Gray Shoes vs. The Rain Boots

I've been reading a little bit of Thomas Merton in particular, "New Seeds of Contemplation". Merton strives to find God in the everyday. I've always tried to find God in the everyday but Merton is pushing me to be intentional about this. So here it goes:

Last week we got Sam a new pair of tennis shoes. He so lovingly describes them as "cute". They are gray tennis shoes with one Velcro strap on them and of course the New Balance "N". Depending on his view point he sometimes thinks there is a "Z" on them. He really loves these shoes.
Today it was warm outside (mid to high 50's) so I took the boys outside to play. Sam really loves to jump in puddles (in his gray shoes)- enough said.
Today I took Sam to Target to get a pair of puddle jumping boots. When we got to the aisle with the boots he got really sad. He did not want to take off his gray shoes to try on the boots. He almost started to cry until I explained to him that we were getting special shoes so that he could jump in the puddles. Even when I let him pick between the cow boots or the dinosaur boots (he chose dinosaurs) he still wasn't really excited it. I told him after we tried on boots we could go get lunch - a special treat of chicken and fries - so, he let me put them on him but then we had to quickly put his gray shoes back on.
When Mike got home from work Sam was excited to show his new boots to his Daddy. Grandma Vicki stopped over and he showed them to her too. Even later, when Uncle Joe and Lexi came over he was excited to show them to them too. I think he finally realized that the dinosaur rain boots are going to serve an important purpose.


How did I find God in this?
God gives each of us gifts, tasks, people in our lives, passions, desires, etc.. Sometimes he switches things up on us and we get sad, upset, need bribed with chicken nuggets, etc. We forget to trust him just like Sam "forgot" to trust me that I had a good plan with the rain boots. Then all of sudden God gives us something new and we are excited to show off our "rain boots" to everyone.
For example, I had been wearing "gray shoes" for 5 or more years in the form of leading a small group at our church. I had always been excited to be a part of the leadership team even when it would get a little messy from jumping in the puddles. When Mike and I felt called out of leadership about 6 months ago it was really hard to give it up but we knew that that's what God was doing. I can honestly say I felt a little lost with out the title of "leader" being a part of my Christian life. I know God has called us out of this for a reason. I feel like I'm just now starting to figure out what His reason/my "rain boots" are - focusing on family, building up friendships, and getting to know Him all over again on a deeper level. I trust what God is doing is the best plan and he is going to equip me with the "proper shoes". He gave me a pair of "rain boots" just in time for puddle jumping this spring! Come spring come!