The Slippers
May 11, 2009
No one is happier than I to see spring finally entrench itself into this year. I am not a fan of winter, of cold mornings and colder nights and darkness at four-thirty in the afternoon. Ba. Humbug.
We are in the main course of May now. The robins have returned outside my living room window, the trees in the yard are heavy with leaves, and I’ve cut the grass three times (a magnificent task, by the way. You learn a lot about God by mowing the yard. Another story for another time, though).
But even with sunshine and seventy degrees here in the valley, the tops of the mountains outside my window were clouded in snowfall just a few weeks ago. I was here, winter was there. And as I looked at that cold, angry storm, I knew it also saw me. Snarling, “I can come down there too, you know. I’m not done just yet.”
Which, ironically, was fine. As anxious as I was to put away the snow shovel and bring out my softball bat, I wasn’t so sure I wanted the cold weather to go away. Because even though spring meant birdsong and porch swings and windows-down-radio-up, it also meant I would have to put away my new slippers.
That they had been on my feet daily since Christmas, gently warming my toes and therefore my very heart, is an unlikely thing for me to say. I’ve never been a slipper guy. They’ve always seemed so un-me, so…girly.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
When I unwrapped them last Christmas morning, my wife asked me to just give them a try. “Please,” she said, emphasis included. Not because I wanted them, not even because I thought I needed them. But to, in her words again, “Finally get you to shut up.”
I love my wife.
You see, the floors in our home were cold. Very. The frigid temperatures coupled with an unwavering determination to cut down on the gas bill kept our thermostat at a barely tolerable sixty-eight degrees this year. By November, I was chilly. By December, I was a Popsicle.
It was easy enough to throw on a sweatshirt or a thicker pair of jeans to make things a bit more comfortable, but that did little to improve the condition of my feet. I tried wool socks, which did the trick so long as I stayed on the carpet in the living room. Venture out from there and onto the hardwood floors of the rest of the house, though, and it was like an ice rink in both temperature and friction. I almost broke a leg one Saturday afternoon carrying a bag of carrots into the kitchen. Almost died from hypothermia waiting for someone to help me, too.
Stupid house, I thought to myself. Stupid cold house with its stupid cold floors. Why didn’t we buy a house with a fireplace in it? Or two fireplaces. And radiant heat in the floors. Oh, yeah. That would be nice. Radiant heat…
Those thoughts were translated into words later on to my wife: “I hate living here, and I hate our life.”
She looked at me, puzzled. What in the world had brought this on? she wondered. Has something terrible happened? Has he finally cracked?
“What made you say that?” she asked.
“My feet are cold.”
Which brought about an even more puzzled look.
But it’s like that with us, isn’t it? We all have the unique talent of turning small inconveniences into major problems. And while I spent months believing that the source of my trouble was a drafty house, the truth was that it was something much closer.
The trouble wasn’t the cold floors. Not the weather, either.
The trouble was me.
There is a lot in my little world I pray that God will change. “Give me more and give me better,” I ask Him. I wonder sometimes if He’s not saying the thing to me.
I wonder if rather than making the rain stop, He’d rather just give me an umbrella. Because you have to learn to smile in the rain as much as you do in the sunshine.
Or if rather than making me comfortable, He’d rather leave me uncomfortable. Because that’s when I learn the most.
Or if rather than giving me a nice warm house, He’d rather just give me a pair of slippers.
Because there isn’t much you can change about your circumstances sometimes. But there is plenty you can change about you.
P.S. – katdish over at Hey look, a chicken! has been kind enough to offer me a guest appearance on her blog every Monday. Nice of her, isn’t it? So why don’t you follow me over there, and I’ll tell you how I learned to live in awe again…
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26 Responses to “The Slippers”
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I’m a writer whose first novel, Snow Day, will be published by FaithWords in 2010.
But don’t let that fool you. I’m just as confused as anyone.
And that is fine with me, because the great thing about wandering around in the fog is that you never know what you might run into.
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As long as they’re not bunny slippers, I think your man card is still safe. They’re not bunny slippers are they, Billy?
Thanks again for the guest post. Incredible, as usual.
katdish – it’s a manly leather. No tassles, either.
Jon wears some nice leather slippers with that fuzzy wooly stuff in them, but they look very manly – so I don’t consider you girly.
I’m a seat warmer snob myself. I told Jon never again was he to buy me a car without seat warmers. (Because nothing get’s one through the cold Bend winters better than a warm backside.) We took a ride in the 69 Camaro the other day and I asked Jon if he could install seat warmers. I got ‘the look’.
I’m heading over to Katdish’s now.
Beautiful Billy!
God isn’t trying to make us comfortable – He is trying to make us grow strong in our faith and to be our Comforter. Big difference and sometimes not so easy to accept!
Hugs and blessings,
Jill
I think you can keep your man card too. My hubby wears Lands End clogs that he refers to as his slippers almost year-round. He’s Type II diabetic, so his feet have gotten progressively colder as he gets older.
