This is a true story.
The names have NOT been changed
to protect my stupidity.
We've all heard, "Well, if the shoe fits..."
This story is about when the shoe...
DOESN'T FIT.
The names have NOT been changed
to protect my stupidity.
We've all heard, "Well, if the shoe fits..."
This story is about when the shoe...
DOESN'T FIT.
My grandfather worked at Montgomery Ward in Hopkinsville, Ky. It was next to the best hamburger joint in the world. Possibly, the universe!!
This is FERRELL'S (an actual picture, I don't know they guy) Ferrell's was the only place to eat a burger. See that window, if you were lucky you sat on a stool by that window. On parade day you could sit there and see it come over the top of the hill, right down Main St. At Ferrell's you weren't greeted with "Hi, How are you? My name is Red and I'll be your server, can I start you off with something to drink?" RED, (the lady who worked there for 35 yrs) usually said, "WHAT'LL YOU HAVE?" There was no need for small talk...we all knew why we were there. THE HAMBURGERS!!
Y'all need to understand...these hamburgers are the standard by which I measure all hamburgers. They are the HOLY GRAIL of burgers!
Everyday...I search for something that measures up...to no avail!
This is FERRELL'S (an actual picture, I don't know they guy) Ferrell's was the only place to eat a burger. See that window, if you were lucky you sat on a stool by that window. On parade day you could sit there and see it come over the top of the hill, right down Main St. At Ferrell's you weren't greeted with "Hi, How are you? My name is Red and I'll be your server, can I start you off with something to drink?" RED, (the lady who worked there for 35 yrs) usually said, "WHAT'LL YOU HAVE?" There was no need for small talk...we all knew why we were there. THE HAMBURGERS!!
Y'all need to understand...these hamburgers are the standard by which I measure all hamburgers. They are the HOLY GRAIL of burgers!
Everyday...I search for something that measures up...to no avail!
The hamburgers started with a little ball of raw meat, thrown on the hot griddle and SMACKED (with a device probably designed for laying brick). The sizzle, the smells. I took mine with pickle & mustard only! Served with a cold Coke in a tiny green bottle. They were small...so you ate 2 in the shop & took SACK home. OMG...Did i mention there was also CHILI...the kind with red grease floating on top...(see the pot by the griddle? sorry, I digress... soooooo homesick right now) MERCY!!
Back to the real story... my granddaddy, Elvis Lee Mitchell, sold shoes at Montgomery Ward as long as I could remember. He took true pride in what he did. He used a tool to measure both feet. He would slide the heel to the back, press the top of the foot down, make sure the foot was straight...then say, "Stand Up!" Then he would slide the side pieces in to check width. He would do this a couple of times...then he would disappear behind a curtain to the stock room. He would reappear with a box in the requested size (& another box with the size that would fit).
He knew how to measure feet!!
He knew how to measure feet!!
In a previous blog, we established the need for Bass Weejuns, color: cordovan, style: tassels. LABELS were important (even back then) "Monkey Ward" (as we called it) did not sell Weejuns. I had to purchase them "over there". Everyone knew Weejuns weren't cool till they were all broken in. Those perfect creases across the toe, stretched out a bit. You had to be patient. It took time... but mine just never felt right. The creases weren't right. AND THEY HURT!!!
One day, I took off my shoes in front of Papaw (it's a southern thang). He said, "Come here Teriney Sue" (it's another Southern thang) "Let me see your feet". My pinkie toes were blood red & my heels matched. If you were real quiet, you could hear my feet weep. He said, "Bring me your shoes!" He examined...he felt inside, he bent & twisted my shoes. Then he said, "Let me measure your feet". He looked up at me & said the most horrible thing. "Honey, these shoes don't fit you. They are too narrow. You're feet weren't measured properly".
WHAT???? NO!!!
How did this happen to the grand-daughter of a Master Shoe Salesman.
Now...I know, I HAD LET THE WRONG PERSON DETERMINE MY SIZE!
Every painful step I took was a reminder I had been MIS-MEASURED! I didn't have the heart to tell my Grand daddy...HOW I had been measured! I've never told anyone till now! (Please keep this confidential)
Here is how it happened.
