A New Pair of Shoes

       Let’s back up a bit in the story. Month 3 of the World Race we were in Thailand and during our last week there I fell down some hard tile stairs. I was walking with a plate of pancakes in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. When I realized I was falling and had no way of breaking my fall, my foot made the decision for me. My right foot curled up under itself and broke my fall. Unfortunately, the fall broke my toe as well. My big toe on my right foot to be exact. (Don’t worry, the pancakes & coffee were fine )

       Now, silly me, I just thought my toe was bruised and sprained really bad for about 4 weeks. Then, when it wasn’t healing I finally made it to the doctor to see what was going on. It was x-rayed and I saw the fracture. The doctor then told me to “try and not walk on for it about 3 months.” HAHA…yeah right, I’m a traveling missionary. So, they bandaged it up and gave me some supplies to keep it wrapped up for the next few months.

      As I went to slide on my flip-flops, I realized it was time to go shoe shopping. You see, my big toe is wrapped up with the one beside it, making flip-flops and my chacos useless until it’s healed. Luckily, the next day my team and I were heading to Kuala Lumpur (the capitol of Malaysia) where I could shop around for a good pair of shoes to support my toe.

       Well, the search wasn’t as easy as I hoped. The only pair of shoes that I could find, that would work, were about $50. Hmm…okay. So I had a moral dilemma about whether or not to buy these shoes. That’s a lot of money, especially for someone on the Race. So, I decided to think on it for the night and do some shoe research (courtesy of Moe, my teammate).

        The next day when we were at the mall, and I had gotten the money from the ATM to buy these new shoes. I wanted to wait until later that day to get them. Turns out that was a good idea.

      As I was walking down the stairs, I noticed a backpack type store. I went in there with the hopes that maybe they have some chaco-type shoes. I glanced over and saw one rack of shoes, and at the bottom there sat a toe-less,chaco-type shoe. I checked the price, about $25. Much better than $50! I was like, “Thank you Jesus!” Then, the employee informed me they were on sale. Wait for it….for only $6! At this point, I was laughing at how cool God is and how He led me to these shoes.

        I know it might sound silly, but God put those shoes there for me. The little things DO matter to Him. Me, needing new shoes….that mattered to God. He wanted to take care of me and my big toe, and He did. He enjoys providing for His children.  Since I started fundraising for the WR, God has been showing up in the smallest & biggest of ways to prove He is looking out for me.

      God’s got this, so give all your worries to Him. Allow Him to show up, and don’t put your trust & faith in yourself…it’s so much more rewarding when we let God do all the work. He loves us & He knows what we need.