I was asked, “What do you hope to be remembered for?” After a few moments of reflection, I remembered something a preacher said that resonated with me, “I hope to be remembered for putting a stone in someone’s shoe.” May sound odd but consider the stone; small, irritating, impossible to ignore. Not harmful, just uncomfortable. It demands attention. It interrupts our stride. And it makes us stop when stopping to reconsider is precisely what is needed in the long run.

We all know the feeling in our spirit. Someone challenges us, maybe in a conversation, a sermon, a scripture reading, or even a passing comment. The ring of truth we cannot explain away easily that reopens the case on a decision already made, rubbing against it. And in that holy irritation we cannot deny, we are forced to RE-think deeper, grow wiser, and walk differently because of it.

John Wesley often spoke of “the means of grace”, those things that help us grow in the love of God and neighbor. Wesley believed in God’s sanctifying grace, the grace that doesn’t just save us but refines us, works on us, and shapes us more into Christ’s likeness (and less like the world).

C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road… There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake.” Sometimes the “stone” is what turns us around. It may not be the comfort we seek, but it’s often the grace we need. Sometimes the confirmation that we can not only do hard things but be glad we did later. (Even if it didn’t feel good at the beginning.)

The pitfall? “Stone in the shoe” guidance isn’t always welcomed. We may go to trusted friends hoping they confirm what we already decided. But true guidance invites us to think harder, not feel better. It adds holy friction to smooth assumptions. It gives us something to carry away, not just an answer, but a question worth wrestling with so we make decisions we can live well with.

Is it a worthy legacy, not that people remember us for great deeds or eloquent words, but that we gave them something to wrestle with? Providing the stone in the shoe that slowed them down, helped them discern, and saved them from walking into regret is a blessing most won’t dare give.

Whose words or example have left a “stone” in your shoe not to wound, but to wake you up?

How might God be using that discomfort to lead you into deeper discernment and truer peace?

                                                                                                                                With hands to the plow,

                                                                                                                                Pastor Theresa