My day without shoes.

Many of you may have heard about TOMS Shoes. Their mission is simple. Buy a pair of shoes, and a pair of shoes is given to a child in need. One for One. Simple. No annoying stuff to get in the way. (I like it!) Today was "One day without shoes". Thousands of people went about their day today barefoot. The purpose of the event was to put yourself in their shoes...or lack thereof. Spend a day realizing what you have, our comforts, how easy our life is with shoes, and force yourself to be uncomfortable, raise awareness, etc. Walk around on cold cement, drive your car barefoot, go into a store w/o shoes on, walk on hard dirt, through weeds or sand and rocks. I decided that I needed to do it.

I was like this: First up was putting gas in my car....it hit me....people w/o shoes don't have cars to fill up with gas...kind of an oxymoron that I was in the middle of. But I stood on that cold dirty cement so little kids don't have to stand in dirt with critters and open wounds to get infected anymore. The girls and I went to a park and played. They played in the sand....But didn't have to walk through the thick woods like this kid does.... I was able to lay my feet out in the warm sunshine while I watched my girls play......

But didn't have to worry about lining up for hours waiting for shoes to protect my feet....... My sweet girl only had to worry about enjoying her animal crackers while being barefoot with her kissable chubby feet.....

While this kid....well this picture speaks for itself. Imagine how many miles he has walked in those shoes. everyday. through rough terrain...bad weather. who knows. Would it be acceptable for your child to have no shoes or shoes like this? I don't think so... Did you know that by not having something as simple as shoes can lead to the following: -Soil based transmitted disease such as jiggers, tetanus, hookworm...to name just a few. -Education is a luxury in most cultures....requiring uniforms. They might have the uniform, but no shoes... = no education. -"They are condemned to being servants or other low professions because they have no drive to perform at the same level as others...It starts with them not having shoes." -Dr. Adan Rios, Associate Professor of Internal Medical at UT Medical School in Houston. I pondered some of those things while snuggling my daughter...we are so blessed. It always helps to have perspective...but it's what you choose to do with that perspective, is what really matters....

This is what the result should be...A simple pair of good shoes. It's not that hard. Sure my feet were cold for part of the day, yes I got some splinters in them running through the wood chips at the park, yes I got strange looks from other moms, sure it was uncomfortable standing in a gravel parking lots hooking my kids into their car seats....and driving without shoes was, well interesting...But all in all my day wasn't that much of an inconvenience for me...It made me think. It made me appreciate...and it made me more aware and it's making me act....(and it made me send the link of the TOMS's shoes I want for my birthday to Adam...) My friend Hannah wrote a great post about why she was going shoeless today too. Check it out! www.hannahelogeblog.com/?p=95 ***Any photos of feet that aren't mine or my girls are courtesy of Hannah Eloge and Children's HopeChest. :-)