Mom, there's a frog in my shoe.

 I remember when I was in school, getting ready one day I put on my white sports shoes. It felt uncomfortable like there was something in it. But when I told my mom there's something in my shoe, she brushed it off saying it's probably uncomfortable because it's new. 

I decided to take her word for it and walk a little bit to break into my new shoes. It didn't help, in fact the thing in my shoes began to move and I got scared. I started to shake my shoes off and said "Mom, there's something in my shoes, I know it I can feel it moving around now." Now she believed me and took my shoe off of my left foot and emptied it into the sink. Out jumped a little frog, uncomfortable from the whole experience also. My mom laughed and said that there was a little frog in my shoe, and it should feel better. So, I put it on, and it was. 

A lot of times in life I've realized that I'm having "frog-in-my-shoe" experiences, where no one else seems to see or feel what I'm going through but have well-meaning advice. However, even the best advice from my most loved ones cannot help in such "frog in my shoe" situations where they simply have not "walked in my shoes" or know what I'm going through. I'm also someone who loves to dole out advice. 

Sometimes besides God and myself, no one knows exactly what I'm going through - but while trying to help give advice that doesn't really fix things and sometimes makes matters worse.

So, we need to take their love and affection but their advice with a grain of salt and try our best to depend on God's wisdom too. I pray that we all learn to use our voices and get wisdom that only God can give in such situations.