Country living is about a bunch of things: driving tractors, riding in trucks, feeding cows, growing a vegetable garden, hunting, feeding chickens, killing snakes when need be, cutting firewood, feeding pigs or any other helpless critter that might wander up. Country living is also about boots. Yes, boots. Good boots are vital for a successful farm. You can’t drive the tractor or cut firewood without your boots and I dang sure wouldn’t want to kill a snake in flip-flops.
Now when I was little I had flip-flops and sandals and church shoes and boots . I did not know my boots were cowboy boots. I had no idea there was any other kind of boot. The only shoes my Daddy has are boots. He has always worn the same type, never a black pair, never a pair with the pretty little silver at the toe. Just his regular, old cowboy boots.
Boots can say a lot about a person. My Daddy is the most hard-working, caring, gracious, giving, humble person I know. His consistent choice of boots parallels his dependable nature. He gets up before the chickens, all 70,000 or so of them. He works from dawn to dusk every day. God has consistently used my Daddy for great things. Not to gloat, but he has raised some great kids who have great character. His influence upon my children is invaluable. In everything he does, his boots are put to good use, whether it is feeding America or feeding his dogs with his Grandchildren.
My boots aren’t quite as advantageous as my Daddy’s. They have a few scuffs from walking in the woods, a bit of dirt from helping with a small farm chore. My boots are kept in a special place in the back of my closet. I yearn for more dirt and more scratches on my boots. Like my boots, my life could be used for great things. I continue to place my life’s callings in the back of my mind, just as my boots are in the back of my closet.
We need to take what we are given and use it. Boots may not be your key to life. Maybe it is a pair of shiny high-heels begging to walk through an office on the way to their CEO office. Perhaps you are more like a pair of flip-flops, going with the flow and enjoying wherever life takes you. Whatever your calling may be, listen to it. Nurture it. Take time to enjoy it and don’t keep your boots in the back of the closet.