“I’m as useful as an old shoe tossed in the corner of a closet,” I moaned to God during my morning prayer time. It seemed like forever since I’d felt as if my life mattered. Oh, sure, there were things I was doing, but in the big picture what did they really matter.

The next morning my phone rang. It was a woman from New Jersey calling to ask me a question. She’d gone to Amazon.com to buy a book for a friend who was having problems in her marriage and she saw my book, When Love Dies. She bought it instead and one for herself. She’d read it and it had changed her life. She saw herself through the words I’d written and she’d forgiven herself and her husband for thirteen years of misery. She saw her husband with new eyes. She also had a new realtionship with Christ. It had made such a difference in her life, she’d bought three more copies to give to friends.

I wept as she talked. God was using me. I might not be able to see it, but my willingness to put on paper the journey I’d made through my marriage–putting it back together after wanting to divorce my husband–was still saving others.

This morning I no longer see myself as a discarded shoe. Instead I’m an important tool in God’s arsenal. I’m sharp and ready to be used at a moment’s notice.