My Sister's Shoes

How many times have you caught yourself using the phrase ‘those people’, or ‘people like that’? How many times have I said ‘How could they…?’? How often have I speculated about another woman’s life based on a snapshot of her life laid against socio-economic studies and news-bites? I am guilty of more than I really want to count. I am not a minute proud of all the times I judged another woman as she tried to shop with a couple of tired kids, then swiped her EBT card for payment. How smug I can be in my enlightened self! The Scriptures admonish me that “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?” (James 4:12)

Then I tried on a pair of her shoes. Retirement did not leave me rolling in money. Going through the process of making sure the fridge stayed reasonably full, and getting medical needs met, has taught me a lot about myself and the Father’s compassion. Real compassion that really does feel someone else’s pain. The shoes that my sisters have to wear are neither stylish nor well-cut. They can cause one to stumble and totter. I’ve learned to be grateful, truly grateful for things like EBT. You have to go through enough hoops to get one, at least single moms do. The process is humiliating and stressful. I now understand why there are so many angry women around us. I now get why the tension and stress and short temper. I remember the passage of Scripture where the men murmured against Jesus letting certain kinds of women touch or be near him. The Lord defended her. (See Luke 7:36-39, 48)  I find it both interesting and of much comfort that our Lord Jesus is such a liberator of women. Today we still tend to sit in the seat of judicial piety against our sisters. Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother (or sister) and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge (James 4:11) Now that I am one of those that need the charity of others, and am unable to repay, I am ashamed of my former attitude. How ugly and presumptuous to think that I held some special rank or knowledge.  I am beginning to feel that perhaps we are part of a special sorority. So many of us have had to bury our dreams of wedded bliss and get on with making a life for ourselves and our children.  To think, we have we have God’s complete attention.

During the first week of each month, I want to hug all my sisters loading grocery carts to the top to make sure our kids eat well. We go through the aisles on a mission. I want to tell each one that The Lord is Father to the fatherless and Defender of the widow. He’s also our Redeemer and Savior. I want to tell them that God has a plan for our children and for us. He has plans for a hope, a future, and success. For I know the thought that I think toward you, says the Lord, thought of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

Looks like my sister’s shoes are actually mine.