I heard a story about a boy who was given a beautiful pair of expensive sneakers. He was so afraid he would mess them up that he kept them in the box. One day he decided to wear them and realized that he had outgrown them. He never got to enjoy them because he was afraid he would mess them up.

In many ways, our life is like the story of the pair of shoes. We have been hurt in the past and afraid to use our heart to believe again. In essence, we keep our hearts safe in a box, so we don’t have to take the risk of it getting hurt.

Whatever failures, hurts and life missteps you have made in the past will not define your future unless you let it. You might want to read that last sentence again. I could take the next five pages and tell you about the mistakes financially I have made but I can also tell you I was fully prepared to keep failing and keep getting hurt in order to find the path God had for me.

Thomas Edison failed 1,000+/- times before he invented the light bulb. When asked by a reporter “how did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” he replied “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” As a child, Thomas Edison couldn’t speak until he was four years old and couldn’t read until he was seven. His life was always challenged but he never quit trying. At the end of his life, Thomas Edison owned 1,093 patents.

So, my point is that shoes, like a heart, need to be worn because if not, you will one day find out that you have outgrown them. Keeping them in a box because you are afraid is no way to live. Make this Christmas season merry and bright by choosing to take your heart out of its protective box even though it may get bruised up a little. KT