Thankful for Shoes

Shoes may seem like a strange thing to make my list, but I am thankful for them for two reasons today.  The first is a silly personal reason.  I have been wearing the same black loafers for 4 years.  For the past 2 years they have had holes in the soles.  When the first hole appeared I began to look for shoes.  I searched every store that sold shoes, and I could not find a pair that met all my criteria.  My criteria weren't all that crazy.  I wanted shoes that were in my budget, looked decent, and felt comfortable.  So when it became apparent that I was not going to find what i wanted, I did what anyone would do. I resorted to duct tape.  I pulled up the insole and patched the hole with duct tape. Then I replaced the insole.  I repeated this procedure several times over the past couple years, and even bought new cushy insoles at one point. Of course each time I fixed the bottom it was more apparent that I NEEDED to find shoes.  Finally yesterday, after enduring the ridicule of my peers, I found a pair of shoes that I could buy, and feel pretty good about.  And so with no great sadness I bid adieu to my old shoes...

The second reason I have to be thankful for shoes involves the Earth Scouts group that we participate in.  My favorite component in of the group is service opportunity.  This month we held a shoe drive for Share Your Soles.  This is a group that collects gently used and new shoes and sends them to people around the world in need.  Shoes are one thing that I never considered necessary except in extremely cold places, but the information we were given prior to this service project surprised me.  I hadn't considered how far many people have to travel for resources that we take for granted such as water and education.  So our group placed a collection box in the library, passed out fliers to the neighborhood, and gathered shoes from our own friends and family.  As it turns out we collected a big pile of shoes.  I guess more than being thankful for the shoes I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of something good. 

Here's a picture of the group with the giant pile of shoes.