I also want to say that by the end of this winter break, I will have another Shoes for Kids video out.

Please help us collect more shoes, we have many trips coming up and we want children to get shoes. And by the way, please don’t send smelly shoes that are old.  If you don’t want to wear the shoes that you send, then neither do the children.  Please send only new or gently used shoes.

Thanks for all of you who love helping kids get shoes on their feet!! Let’s make some happy feet!

I just got back from a trip from the Dominican Republic but you probably all ready knew that. I know, I know… you have been waiting for me to write, and here I am.

I got to deliver my first pair of shoes on this trip. We went to a church with 500 shoes.  Unfortunately we could not give all the shoes out ourselves because we started to get mobbed (the rest of the shoes will be given out by the staff of the church), but that is not the point. The point is that I got to give out shoes.

How it started was we got everyone in a line outside and set up sections like baby, 0-3 girls, 0-3 boys, 4-7 girls and so on. One by one the children came in and people guided them to where they thought the kids shoe size would be. It was working very nice. I was in charge of the baby girls. I would start with a kid and take off their old shoes then look at their feet and bring a few different shoes over and try them on. The kids loved the shoes whether they were pink or blue with sparkles or not. It was amazing.

I gave a lot of shoes out in the beginning but then there were only a few kids left that needed shoes. One was a little girl about 10 or 11 years old. It was harder to find shoes that fit. But the first shoe we picked up was a perfect fit. It was a pair of yellow Converse tennis shoes. She said she didn’t like them. We were so disappointed but we now had a mission… a mission to find this little girl a pair of size 4½ shoes. There were about 5 people looking for shoes for this little girl.  After about 10 minutes, someone found a size 4½ sparkly zebra striped slip on shoe. Her face lit up, she kept saying “ðəʊz, ðəʊz, ðəʊz son los (spelling???)” which means “those, those, those are the ones” The person handed me the shoes and I was praying they would fit and it was perfect a perfect fit. I put both of them on and she gave me a big hug a skipped away.

It ended happily ever after with the project director having 300 shoes that we couldn’t give out because we were almost mobbed.  It is all good now with lots more good happy stories. I will soon write a seconded story so stay tuned.

Making Happy Feet,

Isabel

Tuesday, August 9^th is a very special day for Shoes for Kids.  But before I tell you why…I want to share with you one of my favorite stories from the Bible.

The story is found in John 13:1-5.

“It was just before the Passover Feast.  Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God: so he got up from the meal, took off is outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

This story is on of the few reasons why I started Shoes for Kids.  Jesus is teaching his disciples that to serve others and to be humble.  Jesus says in John 13:14-17 “Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Jesus washed his disciples feet, because he loved them.  He cared for them and he wanted to humble himself before them.

On Tuesday August 9^th, I will be giving out my first pair of shoes to a child in the Dominican Republic. I will be in the position to wash feet like Jesus, and I will have the chance to love a child by putting shoes on their feet too.  I can’t believe it.  I am excited to have the opportunity to serve a child just as Jesus served his disciples.

Making Happy Feet,

Isabel Jones

PS. Please be praying for my friends, family and me as we go on the trip from August 5 – 12.  Pray for the children who will visit.

Well, making people happy makes me happy. Every time I am bored, and I don’t want to sit around watching TV all day, I want to make someone happy. I want to go out and buy my mom flowers or make my sister tea or hot chocolate, or hang out with my dad or clean the house, and do my chores.

I wasn’t always like this.

I used to be demanding. I was selfish. For example, I used to take lunch food from my friends if they had food that I liked. But one week, I decided I was going to stop and see how they reacted. Two good things came out of that, one, they ended up giving me their food just as a gift, I didn’t need to take it to get it. And two, I was invited to one of their birthday parties for the first time.  Since then, I stopped helping myself to my friends’ lunch.

When you do something nice for someone, your not suppose to do it because they are going to like you better or they are going to do something nice back.  You do it because when someone’s happy, it makes you happy too (or at least it makes me happy).  When I see a little kid laughing that I don’t know, it makes me smile.   Good things don’t happen when you do bad things, good things happen when you do good things.

I like making people happy so I collect shoes.  It’s simple.  What can you do to make people happy?

I want to celebrate this achievement by doing something special on my birthday.  On April 2^nd I am declaring this day as “International Make A Happy Foot Day”.  I want to have a day where every one takes off their shoes and gives away a pair of shoes. This way, a child will get the shoes that another has given. It’s a day to go barefoot and see what it is like to not have shoes. It’s a day to help a child.  It’s a day to prevent diseases.  It’s a day to be generous because so many kids have nothing.

On April 2^nd I will be in a special place. I will be in Paris and I will not wear shoes. I invite you to take your shoes off with me on April 2^nd.  You can stick those shoes in the mail or buy new ones and send them my way. I will make sure they get to a child in need.

Help me tell others about this day, and every year we can celebrate International Make a Happy Foot Day on my birthday.

Pass it on!

In John 13:10-12 it says

“Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

Have you washed any ones feet before? I feel like I need to wash peoples feet. When some people talk about washing feet they don’t mean literally, but I do. Soon I want to go on my own trip and give kids shoes myself, and when I do I will bring a rag. I will be their Jesus just for a minute. I will clean their feet and slip on their new shoes. I hope I can bring joy in their life.  I hope I can give them hope and happiness.

I am not the only one that can do this. You can give them shoes too. You can send shoes to me and I guaranty that those shoes will go overseas to a kid in need. My goal for February is to get 500 shoes to kids. You can be their Jesus for awhile.

“I got these new shoes, but I do not like them. I mean I don’t need them. They have sparkles and stickers I can put on them but I am too old for that. Does no one get that? I don’t just want to throw them away. What do I do?”

Answer: Shoes for Kids

“I was cleaning my closet out the other day and I found some shoes. I didn’t know I had those. They are still pretty nice, I have only worn them once of twice. Don’t worry, I already tried, they don’t fit any more.  The only question is what do I do with them?”

Answer: Shoes for Kids

… and things like that. My goal for you is to see how many shoes you have in your house that you don’t use any more. What if 100 people did that and found 10 shoes and if not ten, maybe 5 pairs, and then they would go out and buy shoes so they could send 10.  Can you image 1000 shoes from 100 people? I can, but can we do it? Please go through your closet and send shoes you have never used in a long time. My goal is 1000 shoes. Can you tell?

Now until the end of the month, every box of shoes we get, every donation (unless designated somewhere else) will go to Haiti for people, to kids, their family, and all who need it.  They have had such a hard year, so we need to bring them happy feet with some shoes.