She Had Beautiful Feet

She had beautiful feet.

Her lot in life was simple.
She embraced it, gave it all she had.
A farm wife who never had a real "job",
who never earned any money of her own,
who never had a "girls' night out" or a manicure.

Her house was unadorned, basic furnishings made by her man.
Her floors, always clean, were covered with the cheap linoleum that drummers brought once a year.
Her house was filled with laughter, comfort, quiet.
One always felt welcome entering there, gratified.

Ratty-haired little children who came to her house were offered
Kool-aid, cookies and kindness.
She told them about the Lord, that He loved them,
that they were important to Him, yes, even barefoot girls.
She said He had plans for them.

Some of the seeds she sowed fell away, lost, never recovered.
Others struggled, feeling too small before a big God.
Some fell in love with the Lord and served Him with all their heart,
reproducing from the seed she had sown while rocking on her front porch, a cardboard fan fighting the summer heat, her heart open.

No make-up, her gray hair always in a bun, a tad overweight.
She wouldn't have impressed with her physical beauty.
As she aged, her legs and feet became riddled with blue and red;
varicose veins that distorted and weakened.
She couldn't always wear her shoes.

She had beautiful feet.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10: 13-14

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