The Right Fit....

Last night we traveled to Sports Authority to mortgage a kidney and buy soccer cleats. Three pairs… yups three pairs! That’s what we set out to buy. Well no Kastner outing can be without a little drama so read on if you want to laugh a little.

Upon entering the store I rushed for the restroom because as my children announced over and over again as we traveled through the parking lot and entered the store, “Momma has to go pee!” I returned from the restroom to find four children seriously testing their Daddy’s lack of four arms. They were in four different aisles, and it looked like they might be playing Marco Polo without a swimming pool. I started corralling them all into one place as a sales person approached. Obviously she had received a, “Code Red! The Kastners are in the store!” call because she did not even work in the footwear department. She pointed us to the cleats and left to find the person who actually worked in that department.

We quickly found the cheap cleats and started trying them on. Wouldn’t you know it! While Noah and Elijah’s feet fit just fine in the cheapest cleats, Jeremiah’s wide foot needed a cleat that was $6 more and was WAY cooler. Blech! The momma in me started to revolt! I can’t buy two the cheap cleats and one the better cleats! I can’t force Jeremiah to shove his foot into a shoe that is too small! What to do?!?! What to do?!?! As my children sat there paying hardly no mind at all to the differences in their cleats, I was having a crisis of faith surrounded by sharp bottomed shoes! Noah and Elijah had commented on how cool Jeremiah’s cleats were and then moved along, so I decided to follow their lead and just proceed to the register.

This got me thinking…isn’t that just how God is? He doesn’t worry about giving us all the same exact thing. He looks at His children, sees what they need, and gives accordingly. Some of us need a wider fit, some a cushier insole, and some a more supportive arch, but in the end all of us get what we need: a pair of cleats that fits OUR feet.

I also thought about how my children could have pouted and whined and fought to get the “cooler looking” cleats, but instead just grateful that they were getting cleats, they picked up their box and headed towards the door. We too can choose to look around at other people and whine about how our situation compares to theirs, or we can just pick up our basket of blessings for that day and move along toward the exit.

All day long I have been getting pestered (on this cold and dreary and UN-soccerlike day) to go to the park and break-in soccer cleats. Every time I have a pair of little cleats shoved in my face with a request for a trip to the park, I am reminded to say, “Thank you God for what I need for this day!” I know that what I have is exactly what I need, and that should I need something more or different, God will give it to me.