shoeless...

Everyone arrived around 5:45 to start our trek to school, barefoot. Each of us had a mug in hand, our shoes in our backpacks and an excitement for the adventure. I'm not going to lie, within the first 10 minutes I felt tears welling in my eyes. Walking on the asphalt literally felt like needles were being stabbed into the bottom of my feet. I've never quite felt a pain such as that before. After a couple blocks I decided it was time to pray. We stopped, held hands on the corner and immediately our hearts were changed. The complaints were few and our goal of raising awareness for others was our main focus, not on our own feet. An hour and 15 minutes of walking and we arrived at school. We got honks on the way and there were others walking around school with their little toes showing. The administration wasn't too happy but the sneaky few got away with it. I seriously have a new appreciation for shoes. Yes, I got blisters and yes, my feet are still throbbing and yes, I have a little limp but it was worth every second and every feeling of pain. I have the luxury of putting shoes on my feet whenever I want. There are tons of people around the world who get blisters worse than mine and get infections yet they have no comfortable place to put their feet up, wash them or simply just put something on to cover and protect them. I truly got a feel of what is what like and I can't imagine going through that everyday. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed going shoeless but at times it was complete torture. My eyes have honestly been opened to a whole new world and I couldn't be more thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of something so life changing.

I received a package in the mail today from someone special. It made me really happy, and I'm going to leave it at that :)

I sat on the edge of the bathtub with my feet soaking in hot water, listening to lovely new music and read my bible. It was such a peaceful little event. I'm reading Ruth now and it gave me some encouragement today. Ruth left her family behind to stay and care for Naomi and God totally provided work for her. He kept her safe and gave her what she needed. He is so faithful and will do the same for me.

Today was just a wonderful, inspiring day. Thank you to all who surrendered the shoes!

Oh, and a dear friend of mine informed me that this man is single and can help me with my dance moves ;)