A Day Without Shoes

 Ok, so I'm sure if you've read my blog before, you saw my little paragraph about Toms Shoes. Today was their annual Day Without Shoes, to raise awareness for children in poverty stricken countries who don't have the choice of whether to wear shoes or not. I took part in that this year.

I'm not gonna lie. My feet are killing me. I didn't even do that much today (my wonderful sister spent the whole day at college barefoot!). I took Ashton to school. I came home. I went to Papa John's to pick up a pizza for lunch for me and the girls, I went back to pick Ashton up from school. But walking on the sidewalks, the street, even just walking in my house, made my feet tender. I always wear flip flops. Always. I didn't realize how much I relied on them until I had to stop myself 50 times from slipping them back on.


It rained today. The temperature dropped about 15 degrees in an hour. I'm not going to say it wasn't tempting to put shoes back on. Right now, my feet are freezing, bare toes peeking over the edge of the laptop I'm propping on my legs. But I think of all the little kids, babies the same age as my babies, walking miles without shoes. In the rain, the dirt, the mud and filth. The preventable diseases that they get, diseases that can be avoided with something as simple as a pair of shoes. I wouldn't consider myself an activist. Not really. But there are things that strike chords in my heart. My not wearing shoes didn't raise money for those kids. I didn't go to any rallies, I didn't carry a sign. I knew the reason I went barefoot today was to raise awareness in myself. To not take for granted something that is so easily accessible to me. Tomorrow, I get to wake up, and choose which pair of shoes I want to wear. I have dozens to choose from. My feet won't have to get wet or dirty if I don't want them to. If they get cold, I can pull a pair of socks on.


But for today, I'm going barefoot for them. And tonight, my heart is as tender as my feet.