SCENE: (LIGHTS DIM, SOFT MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYS)
Me: (excited, smiling...nervous)
Sales person "over there: "What size do you need?"
Me: "I don't know?" (why would I, my grandfather always measured)
Sales person "over there: "What size are the shoes you have on?"
There it was!!
Yep, a question and a glance!!
No TOOL, NO PRESSING OF MY FOOT, NO STAND UP!
That was my first memory...of being mis-measured!!
So, here's my question? Have you ever been MIS-MEASURED???
So, you know I'm not talking...SHOES, right? I'm talking about YOU.
Are you trying to walk in something that doesn't FIT?
(translation: your identity, your definition...maybe even a TRIBE?)
One day, I took off my shoes in front of Papaw (it's a southern thang). He said, "Come here Teriney Sue" (it's another Southern thang) "Let me see your feet". My pinkie toes were blood red & my heels matched. If you were real quiet, you could hear my feet weep. He said, "Bring me your shoes!" He examined...he felt inside, he bent & twisted my shoes. Then he said, "Let me measure your feet". He looked up at me & said the most horrible thing. "Honey, these shoes don't fit you. They are too narrow. You're feet weren't measured properly".
WHAT???? NO!!!
How did this happen to the grand-daughter of a Master Shoe Salesman.
Now...I know, I HAD LET THE WRONG PERSON DETERMINE MY SIZE!
Every painful step I took was a reminder I had been MIS-MEASURED! I didn't have the heart to tell my Grand daddy...HOW I had been measured! I've never told anyone till now! (Please keep this confidential)
Here is how it happened.
SCENE: (LIGHTS DIM, SOFT MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYS)
Me: (excited, smiling...nervous)
Sales person "over there: "What size do you need?"
Me: "I don't know?" (why would I, my grandfather always measured)
Sales person "over there: "What size are the shoes you have on?"
There it was!!
Yep, a question and a glance!!
No TOOL, NO PRESSING OF MY FOOT, NO STAND UP!
That was my first memory...of being mis-measured!!
So, here's my question? Have you ever been MIS-MEASURED???
So, you know I'm not talking...SHOES, right? I'm talking about YOU.
Are you trying to walk in something that doesn't FIT?
(translation: your identity, your definition...maybe even a TRIBE?)
As I see it...We are mis-me asured TWO ways.
1. We are Measured by OTHERS-
Others assess our worth by our looks, our age, our sex, our race, what we can do, what we own, our education & our experience...or painful past. Most people...take a glance & categorize, classify & identify right on the spot. We've gotten so good at judging people. Isn't that what TV's singing competitions have trained us to be?? Hollywood calls it: TYPECAST. So, we are squeezed into a metaphorical "shoe" that doesn't fit & wonder why we are miserable. Why we can't grow. Why we can't change if it doesn't fit. We're STUCK.
Maybe it's time to toss the old "shoes"...and go for those with the Bunny Ears?
2. We are Measured by OURSELVES-
I assess my worth by how I feel, my flaws, my faults, my failures. Then, self-talk reinforces these negative thoughts. We become our disease, our divorce, our disappointments. We stifle our process & our power because we see ourselves as small, limited, disqualified, invalid, incapable...and the list goes on...and on.
I personally...struggle with this daily. I am working hard to rise up & stop wearing these shoes!! We are terrified to say No, or I can't. Because being all things to all people gets recognition -- even if the shoe doesn't fit.
I have a TRIBE-SEEESTER* who refuses to reinforce my "small" vision of myself. When I say, "I'm OLD" she says, "You're BEAUTIFUL", I say, "I'm FAT" she says, "You're BEAUTIFUL". I say, "I'm finished"...She says, "You're BEAUTIFUL"
I'm blessed with several "seeesters"...who reflect me this way. I don't see it as an attempt to boost to my ego or try to "kiss-up"...or especially PREACH at ME!!!
They just repeat what my Heavenly Father has said about me.
They have heard me ROAR!! They have seen me SOAR!!
THEY remind me of WHO I AM, WHO I BELONG TO, & WHAT I CAN BE .
(That's TRIBE y'all)
*Tribe Seeester - one who knows what size your jeans are (metaphorically) still loves you, still believes in you, let's you be who you are but..and won't let you talk trash on yourself.
