This week, I will be attending Catalyst Conference for the first time. I’m really excited to be able to get to know a few new people and to put some faces with folks I’ve only “met” via email. Today, we received an interesting email from one of the event’s sponsors, Toms Shoes, asking us to tell them in 200 words or fewer why we would like to go on a Toms giving trip–where they distribute their shoes (free of charge) to kids who are in need.
I thought, “Hey, a writing challenge! Let’s go for it!” It was fun to consider the issue from a new angle—from the bottom up as it were. My entry read as follows:
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I am a woman with size 11 feet, so finding shoes can be a bit of a struggle. Stores usually stock only one pair that will fit my tootsies, and another gal who’s in the same predicament I am often beats me to them. Either that, or they’re wide width. The problem? My feet are narrow. So, like Goldilocks, I’m on a perpetual hunt for something that fits “just right.”
My frustration, however, is of little consequence compared to what children around the world face. Their shoelessness is not a mild inconvenience, a lack of trendy, comfortable kicks. They’re fighting a battle against disease, and that’s a struggle we can spare them with a few strips of canvas and latex.
I would love to participate in a giving trip, to wash the feet of God’s beautiful creations and watch their faces light up. As they wiggle their toes inside those new shoes—ones that fit and will last—they’ll realize they’re one step closer to a better quality of life. They’ll know that they matter to me and, more importantly, to God. Having size 11 clodhoppers hardly matters in the face of something as grand as that.
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I’ve had a lot of little things go wrong this week. Our health insurance was impacted by Obamacare (more on that later), and my car broke down on the way home today. However, when I think about the fact that I have a car to break and the money to fix it again, it makes me much less angry about it. Even in my problems, I am blessed.
What about you all? Has something reminded you to be more grateful lately? What are you thankful for?
Nice job Jamie. Compassionate “angle.” Come to think of it, it’s the angle of your Father. I think it’s a shoe-in.
Bad-dum-bum! Thanks for the vote of confidence, sir!
Love your entry! Love that you turned your bad day into a way to be grateful, that’s always a good reminder to people. As a person who has been blessed beyond measure and especially as a Christian, I should be one of the last people in the world to complain. But I still do and then I immediately scold myself for doing so because it’s about something stupid. I get (very!) frustrated about something then think about the upside to it. As a glasses wearer, I get sooooo irritated when my glasses get smudges all over them. Then I have to clean them with my shirt, which usually ends up making it worse. Then its off to the kitchen for windex! Then I stop and think “I have my eyesight, I’m not blind, I have the use of my hands to clean my glasses, why am I complaining?”. I do still get very frustrated about stupid little things but I just need a constant reminder of the positive.
And you have Windex. And a kitchen cabinet. And food in the cabinet. Once you start thinking about how truly blessed you are, it’s hard to stop, isn’t it?