God and My New Ecco Sandals

Today is Sunday. The Sabbath.

 It is a two-hour drive one way to Church through the most incredible traffic imaginable. Motorcycles, Rickshaws, buses, cement trucks, bicycles, and every driver with a strong death wish. I begin my Sundays with a prayer for safety and end them with a prayer of thanks.

Today, I have a little something more for which I must express my thanks and I want to thank Him publicly.

I was told before I came to India that I should wear only closed-toe shoes. When I got here, I realized that advice was not going to work out very well. Everyone wears sandals. It's too hot to do anything else. Thankfully, I had brought a pair of rubber flip flops for the shower. I have been walking around for over two months in rubber flip flops and frankly, the tread was wearing a little thin. The situation was exacerbating some foot problems I already had and I felt desperate for some kind of solution. I couldn't exactly run out on a shopping spree and buy me a pair of good sandals.

So God went shopping for me.

There is a closet here full of the cast-offs of my predecessors. Every time I look in there, I'm reminded of the personal belongings of pioneers strewn along the Oregon Trail as they 'lightened' their loads. I had been through those cast-offs a number of times looking for some kind of shoe that might replace my shower flip flops. I never found anything.

Last week, in a desperate move, though I had already searched the shoe selection quite thoroughly, I decided to look one more time. There, in plain view, rested a beautiful pair of Ecco sandals, just my size. I hesitate to admit this, but I stood and cried. Those shoes hadn't been there a week ago. We hadn't had a volunteer group come through since the last time I looked, so the sandals hadn't been left recently. Apparently, I had just missed seeing them all this time . . . . . . . . . . . .Or not.

I dusted them off, cleaned them with a damp cloth, and put those babies on. I have died and gone to heaven. Wait. Maybe. Heaven couldn't possibly be this hot. Uh-oh.

God has good taste. My sandals cost over $100 on Amazon.

Today is Sunday. The Sabbath.

Thank you, God. Thank you. I love you. Credit given where credit is due. Even though I'm in India, you still know where I am, you are still aware of my needs, and you love me back.

Amen.