.shoeless and humbled.

Today was TOMS One Day Without Shoes. If you don't know what it is yet, read my post from yesterday and watch the video. Today I went shoeless. Last night, I had texted Kaile asking whether she thought I should walk to school or not. I knew I wanted to, but I guess I wanted confirmation as well. Kaile, knowing me pretty well I would say, said yes, I should do it. The encouragement got me out of bed this morning early enough to walk over to Jessi's house with Jayanah and be over there by 5:45. With my jeans cuffed up, bundled in two jackets to fight the wind, and a cup of Lucky-Charms in hand, Jayanah and I headed out the door barefoot to Jessi's house. It is probably about .3 miles too her house, but those .3 miles made me realize how hard the task of walking to school 4.3 miles barefoot was going to be!

The pavement felt like needles, pressing hard into my feat. I winced with the pain and clenched my jaw as I crossed the wet asphalt. I honestly don't think I have felt much worse of a pain. The cold had not yet turned my feat numb, so every little thing I stepped on was pain. By the time I arrived at Jessi's house, mentally I was regretting the walk to come. Yet, somehow, God kept me smiling and positive through the whole thing.

We met with 10 others at Jessi's house and began to walk. Our shoes in our backpacks, our feet walking bare along the path. The walk to the corner in front of sunset was harsh. We decided to stop and pray and ask for God to give us strength. I prayed that every time we felt the pain that we would either think of the kids in other countries without shoes, or we would say a silent prayer. It was no surprise that after we prayed, none of us really complained and our feat soon became numb to the cold and pain.

It was a long 4.3 miles from my house to get to school barefoot and walking. But we made it and I have never been more humbled by such an experience. We met up with others along the way and ended up with a large group by the time we arrived at school.

I can not believe that people experience this much pain walking in their daily lives. How distracting it is to have swollen, cut, and blistered feat and trying to stay focused on our daily activities. I am seriously so blessed to have over 42 pairs of shoes in my closet (yes, I'm a shoe fanatic). I will never EVER take one pair of my shoes for granted.

I thank God for the life he has blessed me with . I pray for those who do not have shoes on their feet. I pray that the hearts of those around us will be humbled enough to give up something they have for a pair of shoes for someone in another country.

I seriously want to play a bigger part in raising awareness for those without shoes. I never realized how big of an issue it really is! I hope you will do your part and join me too!

g'night!
erose

PS: Spokane tomorrow to go Prom Dress Shopping with my mom :)