The Taming of the Shoe

According to one of my students last year, I told my Bible class that I hate people and I love shoes. While this is a true statement, I was a little surprised I admitted it to children. 

I really like shoes. I also enjoy Shakespeare and clever puns combining Shakespeare and shoes. I once used my calendar titled "The Taming of the Shoe" as inspiration for an art project I titled "A Shoe Like It." But I digress. 

On Friday, I had the opportunity to share my story with the students, and I chose to tell my story through some of my shoes. As I told it, I included the details that show the work of the Holy Spirit; the highlight of my day was during the next period when one of my students told me my telling clarified the ambiguous concept of indwelling for her. My shoes are hard to tame each morning as I force my feet into the correct position in the braces, but that experience made it worth it.

It was also worth it the next morning to get myself out of bed and tame my shoes - or more accurately my feet - and wheel myself to school at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday to supervise a group of twenty NHS students volunteering to serve breakfast to the visiting volleyball and cross country teams, five of whom I taught last year. When one of my former students found out I showed up without my morning coffee, she snapped into action. A few minutes later, another girl from my Spiritual Formation class checked in with me, "We're working on the coffee, Miss Hewett. Everyone who was in your 2nd period class last year knows this is a big deal." I love those precious students more than my shoes, more than my coffee - though the cup they brewed was delicious. 

I'm so grateful to bet to work with these amazing teenagers. I'm blessed beyond belief for the gift of going back to work part time this year. I do acknowledge, though, that I am still limited and still healing. Part time teaching plus part time physical therapy is still a full time load, and I'm working hard to thrive in it. I still crave your prayers for energy and stamina as I teach each day along with continued healing to allow me to make it through each day with greater ease and endurance. I still long for more function, and I won't stop asking for it. There haven't been any changes lately, but that doesn't mean they won't come. I'd like you to ask with me for a taming of the shoe - for my brain to be in complete control of what happens in my feet again.