Well there I was. Faced with a decision. April 5, 2011 dawned and I had received an email reminding me that it was One Day Without Shoes day. So I wrestled with the idea while I drove into work (shoes on) and on arriving in my office took off my shoes and socks.
Not a big deal, right? Not so much. I took a pic and posted it to my facebook page. I was cruising along just fine (thank you very much) until I needed to leave my office.
Suddenly I was exposed. Would I look foolish? Would people stare? There were a couple of comments such as “I thought I smelled something around here,” and an occasional stare, but I was going to be just fine. Then my feet got cold. And I found myself considering the people I was calling attention to; those without shoes.
I was haunted by these unknown souls, my fellow human beings that go without shoes every day and are exposed to all kinds of bacteria and infections. And I was moved to pray for them. Every time I got a chill I said a prayer. It seemed that there were a bunch of prayers going up as my thoughts turned to these shoeless people.
So the day was over. I had gotten the chance to speak about this issue with a couple of folks in the office. I had done my duty. But it was only 4:30 and the rest of the day was still ahead of me. I decided to complete the day in this shoeless state. Went home, had dinner, and went to my son’s soccer game. It was windy and cold and once the sun went down it was brutally cold on my feet. Again, I thought of those that deal with this all the time because they do not have shoes.
So, the game was over and we came home. I stayed up after the kids went to bed and thought deeply about my day. The fact that I had gone without shoes was surprising to me. The emotions this stirred in me was surprising to me. And the fact that such transformation would be possible by removing my shoes and socks and walking miles as others do every day was a surprise to me. Honestly I was sad the day was over.
So fast forward to this morning. I woke up and thought twice about putting on my shoes. Thought twice about the people that were not able to do this. And decided the least I could do was write about it a bit. I guess the moral of this story is be bold to do something outside of your comfort zone because you never know what God might have in store for you.
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