Shoes With Meaning

Oh my, a couple of months ago I was blessed to be able to design a pair of shoes with and for a friend's daughter as her birthday present. We had a lot of fun doing it together, and the end result was this pair of pink and brown shoes. Very girly.

Well, it was recently her big sister's birthday, and so I got to do it again. How awesome is that? This sister has decidedly different taste, where her sister is into pinks and purples, Miss Abia prefers blues and greens. And where little sister couldn't decide between butterfly or flower (and come on, many of us girls would have a hard time with that one) Abia knew she wanted her shoes adorned with a cross.

I was immediately in love with this idea and the fact that it came from so sweet a heart. Originally, I fashioned a cross out of ribbons and asked for her approval.

She wanted something more literal, more like the humble brown cross Christ carried. How can you refuse? Still, I couldn't go with brown because it wouldn't have shown against the mostly brown fabric. (Which used to be one of my sister's favorite pair of pants.) So I asked her if she would maybe like a white cross to represent His pureness or if perhaps she would like green to represent the new life that can be found in Him. She chose green.

I made the crosses out of three colors, two shades of green and brown stitching, to represent the trinity. I'm positively humbled to have been allowed to make these shoes. They call to mind the verse "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:6-8. There is something beautiful in the symbolism. And I pray that Abia's feet will always follow the Lord she loves so well. Happy birthday, Abia!