Provision

Shoe shopping stresses me out. When you have a small, narrow foot, it's hard to find affordable shoes that fit. I can sometimes get by with a medium width shoe if it has straps or laces. For this reason I'm very fond of Mary-Jane-style shoes. Good thing they're cute!

I've been blessed with a Talbot's Outlet in my town that sometimes carries shoes in my size. Even better is that they're often inexpensive. I bought this lovely pair for less than $20, if I remember correctly. (For Talbot's that's cheap!)



But after owning and wearing them for a few years, they've developed a problem:




When I wore them to work last week, I discovered at the end of the day that the floor of my classroom was littered with little black pieces of shoe sole. My shoes were shedding.

So much for the supposed quality of shoes made in Italy! I took them to the shoe repair shop, but they're irreparable. I might have just let this go, but while I'm tutoring, I need to dress professionally; my Birkenstocks aren't going to cut it as replacements. As I discovered I have a lot of brown clothes, new shoes became a must.

Gearing myself up for frustration, I decided to stop and pray about this. Our clothing budget at the moment is small because we recently bought several new articles of clothing. I can pull money from other categories, but I really didn't want to. We really are trying to stick to our budget, after all. I asked God to help me find brown shoes that fit and were within our current clothing budget.

I'd intended to go to the Talbot's Outlet, but I first stopped at Half-Price Books to pick up a book for my husband. I realized that HPB was just a few doors down from a big shoe store called DSW. I decided to check it out.

As is typical, nothing was in a narrow width. I wandered back to the clearance section anyway. I wound up finding these:



And these:



No, they're not narrow. But they fit. (Straps always help, as do those little pads you put inside the shoes.) Best of all, they were affordable. I asked for a single pair of shoes, and I found two. How cool is that? Dressy and casual. Can I tell you how cute the first pair looks with jeans?

In the grand scheme of life, a pair (or two!) of brown shoes is pretty unimportant. But how thankful I am that God chose to provide when I asked for something so insignificant. How can I not trust him with the big stuff?

Luke 12:22-31
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.