Today I super-glued my tennis shoes. That’s a ridiculous sentence for a Monday morning. But it’s true. The little bottom, grippy squares were coming off, so I sat at my office desk, took off my shoes and super-glued them. Yes, at work. Super professional…I know.
Sadly, it’s the second time I’ve super-glued my shoes this month. And even more sad, I bought these shoes at the end of November. They’re a little over two months old and already coming apart. Sure, I could have emailed Hoka and asked if they were still under warranty, but I just didn’t feel like I would follow through and ship them back. So here we are.
As I was super-gluing these shoes, I thought about the amount of fear I had growing up of super glue. I think I had seen an ER episode of someone getting their fingers stuck and having to amputate, or something ridiculous. Or maybe my dad just instilled a healthy awareness of how powerful super glue is. But I think because of this fear, I rarely use it and figure out other ways to fix situations. I usually wait until something is really falling apart to figure out a way to fix it.
It’s the fourth week of 2024. The fourth Noisy Narrative blog of the year. The fourth full week of January. So many things in January revolve around new habits, resolutions, and fresh starts. That’s great. But my fourth week of this year feels almost like the first. I’ve had three weekends of retreats back-to-back, so this weekend was my first with zero plans! It honestly felt like fresh habits were being formed. I was reminding myself what I do in my free time and who my friends are. (I mean, not that I actually forgot, but thank goodness for friends who understand my crazy life!).
With the start of this week, I felt like new habits were being put in to place. Sunday night, I found myself reflecting on what I wanted to do this semester and what fresh rhythms I need to start. Some were spiritual habits, others health habits, and others were just dreaming about what fun things I want to do with this semesters’ weekends.
I was grateful for some of the habits put into place over the past year. Habits like reading my Bible before breakfast. Habits that may seem silly but include how often I wash my hair and the rhythms of straight/curly days because then I don’t have to decide or wonder what will happen each morning when I wake up. Habits that are not great but save me 20 minutes when I put on makeup in the car on the way to work (you can come at me later for that one, but I promise I am a very good driver!). Or habits that I forget about, like how I would like to eat healthy, what works for my body, and what doesn’t – aka the busy seasons of not planning well.
As I was gluing my shoes, I was reminded of how often I come to God when my rhythms get out of whack. Do I come to Him to hold my life together just when things are hard, or do I allow him to hold my life together all the time?
One of my habits is to listen to the Gospels on my way to work. This morning, as Mark 8 read to me, a few things stuck out. At this point in Mark, the disciples had been with Jesus a while. They had seen Him heal many people, perform many miracles, and had walked under His teaching for a long time. They had seen Jesus feed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, with 12 baskets of bread leftover. Jesus provides for us in abundance. In Mark 8, we find Jesus in a similar situation and the disciples doubt what to do about food. Jesus reminds them that He is going to feed them and, with seven loaves this time, feeds over 4,000 people. This is amazing!
I’d like to think that if I were following Jesus and had seen these things over and over, I would never question it. When trouble comes, I’d hope I’d be the person cheering, “Yeah! Jesus can do anything and overcome it all! Trouble? Bring it on!”
However, I’ve read the Gospels every month for a year and still find myself questioning that God will do what He says He will in my life. Or distrusting. Or grumbling. Just like the disciples.
After Jesus feeds 4,000 people, the disciples get in a boat. The first time Jesus had fed 5,000 the disciples get in a boat and see Jesus walking on water. They get scared and think He’s a ghost. They had seen Him calm a storm and they doubt He can walk on water? These guys! But this time, they get in a boat and Jesus asks who others think He is. Some answer that people are claiming Him to be a prophet or Elijah. Then Jesus asks His friends who they think He is. Peter, with so much gumption declares that Jesus is the Messiah. Bold, clear declarations.
Thank goodness that we have a Savior that controls the storms in our lives and provides for all of our needs. He provides bread for a crowd and so much more for you and me. He holds our lives together so much better than the super glue on my shoe. And my hope as we kick off this year, is that we might come to Him at all times. His love endures all things. He can handle me jumping and running and stomping around. My life might seem to fall apart, but nothing can snatch us out of the Father’s hand.
He wants our rhythms to include Him at all times, not just when the shoe is broken. The good, the bad, the fun, the hard. Jesus wants to step into our lives through it all.
I’m going to go put my shoes back on now, and my hope is that we can stand tall seeking Him.
Editor's note: Brittany put super glue on her shoes, she put her feet in the shoes, tied them up, stood up to walk and instantly fell forward because she also super glued her shoes to the ground. Is this true?!? No but we got a good laugh about the imagery of the occurance.