1. We are Measured by OTHERS-
Others assess our worth by our looks, our age, our sex, our race, what we can do, what we own, our education & our experience...or painful past. Most people...take a glance & categorize, classify & identify right on the spot. We've gotten so good at judging people. Isn't that what TV's singing competitions have trained us to be?? Hollywood calls it: TYPECAST. So, we are squeezed into a metaphorical "shoe" that doesn't fit & wonder why we are miserable. Why we can't grow. Why we can't change if it doesn't fit. We're STUCK.
Maybe it's time to toss the old "shoes"...and go for those with the Bunny Ears?
2. We are Measured by OURSELVES-
I assess my worth by how I feel, my flaws, my faults, my failures. Then, self-talk reinforces these negative thoughts. We become our disease, our divorce, our disappointments. We stifle our process & our power because we see ourselves as small, limited, disqualified, invalid, incapable...and the list goes on...and on.
I personally...struggle with this daily. I am working hard to rise up & stop wearing these shoes!! We are terrified to say No, or I can't. Because being all things to all people gets recognition -- even if the shoe doesn't fit.
I have a TRIBE-SEEESTER* who refuses to reinforce my "small" vision of myself. When I say, "I'm OLD" she says, "You're BEAUTIFUL", I say, "I'm FAT" she says, "You're BEAUTIFUL". I say, "I'm finished"...She says, "You're BEAUTIFUL"
I'm blessed with several "seeesters"...who reflect me this way. I don't see it as an attempt to boost to my ego or try to "kiss-up"...or especially PREACH at ME!!!
They just repeat what my Heavenly Father has said about me.
They have heard me ROAR!! They have seen me SOAR!!
THEY remind me of WHO I AM, WHO I BELONG TO, & WHAT I CAN BE .
(That's TRIBE y'all)
*Tribe Seeester - one who knows what size your jeans are (metaphorically) still loves you, still believes in you, let's you be who you are but..and won't let you talk trash on yourself.
This Bible Says:
He knew I would fall...
He knew I'd find my way...
His love is not based on what I can do, what I know, what I own.
- God knew & loved me before I was born.
- He said I'm wonderfully made.
- He said I'm His workmanship
- He knows me FULL well, all my steps, nothing is hidden from Him.
- He says I'm qualified for an inheritance Col. 1:12
- He says I'm the apple of His eye Deut. 32:10, Psalms 17:8
He knew I would fall...
He knew I'd find my way...
His love is not based on what I can do, what I know, what I own.
Psalm 139:13-16 --- The Message
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made,
bit by bit, how I was sculpted
from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow
from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life
were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared ....
before I’d even lived one day.
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made,
bit by bit, how I was sculpted
from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow
from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life
were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared ....
before I’d even lived one day.
HERE'S THE GAME CHANGER, Y'ALL
We can't control what others think about us!
"You can please some of the people, some of the time,
all of the people, some of the time, some of the people
all of the time, but you can never please
all of the people all of the time.”
- Abraham Lincoln
Just think, if we stop trying to fit where we don't belong...how much spare time we'd have!!
Here's what I'm learning:
We can't control what others think about us!
"You can please some of the people, some of the time,
all of the people, some of the time, some of the people
all of the time, but you can never please
all of the people all of the time.”
- Abraham Lincoln
Just think, if we stop trying to fit where we don't belong...how much spare time we'd have!!
Here's what I'm learning:
- It's smart to stop along your journey & check your fit.
- Pain is an indicator. If it hurts...change something.
- Change is good. (nothing happens till something moves- Einstein)
- It's my choice who I allow to measure me.
- It's my choice what I believe...(believe from a higher truth)
- God's Word is my measuring tool.
That's it for now y'all. Thanks for reading.
Comment if you'd like to.
This blog is for me...but if it stirs something in you that you wanna talk about, here's a quick click to my email.
Talk to y'all later...right now, I really need a burger!!
Comment if you'd like to.
This blog is for me...but if it stirs something in you that you wanna talk about, here's a quick click to my email.
Talk to y'all later...right now, I really need a burger!!