Little Boy Shoes and Faith

My little boy has gone barefoot all summer long. His little feet are tanned and tough as leather - you should see him walk across the gravel! Truth be told he hasn't had a pair of shoes to his name for months now! I have totes full of clothes saved from big brother, but when we moved, the boy shoes were one thing I decided could go.

It's suddenly chilly in Ohio! The days of flip flops and bare feet are dwindling fast, and an outdoor, evening wedding almost certainly called for shoes. So, we went shopping. Nice little boy shoes, whether second hand or new, are not as easily come by as girl's! Maybe I was just too picky. I didn't want to have to buy more than one pair of shoes - something casual, but nice enough to wear for church all in one, ya know....

Do you believe there is a God? Like, do you pray about little boy shoes and such things? Have you ever known someone who's gone sour on prayer? Someone who says, "It probably would have happened anyway, why pray?" We do.

I can't *prove* that there is a God, did you know that? I can't prove it to my children, I can't prove it to the drunk at the bar, I can't prove it to the orphan on the street, I can't prove it to the church boy turned atheist, I can't even prove it to MySeLf! Oh, sure, I can argue til I'm blue in the face and dredge up every speck of evidence I can think of -- the wonders of creation, the birth of a baby, answered prayers, the change from sinner to saint -- but when it comes right down to it, I can't *prove* there is a God. I've never seen Him. I've never heard Him audibly. I've never been able to reach out and actually touch Him. If you're talking about concrete, reach-out-and-touch-it evidence, than no. I can't *prove* a thing.

I've told you before that Chris says I don't think something's a bargain unless it's free. Well, the shoe hunt was getting a little long and frustrating, and he finally told me in exasperation, "You're not gonna find the shoes you're looking for for less than 15 - 20 dollars unless God drops them down from Heaven onto your head in the Goodwill!!" I knew we were both thinking of our prayer-turned-sour friend, so I laughed and said, "And there's no point praying cause they'd be there anyway whether we prayed or not!"

A little prayer went up as we left the shoe store, and as we pulled into a parking space at Walmart I kept up the joke, "I don't know why you're going here, our shoes are over at the Goodwill!" He grinned at me and promptly backed out of the space, "You called it!" and we drove down the shopping center to the Goodwill. I grabbed Charles and my purse and went in.

Joking aside, I believe God cares about little boy shoes. I can't *prove* it; I don't need to. But I believe it. My eyes quickly scanned the shoes in that store...too big, too little, tennis shoes, perfect little girl shoes...nope. I turned away and cast one last glance over the children's section. Ahh, there were a few shoes along the back wall. And there they were! Exact size, not just tennis shoes, not dressy shoes. They weren't the shoes I'd pictured, no. In fact, I wasn't sure that I liked them at all! Still.........I tried them on Charles and looked in vain for a price. Gathering up shoes and boy, I went to the cashier, "How much?" I asked, holding the shoes up. "79 cents," she announced cheerfully! If I had been hesitating over the pictured shoes in my mind, I stopped immediately. Putting the shoes back on the shelf at this point would have been nothing short of sacrilegious! I got in line.

Can I prove to you that God put those shoes there just for me? No. Can I refute the argument that they would have been there anyway, whether I prayed or not? No. The fact is, I DID ask and they WERE there, I really don't have to prove anything about it! That, my friend, is what is meant by Faith.