’t have worn them.
… But I’ll probably end up wearing them for something else I shouldn’t – that’s why, way back in the day, my mom was right when she said I was good at wrecking shoes.
Here’s the thing: It’s great to get another chance, but God has given us more than a second chance. He is so patient that we get multitudinous chances to trust our life to Him. And then He continues to forgive us of our wrongs. Now that’s a second chance!
That’s Life!
Paul
Question: What do you need a second chance with? Leave your comments below.
