A Perfect Fit

Today was the first time I bought a pair of tennis shoes (though they will be used for running and not tennis) for the way they fit and not because of the way they looked. This is a big deal for me. I was not exactly the "athletic type" growing up and tennis shoes or sneakers, if you will, were purchase solely (no pun intended) to serve the purpose of completing an outfit. A cute pair of Keds here and occasionally a simple pair of white Nike's there. Actually, I don't think I wore a pair of tennis shoes a single day throughout my entire high school career. I was more of a "Sam & Libby" girl. Anyway since I began running I have done research on the type of shoes I should wear. I discovered that I have a high arch and tend to underpronate when I run. Yeah, it didn't make much sense to me at first either until I went to buy a new pair of tennis shoes and followed in my familiar footsteps of choosing the cutest pair I could find. Success! A cute pair of white and gray Nike's, with just a hint of pink for a feminine touch, jumped out at me. Found my size, tried them on, pranced around a bit and took them home. BIG MISTAKE.

I was pretty bummed to be buying new shoes in the first place. I had a pair that were perfect and already broken in. I had purchased them a few years earlier and only wore them to go on walks but promoted them to running shoes last summer when I realized running was something I enjoyed. Well, me and those shoes were getting along just fine until a week before Halloween when our pumpkin decided to explode all over them. Little did I know the humid Florida weather, a little sprinkler over spray and a ripe pumpkin could cause such a mess. I'll spare you the gory and stinky details and just say my beloved shoes met their final unrecycled resting place in a landfill not too far off...sigh. So began my search for a new pair of shoes.

The shoes that ultimately became the mistake gave me blisters, calloused my toes and made my ankles hurt. Was my running career over already? And all this just a month before my 1/2 marathon debut? But then came the advice of a wise running friend, "Have you ever looked up a shoe guide?" What? They make shoe guides? Off I went searching for the guide that would tell me the perfect shoe for my "uncle" crying feet. A few days of researching led to a match made in podiatry heaven [cue the angelic choir] I had found my perfect shoes! I was told to purchase Asics GEL-Pulse shoes that would help with my underpronation, support my high arch and help me to run correctly. I hurried my way up to our local sportswear store and found the prized shoes, but wait, where was my size?? They were no where to be found! Ooooooh, here they are...whew! Imagine my excitement as I sat down on the bench and gingerly laid the gray and navy shoebox down right beside me and guarded it closely as I began to remove my flip flops and pull on the pair of socks I brought to "test drive" the shoes. I was overcome with joy as I lifted the lid to the box, pulled back the tissue, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! They're black!!! What? I cannot wear black tennis shoes!! It goes against everything I am, everything I have ever been! I repeat, I cannot wear black running shoes. I took a deep breath as my shoulders slumped. "What's the problem?" my husband nonchalantly asked. I explained my dilemma and was confronted with frustration from him. He did not understand that he was staring into the eyes of a woman who had ALWAYS chosen her shoes for the way they looked. He tried to explain the fit was all that mattered and began to attempt to sway me into purchasing the hideous black beasts. I was convinced our children, who were quiet bored by this time, were influencing his thinking and he was ready for a decision to me made, a transaction to occur and children to be buckled (ok restrained) safely in a car and on our way home for dinner.

The Asics GEL-Pulse shoes did come in a much more appropriate white with navy and light blue designs but they were completely sold out of anything close to my size. If I wanted that shoe, in my size, I was going to have to start viewing the "beasts" as the "beauties". It wasn't happening. After much deliberating and the considering of other choices we left without the perfect shoes. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. The next day I ran in the afore mentioned white, gray and a touch of pink, shoes only to develop a blister in a new spot. That afternoon I called several other sports stores to track down the shoes made for me, only to be told they were sold out or no longer carried. One last attempt proved to be worth while when the shoes of my dreams were located (of course at a store a stinking hour, ok maybe just 45 minutes away) and today we were joined together in running bliss.

So what's the point in all this you ask? It occurred to me this afternoon as I was cleaning that many times in life we put so much time and effort into outward appearances and superficial things when we should be concentrating on what really "fits" or matters the most. The shoes that were pretty on the outside were really (go with me here) ugly on the inside. They hurt my feet and kept me from running a good race. The shoes that were not the best looking on the outside (even the white ones aren't that great) are absolutely beautiful on the inside and are going to prepare me to cross the finish line strong in a few weeks. These shoes, like the Lord's plan for our lives, are a perfect fit. I Samuel 16:7 says, "The Lord does not look at things man (woman) looks at. Man (Woman) looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Ok, so maybe it's a stretch but it was a great reminder for me to not concentrate so much on outward appearances but to focus on being beautiful on the inside and to the Lord because it's that kind of beauty that will win the "real" race, the one with the great prize.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."

I Corinthians 9: 24-25

Seeing how we have to leave for church in under an hour the race is on for dinner...Easy Calzones and a tossed salad.

Easy Calzones

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup spaghetti sauce

1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1 container (11oz) refrigerated French bread dough

4 slices (1 oz each) mozzarella cheese

nonstick cooking spray

2 tbsp melted butter

grated Parmesan cheese

garlic salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In large skillet brown meat with onion and garlic. Drain well then stir in spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning. Unroll dough onto lightly floured surface and roll or press with your fingers to a 16-inch square. Cut the dough into 4 even squares then transfer to baking sheet. Spoon equal amounts of the meat mixture into the center of each square and top with a slice of cheese. Fold each square over to form a triangle, pressing the edges to seal. Brush melted butter over each triangle and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately with salad and enjoy!