Sarah left for school wearing fuzzy tall winter boots. They didn’t make a great fashion statement with a pair of shorts but she had no choice. Bare feet were not allowed at school.

By the time she arrived from her short walk in the early morning heat, she was already sweating from wearing the thick boots. To make matters worse, two of the snooty popular girls were standing by the front gate to the school when she arrived. They snickered at her boots and made faces at her when she walked by. They made sure she heard their snippy comments.

“Look how silly she looks. Is she trying to make a fashion statement?” Amanda sneered.

“Yeah, does she think she looks cool or something? She needs to get a clue.” Nicky responded.

She tried to pretend that she didn’t hear them but the comments stung. She walked straight ahead without looking back. A tear ran down her cheek at their cruelty.

They don’t mean to be that way. They just don’t understand.

She tried to convince herself of that but it didn’t make her feel any better.

She walked over to the gym, grabbed her tennis shoes from her backpack for P.E. class, her first of the day. Her old shoes were much too small and hurt her feet when she ran. I can’t wear my boots for running, she thought.

Sarah didn’t want to draw attention to herself and complain to the teacher to see if she could wear her boots. If she complained, a note would go home with her telling her Mom to buy her new tennis shoes. Mommy can’t afford new shoes.

 She knew it was either school supplies for the beginning of the year or new shoes. Her mom didn’t have enough for both. The boots and old tennis shoes would have to do. There would be no shoes for Sarah.

Sarah had seen the sad look in her mother’s eyes when she couldn’t give her shoes. She had tried to get her some used ones from the thrift store and then from a couple garage sales but there was nothing in Sarah’s size. She even wanted to give her the shoes she had but her tall daughter had grown in height and shoe size over the summer. They were too small for her even though her mother was still taller than Sarah was.

P.E. started and she went out to the field with a large group of kids from her grade.

Oh no, it is running again today, she thought.

She didn’t complain aloud though. When Mr. James blew the whistle to start running, she ran. The shoes pinched and rubbed her heels and toes. They made her stumble and trip over her own feet. Amanda and Nicky happened to be right behind her when she tripped.

They laughed at her and said,” Klutz, can’t you stand on your own feet yet or are you too much of a baby with your big booties?”

They ran past her, pointed and laughed to each other.

They don’t understand or they wouldn’t tease me. Sarah always looked for the good in people but their teasing hurt her.

She tried to make herself braver. They are only shoes. Someday I will get new ones, she thought to herself.

After school that day, her mom came to get her. They chatted about school as they walked, but Sarah didn’t say anything about Amanda or Nicky, her too small tennis shoes or her sore feet.

She limped quickly into the house and kicked off the hot boots in her bedroom. She went to the bathroom to stick her feet in cold water to soothe them. Her mom walked past the bathroom door at the moment it swung open slightly. She paused to look at Sarah. Worry came over her face as she rushed forward when she saw how raw Sarah’s feet were.

Her mom got on her knees and helped her wash her feet. She had a tender touch.

”You always make everything feel better, Mommy,” she said.

Her mother held Sarah’s feet on her lap and dried them carefully. She patted her raw toes and heels gently. She grabbed what was left of the salve from the almost empty medicine cabinet and rubbed it on Sarah’s feet. She looked up and saw tears in her daughter’s eyes.

“Baby, what happened?”

Sarah told her about the teasing, about Nicky and Amanda and about the worn out shoes. Her mom got that sad look in her eyes again for a moment. Then she smiled at her and hugged her close. She said, “We have to believe that we will find a pair somehow. God will provide.”

The neighbor took her to school the next day and she was glad that she didn’t have to walk on her sore feet. Mrs. Jackson didn’t know anything was wrong. She just happened to be going that way. “Would you like a ride to school?” she asked her when she was backing out of the driveway.

“That would be great! Thanks, Mrs. Jackson!”

For the next week, Sarah tried to stay clear of Amanda and Nicky. When she did pass them in the hall on the way to lunch every day, she gave them a friendly, “Hi!”, and a big smile. They looked surprised but at least they didn’t tease her in her big boots.

The next Monday was running day again. Her mom had saved a few dollars but still didn’t have enough for her daughter to get new shoes. “Soon, Baby, soon,” she said as she tried to keep both their spirits up.

During P.E. and running, her feet hurt so badly that she asked permission from Mr. James to go use the bathroom.

He handed her the hall pass, a painted volleyball with his name on, and told her, “Come back immediately, Sarah, no dawdling.”

Sarah shook her head in acknowledgment and said, “Yes, sir.”

I’ll rinse my feet off with cold water; then it won’t be so bad, she thought as she walked to the bathroom closest to the field. She took careful steps and tried not to limp.

She went into the bathroom. She looked around and no one was there so she sat down on the cold tile floor and pulled her shoes and socks off carefully. The socks stuck to the sores that were cut open from running again. There was blood on her toes and her heels.

Around the corner, someone had quietly walked into the bathroom after her. Sarah’s back was to her so she didn’t see her come in and she didn’t hear her. Amanda was by herself. She started to say something when she saw Sarah sitting on the floor. She was going to tease her about falling and being clumsy again and about her big fuzzy boots, but she stopped before she said a thing. She saw the wounds on Sarah’s feet. She hung her head down, suddenly ashamed. Amanda backed out of the door without making a sound. Sarah never even knew Amanda had been there.

By the following Monday, her mom had what she hoped was enough to buy her daughter’s new shoes. They were going to go to the big clearance sale at the discount shoe store after school.

Her mom told her again,” We have to believe, Sarah. We will find some somehow and maybe today.”

Sarah left for school walking with the two neighbor kids who were a few grades behind her. They liked her because she was always nice to them. She played with them sometimes when the other big kids wouldn’t.

Because of an assembly in the school auditorium, P.E. time was right before lunch. Sarah set her backpack next to the wall where all the other kids were instructed to put theirs. There were adults on duty so no one would get into her stuff or anyone else’s backpacks either. She paid no attention to that side of the room while she sat next to a couple classmates and watched the assembly presentation.

The bell rang and she headed back to get her backpack and take it to her P.E. locker. She was in a hurry and she didn’t notice that it looked bumpy like it was too full. She changed into her gym clothes in the girl’s dressing room along with the other 6th grade girls. She reached in her backpack for her gym bag to take her shoes out. She opened the top of her bag. There was a big box crammed inside. She pulled and pulled to get it out of the backpack. Finally, it popped out.

Inside the box was a pair of brand new hot pink and black tennis shoes in her size. They were pretty enough to wear with her regular clothes. They were made of soft leather that felt like velvet on her fingertips, very nice shoes. There was a note card inside one shoe. In pretty, curly writing, with little hearts and flowers it read, Shoes for Sarah, on the front of the card. It had no signature on the inside but it said, I’m sorry; I didn’t understand.

Mommy was right! she thought gleefully. I didn’t stop believing and Mommy was right! Just wait until I get home and show her!

The next morning she arrived at school smiling from ear to ear. Her mom was happy all night and all morning with a smile as big as Sarah’s and she had happy eyes. Prayers the night before had been so full of joy.

As she walked across the cement walkway at the front of the school, she saw Amanda and Nicky sitting on a bench with big smiles on their faces.

“Cool Shoes!” they said as she walked by with her new pink and black tennis shoes on. She smiled at Amanda and winked so only Amanda could see.

It crossed her mind at that moment, You never know where answers to your prayers will come from if you don’t stop believing. Sometimes they come from the most unexpected places.

She smiled and went to the locker room to change for P.E. She could barely keep from skipping there with joy, in her beautiful new shoes.