Volleyball Shoes

Growing up we always got new nice shoes. My Dad made it a point to make sure that we did. I don't think we ever had a lot of extra cash laying around for new nice things. But when it came to sports we got new shoes. Not ones from Payless but from Eastbay or a sporting goods store. We never got the 150 dollar shoes but maybe the 80 dollar ones and always a nice name brand. It was important  and became important to me. So all growing up, I had new shoes at the beginning of each new softball, track, and volleyball seasons. Sometimes I would even get new shoes in the middle of the season, I am rough on footwear. When I moved away from home my parents bought me a new pair of shoes to play volleyball in at practice. The school paid for our game shoes. That season ended and I killed both pairs. However the next season came around and my life had changed a little bit. I had gotten married and was now a poor newly wed with no budget to go and spend 80 plus dollars on new volleyball shoes. So I started my last season of volleyball with old shoes. Luckily my game shoes from the previous year weren't in that bad of shape so I wore them, but they weren't going to last long. One day about a week and a half into the season, my older sister told me in passing that Ross randomly had volleyball shoes. I went down there after practice and there they were new red volleyball shoes. They originally retailed at 80 dollars, but were being sold for 15. They were all out except for my size. I bought them and they were my practice shoes for the whole season. And like I said I am rough on footwear, Target brand shoes weren't going to cut it.

Why did I want to tell this random seemingly unimportant story? Well the other day I was cleaning out my closet and found these shoes. These shoes mean a lot to me. Not just because they were exactly what I needed when I needed them. Not just because they matched the colors of my new school. Not because I wanted name brand volleyball shoes. But because I got them because Aaron and I were honest tithe payers. The Lord new that I couldn't afford a 100 dollar pair of shoes, but I could afford a 15 dollar pair. I look at these shoes and know that the Lord is very aware of me and my needs, all the way down to a pair of shoes.  Maybe volleyball shoes are a silly thing and I cared too much about them, but the Lord knew me and took care of that need for who I was at the time. I know that he did that because one, he loves me and two, I was being obedient.