Shoes

I am glad that God gave us feet that can toughen up to withstand a lot of barefooted walking over varied terrain.  However, I am thankful that God gave us shoes so that we don’t have to do that.  Shoes are so versatile.  We have specialized shoes for whatever you want to do, be it working, hiking, running, sports, or dancing.  I most definitely appreciate all of these - especially since mine require orthotics - but honestly, I think the part that I appreciate most is their appearance.

I’m not the kind of woman who has fifty pairs of shoes in my closet; I think that would just be too overwhelming.  I wouldn’t even have enough outfits to match them to.  That, to me, is the whole reason to have “so many” shoes.  Shoe shopping can be difficult unless you’re just getting one pair of shoes to match one outfit.  I just can’t bring myself to spend the money and space on doing that, with two exceptions:  my wedding dress and my prom dress.  Actually... I used the heck out of my prom shoes (and even got to wear the dress a couple more times).  

I do feel, however, that there are a few staples to a woman’s shoe collection.  In the open-toed dressy category, you have your black, brown, and white shoes; a pair of sandals and a pair of flip-flops; a pair of black boots and maybe another of brown; a pair for all-purpose every-day wear; a pair of tennis shoes; a pair of grungy shoes; and a pair of house shoes.  

Now that’s 11 pairs of shoes.  You can take it from me, men - a woman’s basic shoe count requires double digits.  You may not think you care about how our shoes look, but it really would look pretty tacky if your wife had to wear her all-purpose shoes with a skirt.  Shoes really can make or break an outfit, and it takes some hunting to find a pair that’s versatile enough for more than one outfit.

Isn’t it amazing how much God has given us?  Millions of people out there would be thankful for just one pair of shoes, and here I’m talking about at least 11 pairs.  It is expected in our society - and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing.  It’s a reality of different worlds.  I am, however, very thankful that God chose to place me in the “world” that gets to have at least 11 pairs of shoes.