Put your shoes on, Lucy

“Put your shoes on Lucy, donchya know you’re in the city!?”
When I was little, I rarely left my grandparents' house without hearing this. It’s one of those weird family sayings. (And I guess my family had something with the name “Lucy” because my aunt came up with a sentence to help me say my Ls. "Lucky Lucy Loves Lily on a Lilypad in London.) But to be honest, I don’t know where the Lucy-shoe thing came from. If I’ve been told, I’ve forgotten.

I still say it now sometimes as I’m walking out the door with someone. It makes me think about how much I’m in a hurry. Like, you’re in such a hurry that you actually forget to put your shoes on. And you don't live in the country where there's nice soft, clean, green grass! You’re in the city where there are shards of glass, garbage, nasty chewed gum, cigarette butts, etc. on the ground. I mean you’ve got to be in quite a hurry to forget your shoes when you’re in the city.

This is how I’ve felt with God these past few weeks. My mind is racing. I don’t know who I’m racing, but I’m definitely winning. There is just so much going on. I’m in such a hurry that I’ve totally forgot Him.

* I was just traveling for work last week. I booked a flight for a short vacation in September and am hoping to get a weekend of camping in before school starts.
* I’m writing/editing about five features for work, doing some freelance writing on the side.
* I am in the process of signing a bajillion papers for my very first mortgage. I am going to OWN my own place.
* There’s been some boy stuff, including a forthcoming blind date.
* And if I let myself look ahead a month (which is never good) … well, I’m going to be starting school again, moving into my new place, and be on deadline at work at the same time. BEAUTIFUL!

I’ve been waking up at 5:30am thinking about everything from potential headlines for pieces to how I’m going to arrange my furniture in my new place. Needless to say I haven’t been able to focus on anything, let alone God. I stop to pray, I get like two sentences in and realize I’m already off to something else.

So, this morning I asked Phil Wickham (Musician. Check him out.) to help me with this. Instead of praying, I pulled up his song “I Will Wait For You There” in my iTunes. I plopped down on my floor and listened. I didn’t brush my teeth while I did this. I wasn’t putting on mascara or figuring out what to bring for lunch. I just sat and listened. I waited.

I will wait for You there
Down on my knees where I met You
Give You all of my cares
Find a grace to hold onto now
I’m calling for You

It helped. It definitely helped. And I told God beforehand that it was my prayer today, just so He knew and wasn't confused. And what I know is that if I chill out for a minute to hang with God, He helps me put my shoes on. And He also helps me fall back to sleep when I wake up at 5:30am on a WEEKEND!