Shoes and Good News

It all started when I broke my shoe. My attempt at walking with a broken flip flop failed miserably and I slipped them off. As I wandered around the school we were visiting, I was careful to avoid shards of glass, inch long thorns, and sharp rocks that littered the path. The red soil of Africa stained my feet “terra cotta,” and I eagerly dug them into the hot ground. I looked around at the children I was playing hopscotch with, and realized the majority of them didn’t have shoes. They had no protection for their feet, but they thought nothing of it as they ran and skipped. That’s when the verse from Isaiah 52:7 came to mind, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

The children’s feet were bare, calloused, and dirty and my only thought was “how beautiful.” Their shoes (if they had any) were filled with holes, but my only thought was “how beautiful.” Bare feet are indeed beautiful when you see joy and contentment in the faces of children.

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