I think your message is important and timely too. Goes along with a reminder I got yesterday that the answer to tension or fear or trouble is rarely to run away; God seems to want us to lean into it. And he provides the slippers. Pretty cool.
Feet, Billy? Ya just had to go there with feet.
(I liked it anyway.)
Two Billy posts in one day?!?
I can hardly take it!!! Yea!
For me to part with my comfy cozy slippers is an impossiblity! My tootsies would be freezing without them! My hat’s off to you for stepping up and proclaiming that you are a “slipper wearing man”! Be proud, my friend…hold your head high! Great post, as always!
Billy,
As always, such a good blogpost! Always with a great message!
I can relate to the cold feet and floors. When I was attending college up in WA state, our Winters were cold and icy. I had a pair of slippers…and I was plesantly surprised and comforted that so, too, did many of my dorm-mates.
By the way, so wonderful that Katdish is giving you “air-time” on Monday’s at her site!
Blessings,
~Amy
Now see, I’m just the opposite… My feet are always hot and I am barefooted (even outdoors) pretty much 365 days a year… Unless it snows. When I was growing up, my Dad used to yell at me all the time to put something on my feet so that I wouldn’t catch my death of cold. Now, when my Dad comes to visit and I’m walking through the house, I’ll say, “Hey, Dad? Look! No socks!”
What I love about your blog is that you see His truth in the simple things around you. That resonates so deeply with me. I used to think that He gave me word pictures because I was “so slow”… but now I see it’s a gift to me. He wants me to see Him in everything, even slippers. Again your words stir me.
Thank you!
Julie
I love your voice–it is so easy to read and also hits a chord. And don’t worry about the slippers–all real men get them sooner or later (LOL)
Great post!
I got my hubby wearing slippers a few years ago. They’re great for a few months around here. Mostly though, we’re barefoot around the house, with hot days and equally hot nights. Funny how we can make such a big deal about things that really aren’t all that big. I’ve done it – a time, or two. Thousand. Thanks Billy, for once again sharing your wonderful words of wisdom. Blessings!
My hubby LOVES his slippers. We’re out here in the desert, so those are solidly packed away now for the next five or so months. It’s hot, hot, hot here now….
Great post.
I’m glad to hear that when common sense (a.k.a. your wife) came knocking, you answered the door. Then picked up the slippers and wore them. LOL
I’m a slipper girl…you’ll never see me in bare feet, even though I live in Florida.
Wonderful post, Billy. Just love your writing, dude.
Slippers are almost standard issue in Alaska, that and extra-tuff boots. We keep our heat down too so costs don’t skyrocket, but it does make for cold floors.
Great post.
I bet Jason has some manly slippers. Probably made out of polar bear.
Funny to see this post today. Last night predicted overnight lows below freezing and the furnace suddenly went on the fritz. I was already shivering in my sweater and slippers, so I fired up the wood stove. You should have heard the griping from all the native Michiganians I live with!
No worse than my griping about living in Michigan. As if I really have anything to complain about in my cozy house with a wood stove and a generous wood pile out back. And a furnace repairman who said the only problem was the thermostat and didn’t charge for the service call or labor. And a day with two posts from Billy.
God is good.
Billy,
Another great post and use of analogies when it comes to the things we complain about most.
I like you, focus on the big things, like blaming the ’stupid house’ for the cold thing.
I blame the desert for the perpetual heat we have most of the year, cloudless skies and even the same day over and over again, rather than see things in a different perspective, like the smog free and clean air here.
I don’t think it matters what kind of slippers you have as long as they serve their purpose.
Love and Hugs ~ Kat
That was inspiring. I am going to go put on a sweater now.
I can relate! I discovered micro fleece pj’s this winter. I LOVE my micro fleece pj’s. Very warm and comfortable. That’s the only thing that made me a little sad when Spring arrived…putting away the pj’s!
I’m hopping over to katdish’s now…have a great week, Billy! (My Billy is coming home from college on Wednesday. I can hardly wait!)
Billy
I love the way you write…very eral and touchable (know what I mean?)
This post dove-tails with my past post…same thought. Real faith, real relationship with God says “He knows what He is doing”" and we adapt, we change our attitude and we bless Him from under our umbrella.
Thanks for this post…it blessed me.
PS My husband is a huge slipper person, spends a fortune on them. Me? I’m a bare foot person, all year…
good reminder. and always in season!
Thanks to the “cold feet”, you had something to write about that “warmed” our hearts…Another great post [as usual
].
God bless…
This made me laugh out loud! I am a cold-feet-slippers-in-the-bed kind of person.
Thank you for making my night!
Been there, done that: Turning “small inconveniences into major problems.”
Another rockin’ post, Billy Coffey.
I can never leave here without being convicted of something — while at the same time, often laughing out loud. That’s some kind of writing …
It is SO much easier to trust God when your life is falling apart than when you stub your toe. Have you noticed that?? We sure know how to blow those tiny things out of proportion, don’t we? Wonderful insights – and I LOVE the point that WE are the issue most of the time.