A Lesson from Mismatched Socks

A few days ago, we had our biggest girls ministry event of the year. I had spent weeks and months planning, booking, praying, and hot gluing. The day itself went really well! My shoe choice however did not. After very few hours of sleep and a lot of hours on my feet, I began deeply regretting my decision to wear wedge ankle boots.

While the girls were in their breakout groups, I took off my shoes and began walking around in my socks. I do this pretty often, so I didn’t think much about it until one of my leaders laughed and pointed out that my socks didn’t match. Truthfully, I was not embracing the “don’t match your socks trend” my girls have fully bought into. I simply couldn’t find matching socks that morning as I raced around my house trying to get out the door. In reality, I couldn’t find a lot of things in my house since it was a literal disaster area!

The leader, who so kindly pointed out that my socks didn’t match, continued on to say, “You looked so put together on the outside, but then you took off your shoes!”

She was right! I may have looked put together on the outside, but on the inside, I was exhausted, mentally and emotionally. My house was a disaster area and every meal I had eaten recently came from a drive through. I was fully focused on pulling off the event well; everything else just went to the wind!

To be honest, I didn’t really care that my socks were mismatched. They served the purpose, and in a way only He can, the Lord very graciously used those socks to remind me of a truth I struggle to grasp. The truth that I’m not called to have it all together.

Being girls ministers and leaders doesn’t mean that we need to have it all together in front of our girls. Sometimes, it’s ok to let them know we are simply human and in need of God’s grace and mercy just like they are! The truth is Christ is the only perfect one and is glorified when we allow Him to work though our weakness.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This summer, my Bible study girls would simply come in my house and immediately start unloading the dishwasher, making the snacks, and getting out the supplies. I wanted to get home early enough to have my house clean, snacks ready, and everything looking perfect, but that just couldn’t happen. However, I had the privilege of watching my girls serve me in a way that I can’t explain. It was humbling, but the Lord used it to teach them and me what it means to serve and be served.

In what way is God asking you to be humble before your girls or even your leaders? Is He asking you to admit you need help, or asking you to do something even though you don’t feel like you are “good enough,” “smart enough,” or “together enough?”

Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to allow your leaders and your girls to see your sink full of dishes or your mismatched socks. It opens the door for the Lord to work in your weakness, for you to decrease and for Him to increase (John 3:30)!