Barefoot!

Some of my happiest memories have happened when I was barefooted! This could be because I take off my shoes at every opportunity, but it is never the less the truth! I’ve run across fields of ground stickers to visit my great grand-mother. I’ve played in the mud and danced in the rain-BAREFOOT! I’ve rolled down hills and jumped in puddles. I’ve run through the halls of my high school, shoes in hand. The principal caught me, but he just laughed. I’ve even left footprints in the freshly fallen snow.

I took my shoes off at my own wedding and at both of my sisters’ weddings. I gave birth to my children-barefooted. Oh, I took my shoes off at their weddings too! Right at this moment I am sitting with my shoes tossed to the side of my desk.

I’ve walked on the beaches barefooted. My bare feet have been in lakes and ponds, and in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico. They’ve been in far-away waters across the pond. They’ve kicked the sand along dirt roads and caught the grass between their toes.

My eyes love shoes. They are beautiful works of art! They shine and sparkle, decorate and protect. But my feet cry out to wiggle their toes. Freedom!

My mind calms when feet contact fresh green grass. My breath slows. Peace fills my soul. There is a connectedness to God’s creation in that moment.

I’ve worshiped barefoot! I cannot count the times I’ve kicked my shoes off as I’ve played my piano. I feel the cold metal of the piano pedal beneath my right foot and squish my toes into the carpet with my left. I’ve lain on the floor, my face buried in my arms, barefoot and bare souled and I cried out before my God!

Some may think me uncultured, unladylike-a poor waif. Lower class. But I believe I am richer for having lived my life barefoot. Yes, I’ve gotten some scrapes and stickers in my feet…even a few shards of glass. But I have learned where to place my feet-right smack dap in the middle of His Word! His light! It is a lamp for my feet. I follow. He leads. The only shoes I really need are the sure foundation of the gospel of peace.

Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105