Blog: Something More To Life
Rita Walt,
Educator / Quilter / Adventurer
You know when you get a pair of shoes you love so much that you just have to have another pair exactly like the first? Well here are the shoes. I purchased the first pair of these shoes back in 2013. My husband and I were going on a mission trip to Costa Rica, and we were not in the best physical shape. We knew we would be doing a lot of hard work and walking on rough terrain, so I needed a pair of shoes to get ready for the trip.
In the months leading up to our trip in July of 2014, these shoes took me everywhere. I guess you could say these shoes got me moving again, and boy did I move. I would hate to guess how many miles those soles walked. Once in Costa Rica, the shoes took me places; beautiful places and difficult places to look at, but all with beautiful people and children. Their smiles melted my heart. These shoes even learned how to salsa. Two years later we had the opportunity to go with our pastor and his wife to Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. These shoes were on my feet walking along beaches, stopping and meeting people along the road, and hiking up a mountain (ok, it was a small mountain, but it was a mountain.) And again, the children were precious. I decided to leave my shoes in Nicaragua for someone who needed them more than I did.
I didn't think about those shoes again until last year when the opportunity for another trip presented itself. We were going back to Costa Rica, and I needed those shoes. So I purchased my second pair. This time my shoes got to drive a backhoe, teach school-age children, paint cement blocks, build furniture and walk and walk and walk. I didn't wear the shoes much after we got back to the states. I always thought of them as my traveling shoes, but I should have thought of them as my "get moving" shoes. I had major foot surgery in February and per doctor's orders, these shoes do have me moving again. They are sturdy. They are comfortable. They keep me going when I want to stop and sit down. They remind me of the goodness of people. More importantly, they are ready for the next big adventure.