Jesus & Black Tennis Shoes
Updated: Oct 7
8.11.22
It's Thursday and I'm usually working at the salon right now, but the Lord has other plans and I'm totally trusting him to do what only he can. I've been pretty transparent with this blog and how my spiritual journey has affected it, but I haven't really gone into any detail. I'll dive into my spiritual journey more here soon, but wanted to start with two loves of my life that have remained consistent over all these years.... Jesus and black tennis shoes. (I have a playlist with this title
I grew up in the Mormon Church, where my parents still attend and my father is currently a bishop. We were the family in the second row every Sunday, Family Home Evenings every Monday, Youth Group on Wednesdays, and seminary every weekday at 6am throughout high school. (Truth be told, I never graduated from seminary and was either asleep, applying my makeup, or just arriving for the closing prayer. Rebel, Mormon Girl here!)
My parents would probably argue that Rebel Elizabeth showed up earlier (Hey, I'm the oldest of 3!) but this act of rebellion stands out to me, so I'm gonna roll with it! I was in sixth grade and NEEDED this black pair of tennis shoes. (I mean, look at em!) My mom despised these "ugly things" and refused to buy them for me. This obviously just made me want them more, so I set my sights on them, KNOWING they would be mine eventually. I saved up my babysitting money and bought them myself, then proceeded to wear them as much as humanly possible. Twenty-six years later, and 95% of my tennis shoes since this pair have been black (with the exception of my cheerleading shoes). When ya know, ya know. Ya know?! I currently have ten pair in my closet that, contrary to Brynn's opinion, all look VERY different. Don't mention my shoe collection and we won't mention your oversized-sweatshirt collection, k?!
Twenty-six years later and another thing hasn't changed, my love for Jesus. It's had it's share of ups, downs, and everything in between over the last 20 years. Through it all, my love, adoration, and sheer awe of the Lord and His grace has grown, like my black tennis shoe collection. Divorce has a funny way of flipping your world upside down, leaving you disoriented and face-to-face with all your sh*t. It was extremely important to me that I dive straight into the pain and not self-medicate with alcohol, food, men, etc. Instead, I turned to Jesus, music (I have a playlist for everything...seriously), sunrises & sunsets for my healing. As a result of this, my life has never been more stable and peaceful with Him at the center of it.
I'm so grateful for His redeeming love and can't wait to share more of my healing journey with ya'll!
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