Feet

FEET.  This has been the topic on my mind for sometime now – ever since the last women’s retreat at which I spoke up in Denver.  While it is such an honor to be asked to talk about what I’m learning, personally, during my day-in-day-out walk with Jesus, I was given an additional privilege.  I got to assist with pedicures following lunch right up to dinner.  Pedicures are divided into two parts: 1) Washing, exfoliating, caring for cuticles, and filing toenails; and, 2) Massaging, cleaning toenails, and painting.  I got to do Part 2.

The pedicure room is robust with conversation.  Just by virtue of the theme topic over the course of the week (story-telling), the ladies came ready to share their stories.  Nothing seems more vulnerable to me than sticking my foot out for someone to massage.  I’m not exactly sure why.  Maybe because feet get so dirty?  Or maybe, because they take the brunt of wear and tear, and come dry and cracked?  Or, could it be because (let’s face it) feet are just so ugly?  And, don’t forget the fact that, often, when we slip our feet out of our shoes, they stink! Maybe, it’s all of the above.  So, it just seems that if you’re risking sticking your foot out to place on someone’s lap, the walls are already broken down.  Seldom did we engage in small talk.  Nope.  Those ladies just jumped right in and shared their stories.  The good, the bad, the sweet, the sorrowful.  I LOVED IT!  What a gift!  They entrusted ME to hold the tales of their lives, and they will never leave my heart.  There, they will be locked for eternity, along with their faces (long after their names have left my already quick-to-forget-memory).

Of course, the passage that kept creeping up as I attempted to tenderly massage lotion into those feet and legs was a well-known passage from Isaiah 52:7, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of her who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”  What a descriptive passage for these women - women who live and work in tough places.  At that conference 36 countries and 39 mission organizations were represented.  A large percentage of these women work in countries where missionaries are prohibited, so they come in under work visas, hoping to bring the good news of happiness, share the gospel of peace, and announce salvation.  These are difficult places to serve.  They are places where the enemy of darkness reigns and fights hard against them.  You can only imagine how tired they are when they come home after living under this cloud of heaviness, and the threat of being caught for who they really are.  What a blessing to hug their feet, and provide a physical means of relaxation, if only for a few minutes!  It was humbling and inspirational.  I was moved unlike I’ve ever been before.  I can almost understand why Mary wept at Jesus feet and dried his feet with her hair.  If I could have I would have!

During our “debrief” at the end of the week, we were asked to create a project that would represent that opportunity of service for us.  I’m not crafty.  Not without some idea or picture to follow.  However, I had taken a lot of pictures of “feet.”  I couldn’t take pictures of the faces of these ladies, lest they be seen somewhere in connection with a missions organization, but I could their feet. My project was a collage of a few of these pictures.  Then I tried to summarize some of their stories.  Next week, I’ll share my project.  For this week, ponder with me the verse in Isaiah about feet.  Then remember this verse in Ephesians 6:15, “…and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace…”  Part of the armor of every Christian is to first receive a spiritual pedicure.  Before we slide our feet into our sandals, we must prepare our hearts to share the gospel.  Are you ready to take the gospel next door, to the mall, or, maybe, somewhere to the ends of the earth?  Are you prepared with beautiful feet?  Or, does the going tire your feet before they ever leave home?  Are they a bit frightened to move and ground to the floor?  Let’s find a place for a pedicure today… Even our feet can be beautiful feet!