Shoes At The Bedside

This is the foot of Walker's bed, and those are his dad's shoes. It may seem as if Walker's been walking in his dad's shoes for play, but that's not the case. (At least not literally in this situation...)

This is one of three pair of Cliff's

shoes that are currently residing in the boys rooms. God bless their sniffers. :)

To some wives, this may be annoying-"Honey put your shoes away!" 

To me, it's the picture of beauty. These shoes, at the foot of that bed represent the life legacy of a man who loves The Lord and desires above all else to seek Him in parenting and a man who loves his children with every fiber of his being. Those are shoes, kicked off first one and then the other, as he lays across his son's bed  and reads to him from the Bible nightly, discussing and applying God's Word to his little life, then sends him off to dreamland with a prayer and a kiss. 

One night recently, my man and I had been chatting in our room late. He went out and I assumed he would be right back after setting the alarm and shutting down the house for the evening. When around fifteen minutes had passed and he didn't return, I went to look for him. Our house is quaint, so when I didn't immediately see him, I panicked a tiny bit. (I'm a fraidy cat at heart. They could make a movie around the fake situations that go on in my mind-killer behind the curtains style). :)

My small level of panic was quickly replaced with a strong dose of love and adoration as I rounded the corner of the hallway and saw a Daddy sized shadow kneeling on the floor of littlest boy's room. My man, in all his mighty masculine self, on the floor hovering over his youngest child whispering prayers over his life as he sleeps. 

I watched him a moment, for he couldn't see me. I whispered my own prayers of thankfulness to The Lord for blessing my life with this most godly husband. (Then I texted my mom to tell her what I had just witnessed. Hey-I'm a girl...)

This is a pretty common occurrance in our home, but I was taken aback this particular night, witnessing it, unknown to him. 

It charms me that he wakes our oldest each day, gets him showered, dressed, fed, makes my coffee, warms the car and gets us out of the house so that my morning can start effortlessly and free of any added stress. 

It woos me that he still flirts with me after ten years of marriage and loves me best in my self proclaimed frumpy state, that he never allows me to feel as if I am anything less than beautiful every day. 

It warms my heart and makes me smile to see him rolling and wrestling on the floor with our boys. Teaching them to fish, play golf or football, building them up and disciplining them out of love when it's necessary, in general just being the world's best dad. 

But nothing, absolutely nothing, compares to knowing that I have a man who loves The Lord first and in turn so desires to grow his children and lead our family in The Lord. Nothing beats knowing that he's lifting us up daily to the lord and seeking His guidance for our family. Because of my faith in The Lord, I can have confidence that no matter what our family faces, God's hand of protection is on us and we will overcome any odds we face. Knowing Cliff takes his position as our leader so seriously and that he's passionate about taking us to The Lord in prayer only increases that confidence. 

I am simply blessed beyond measure. So the shoes? The shoes don't bother me. In fact, they move me. Displaced shoes in our home represent so much more than a messy man. They represent a righteous man. 

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16b

Thank you, Lord, for my righteous man.