The Little Black Shoe

7 Feb 2000 - The Little Black Shoe

Hi, This is another true story I wrote eariler and thought you might like.

As with most young parents, money was tight. And the very real possibility of it getting tighter was looming imminent. Former renters were suing us. I worried. I knew it was wrong. I tried not to, but when I least expected it anxiety over the situation gripped me. I would pray and hand the situation over to God only to take the burden back again and again. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God could fix it. But would He? Maybe this was one of those times of testing and trials that come to everyone. Even that, I knew God could get us through. Was that His plan? Was He going to walk us through the fiery furnace? I explained to Him that although it might be necessary to teach others lessons in that manner, I was a quick study. No need to go to extremes here God. So I continued to worry. I wrote worse case scenarios in my head. Prepared contingency plans. I wanted to have a written plan of what God planned for this situation and how would he watch over us.


Right in the middle of all this internal turmoil, Calvin received an unexpected gift. $1,000.00 came from an unexpected source. Calvin, ever the practical one, sat down and contemplated how this money should be spent. Among other things he decided to buy us all new shoes. We did something we had never done before. We bought the children name brand shoes, more than twice what we would normally spend. It was fun and exciting to just go and pick out shoes that we liked and not consider how much they cost.


Our son, Jordy, was 3 at the time. He got the cutest little pair of black leather Converse “running” shoes. They were $30.00, a major amount for us to spend on a child’s shoe that would be outgrown in 6 months or less. He was proud of his new shoes, as were we. Of course we all had to wear our new shoes that very day. And Jordy’s only other pair of shoes was so worn and tattered I threw them away. It was Saturday, and we were big spenders for the day, so we went to Sonic for supper. Hannah and Jordy were much more interested in playing in the ball pit than eating. So they removed their shoes and jumped in. Jamison was only 6 months old at the time and stayed with my mother during this outing. Too soon, or so Jordy thought, it was time to go. Like most 3 year olds “he did not go quietly into that good night.” So he was carried, crying to the car. Calvin had him in one arm and the new shoes in the other. When we got to the car Calvin put the shoes on top of the car while he buckled, a very out of sorts, Jordy into the car seat. And we drove away.


When we got out of the car at my mother’s house 10 miles down the road one shoe was still on the roof but the other one was gone. I was sick and discouraged. Calvin said, “We will go right now before it gets dark and drive slowly back to town. I bet we will find it.” As we drove back to town straining our eye so as not to miss a spot, I was praying (and whining) to God. “Please Heavenly Father let us find that shoe. Let it be in good shape. Watch over it for just a few more minutes.” Well we drove the road to town and back twice not a sign of a little black shoe anywhere. I was crushed. Looking back now I know how silly it was to care so much about a shoe. But it was like that shoe represented something. I guess it made me think along the lines of getting used to losing things. So I couldn’t help but think about the lawsuit and what we were possibly about to lose. So guess what, I worried even more.


My mother knew about the shoe and I told my sister Vicki. Other than those two no one else knew anything about it. For a few days after losing the shoe I had hopes it might turn up, but after 10 days or so I gave up any hope of finding it, and after 20 days I had forgotten about it. Now most of the people in my family are packrats, not me I am a tosser. I sometimes get so zealous in my purging that Mother and Calvin at times have gone through the trash and pulled things back out. So why I didn’t throw away that one shoe I’ll never know. But I kept it. The morning of the 20th day my sister, Vicki, called from the office. Vicki, one of only two people that even knew we had lost a shoe. On the way to work that morning she had seen a black shoe in the road and remembered that we had lost one so she stopped and picked it up. I drove over to the office that morning, and there in perfect condition was the missing shoe!


It had rained several times during those 20 days; the shoe had no water damage. One could assume a dog carried it off, but it had no tooth marks. As a matter of fact the lace was still tied. I don’t know where that shoe was for those 20 days. But what came flooding to my mind that morning was that God knew where it was. God never lost track of that little black shoe, he protected it, sheltered it, and saw to it that it was in the road at 9AM that morning when Vicki drove past. I knew right then and there that since God cared enough to keep that shoe safe and get it back to me, in answer to that prayer I prayed that night when we lost it, that he could and would look after me and my family.