Plans, Good Friends and Where My Shoes Have Taken Me...

So much has been going on with us, as you can see from our new website!! Now that most of that is done, back to our blogging!!

I thought it was very appropriate to start the new blog with this entry. The last post was about my father's tree in Canada and that is just where my shoes took me recently. Let me begin to explain...

Right at the tail end of getting our new website up I got an e-mail from Martin's wife,Martin is one of my childhood friends, (I was six when we all met), and my best friend Lorelei. Well Martin was having a milestone birthday and Giselle his wife was giving him a surprise party. Lor and Giselle both thought how great it would be if all four of us that grew up together could be there for that occasion. We all live in different areas, Lor about 250 miles away and David about 30 miles and me, well California. I recognized that even though we have connected individually that the four of us had not all been together in seventeen years. I debated for a while and thought of the craziness of doing this, but the thought of seeing my dear friends and getting the joy of surprising Martin was just too much and it won over my more serious side.

Of course I am always thinking about shoes, so I thought "well I can do a blog about how Canadian styles differ from American" Yes, that was plan for shoes while in Windsor. So while waiting to connect with Lor and her (wonderful) husband Jason, I went off to Devonshire Mall. The place where I had spent many happy times as a teenager. I was so surprised to see the changes in it, I could not recognize it from what it had been. I checked out a few shoe stores and while they had great styles they were pretty much the same as what we have here, OK, maybe a little larger selection of boots, still the same though.

So there went my blog topic. Back to the drawing board. And then it just kind of naturally occurred. I realized as I was wearing my wonderful 8009-18's how they were allowing me to walk on places that I had been so many times before, and I was filled with gratitude for that simple pleasure. I thought as I sat at Starbucks, yes me and my Starbucks habit, how lucky I was to be in the land where I had grown up.

That was not the best part though. The best parts started once I connected with Lor. We met up at her sister Ivy's house and I of course stood on my tiptoes still in my 8009-18's Lor is so tall and I am "petite." They took me in to see Ivy, a woman that I have known almost my whole life. I saw her Mother in her, and it made my heart full. From there Lorelei, Jason and I went to church together and then off to get ready for Martin's party.

So of course I had my outfit planned out around my shoes!! I was wearing my Agape/Kent's and as we all know they are fabulous. So there I am in great shoes on my way to see David, and Martin and Giselle.

Now this is one of the funny parts, I live in my heels, rarely do they come off. Upon arriving at Martin and Giselle's home they had beautiful hard wood floors so at the door all of our shoes came off. Now I did notice that most of the closet was filled with tennis shoes, which were much more appropriate for the rather chilly early October weather than my choice of bare legs, but I have lived in California for a long time now. So off came my heels. I still think though that my shoes took me there.

Took me to the home of dear friends to surprise one of them. And surprise we did. Giselle has tried before to surprise Martin and he is just too smart for that. She was really good this time.
While everyone was hiding in the living room, she had the three of us go and hide in their bedroom and turn on the TV so that the house would look dark when he pulled up. He really thought upon arriving home that she didn't do anything. Their other guests greeted him first with a giant yelling of "SURPRISE." And then the three of us filed out from the bedroom, Lor first, David second, and me hiding behind the rather tall and broad David. When each of us appeared the screams were pretty loud. From Martin's heartfelt reaction I think he felt so good that all of his friends were there together.

SO at the beginning of the year I wondered where my shoes would take me. Yes, they took me to a place, more than that though they took me to see dear friends that I love and cherish deeply, and that was really the important part.

My plans changed from a blog about styles, I was hoping for rather witty inspiration, they changed but they got better. Better than I ever thought they could be.

So I invite you to write notes about where your shoes have taken YOU? How your plans may have changed and yet, gotten better.

When Things are Meant to be... Deborah and the Red Shoe

Before I begin this story let me mention a wonderful book that I have read and given copies to multiple people. It is called "When God Winks" by Squire Rushnell; the book discusses how coincidences in your life are like God winking at you. Well, let me share a huge "God wink" with all of you.

I remember the night that I met Deborah, a wonderful Representative for Footprints in the Phoenix area of Arizona. We were introduced by her recruiter Ronda, (an amazing woman in her own right), at a dinner meeting. Deborah was debating joining our company and on a trip to the Phoenix area, I had a chance to meet with her. From almost the very first moment there seemed to be a special connection between the two of us. She knew leaving the restaurant that evening that somehow she was supposed to be a part of Footprints International.

My wonderful friendship with Deborah has grown and deepened over the years that she has been with the company; and I have always continued to feel that odd but very special connection.

Well, last year Deborah as many of us was facing a lot of challenges in her life; having a family and being a dear and supportuve friend to many who needed her. She began wondering if Footprints was still going to continue to be a part of her life.

Friends who know Deborah have given her "red shoe" gifts over the years, and one day Deborah (who has a deep Christian faith), found herself in a store praying powerfully asking God for guidance and a sign. She said, "Lord if you just give me one more red shoe, I will know what I am supposed to do." So she continued to walk through the store, searching for that red shoe, and it did not appear. For weeks Deborah continued to struggle with her decisions while continuing to pray for the sign.

Then she came to Orange, CA (where I live) to visit her mother. Deborah and I have always come to cherish those visits over the years, and really look forward to them. So, yes, at my favorite Starbucks, there we sat catching up. She shared all of her struggling with me, and I didn't know what to say. Many of the women, whom I have met through our wonderful company, have come to mean so much to me, and the thought of losing that part of our relationship upset me, but I knew that Deborah had to make the right choices for herself.

Deborah has just finished sharing the "red shoe" story with me. It was a little chilly in my favorite Starbucks; so she went out to grab a sweater from her car. When she came back in, she set her keys down, and on them was a red shoe keychain. Well I probably turned white at that moment as I was digging in my purse and saying, "Deborah you are not going to believe this!!!" I pulled out the exact same red shoe keychain as she had. I am sure at that moment both of us probably had tears filling our eyes. Deborah knew in that moment that she had gotten her sign that she had asked for and it was from the owner of Footprints International. In addition to that, the gift that I had brought to Deborah that day was her own copy of "When God Winks."

So we both knew in that moment that for whatever reason Deborah was surely made to be a part of this!!!

So my question to you is, has there ever been a time in your life when you were pursuing a dream and something happened that made you know that you were going in the right direction???

Post a comment and let us know!!!