Practical Shoes

I've noticed that most of the women in my office wear practical shoes. Smart, fairly plain, with little to no heel. Usually they're black- sometimes brown or blue- to coordinate with countless suits and other "business professional" attire our dress code requires.

I wouldn't say my work footwear is ridiculous, but it definately leans more to the "unpractical" side. I'm not as adventurous as my colleague, who has some brightly colored shoes including a shiny patent leather yellow pair. I own mostly black and brown shoes, but they nearly all have some unique design and at least a 2 inch heel. The closest to a practical work shoe in my closet is a pair of black textured "flats" with a half inch heel, which ironically have given me more blisters than any pair of heels ever has.

There have been a few occassions where I wish I was a practical shoe person. It would certainly make the frequent trips between our building and the other locations easier. And rain, puddles or dewy grass wouldn't be a problem.

But then I look down at my cute, somewhat unpractical high-heel shoes and can't bring myself to trade them in for sensible flats.

Hope

Hope. I think hope is one of God's greatest gifts. It's a funny, unpredictable and yet incredibly powerful thing. Sometimes you're hope-less and sometimes hope-full, and maybe other times somewhere inbetween.

I almost titled this blog "Hope is a thing with feathers" from another poem by Emily Dickinson, because I tend to be a hope-ful kind of person and I think Emily perfectly captured the essence of hope.

May hope's sweet tune be with you today.

Hope is a thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
-Emily Dickinson