When I was a senior in high school, I signed up for a speech and debate class. Partly because it sounded interesting and partly because it's the only class I could find to fit with my early release schedule. (We all know early release was "the" highlight of senior year besides graduation, right?)
One of the speeches I wrote was entitled "Shoes: The evolution of footwear". The speech started as somewhat of a joke. My friends used to tease me because I owned a gazillion pairs of shoes and was always on the hunt for another pair! Anyway, I was really stumped on a speech topic and one of my friends suggested writing about shoes. At first I laughed...shoes? Who could write a speech about shoes?!!! What would I say?! With a little thought though I came up with a plan.
I wrote a speech about the evolution of footwear. How shoes were designed as a protective device for our feet but over time had also become a major force in the fashion industry. I made the case that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their feet. While delivering the speech I showed pictures from various generations. Some images showed men wearing steel toed boots, others showed women from the 1950's wearing high heels in the grocery store. Then I pulled random people from the audience to stand up so we could analyze what the shoes on their feet said about them.
15 years later it's interesting to reflect on what the shoes I'm wearing today say about me. At first glance they are just a pair of tennies, right? I mean...I'm a stay at home mom to 2 very busy boys. I'm always on the go between photo shoots, sports classes, working out, all the normal busy mom stuff. It's easy to see why I might be wearing tennies! But the story goes a bit deeper.
A few months ago we had an opportunity to watch a rare interview with, Bono, (lead singer of U2 for those of you who may not know who he is) at our church. He was being interviewed by a friend of our pastor and Bono really wanted to get his message out to as many people in the church as possible. I have always been a HUGE fan of U2 so when we got word that the interview would be broadcast at our church I was over the moon with excitement.
My husband and I had a few conversations about the work Bono was doing in Africa. We always thought it was promising to see an international celebrity really DOING something about a problem rather than just talking about it. During each of our conversations both my husband and I agreed that "someday" we really needed to DO something too. However, since I quit my job teaching to be at home with our boys now just wasn't the right time. We were excited to listen to the interview but we both knew in our hearts that now probably wasn't the time to make a major contribution to his efforts.
A few weeks later we walked into a packed church. Evidently we weren't the only one's excited to see this interview. The lights went out, the screen dropped and I promise you I could have heard a pin drop in the room. It was dead silent. Then, on comes never before seen footage of a U2 concert. I got goosebumps and immediately got a feeling that something BIG was about to happen inside of me.
I watched the entire interview practically glued to the edge of my seat. The only time I moved a muscle was to tell my husband that we needed to DO something NOW. At the end of the interview, our pastor got up and explained what our involvement as a church would be in Africa. He pointed to a small village in Africa on a map blown up on the wall. He described how 100% of the dollars donated were going to help this one particular village. Our church leaders were going to be flying out to meet with village leaders, etc...
At this time I was watching my husband pull out the "commitment card" provided by the church. They were asking everyone to estimate how much of a financial committment we could make to this effort. I watched my husband jot down a number and he quickly flashed it to me. WHAT?!!! I had to look twice!
You have to understand, my husband and I aren't rich but we aren't necessarily hurting for money either. We have a nice home and I do have the luxury of staying at home with our kids. However, with my graduate school loans, car payments, house payment, etc... it all adds up and there is only so much to go around.
I've heard people describe the "perfect trust" before, but I'd never really experienced until we walked out of church that day. As nervous as I was when I saw the card I just had a feeling that I needed to TRUST this was the right decision....that somehow we would find a way to make this work and fulfill our commitment. Perhaps I'd need to start clipping coupons or cutting back on "convenience items"...there had to be a way.
A few weeks later I launched a set of birth announcements as part of my design company. I had a knot in my stomach (ask any of my on-line friends and they will tell you I was a nervous wreck). My hope was that they would sell really well so I could set money aside to go toward our pledge. I was overwhelmed by the response! One by one people were buying templates. Then I launched another set and another set, then another. I sold, sold and sold some more. I sold more than I ever imagined I would.
I recently calculated the total and I'm thrilled to announce that my template sales alone covered our pledge to the efforts in Africa. That feeling of having the perfect trust in His plan was very much real and now I can see why. Since we made our pledge I have experienced tremendous success with my design business, I have booked more photo sessions than I ever thought possible, I have been commissioned by two nationally known clients, and I'm loving life. Some might think this is coincidence, but I can't help but think it's bigger than that.
So, the shoes I'm standing in today...they not only represent my "busy mom" personality, but they also represent my commmitment to the efforts in Africa. They are a RED product sold only at GAP stores. A portion of the proceeds of all Red products go toward the efforts in Africa. If you haven't checked out this line I would highly recommend it. There are tons of things to choose from!
Wow...got long winded there. Sorry about that! Ha! If anyone took the time to read this...thank you!
Happy shopping everyone!
