When Michael decided to go to the Police Academy I remember him coming home with his uniforms and supplies. Among all the stuff was a pair of black boots. They are the brand that Matt (his brother) told him to get. I guess they have a guarantee on them and if something happens to the zipper or sole they will be replaced for free. Anyway, I remember Mike coming home from the Academy and saying he had to shine the boots... Easy right? Not exactly! So after someone in the class taught the guys how to shine the boots the right way, Mike came home and told me how to do it. So while he was doing homework and studying I started out shining the new black work boots. After a few tries I finally got it down to a good routine and was able to get a better shine than Michael could.
These shiny boots went with him every day to the Police Academy, they walked across the stage when Michael graduated from the police and fire academy. They walked on the ground leading to the place where he would have to say his last goodbye to his brother, his best friend. These boots have walked into houses where families are fighting, where people have died, where people have committed some type of crime. They have walked in water and mud, in ice and snow. These boots take my husband to work and bring him home at the end of a long day. I looked at his boots last night and realized how worn they are, they aren't stiff anymore and the leather is scuffed there is salt on the them from walking in the snow, but I can still get them to shine. I pray over these boots, pray that where they go that my husband will be safe, that Christ will go before him protecting his path and guiding him. I pray that they will walk into my door at night and track in the snow, so I know that for that day he is home safe and sound. I pray that I will never have to say goodbye to these boots because that would mean saying goodbye to my husband, my best friend.
Oh how little I knew how much seeing those boots would mean to me.
