Tile Floors and Flip Flops

As I stand by the kitchen sink, my heels hurt. The tile floor doesn’t bend and bow to my weight, but rather puts pressure on my heels, my lower back and my hips. My body hurts and is exhausted by the end of most days. 

When we lived as missionaries in Mexico, I brought with me a pair of rainbow sandals, hand-me-downs from my sister. They were well worn, comfortable and easy to slip on to walk down to the pharmacy with someone who needed medicine. Everything was tiled in Mexico – floors, showers, walls – or it was dirt. My thin rainbows didn’t have the support to protect me from the pain of constant activity on the tile all day long. 

Within two years those flip flops were ready for a new home. One that collected garbage daily: the dump truck. I had started to feel the hot black stones of the paved main roads under my big toe and got glass stabbed through the bottom of the soles. It was time for them to go. But before I threw them away, I had to capture a picture of them. They were a symbol of the miles of journeying with God’s people that we did on a daily basis. They weren’t pretty or glamorous, but then again neither was the mission. It was hard and shabby, well worn, and worth it! 

I came across the picture of those flip-flops the other day, 6 years after I’d gotten rid of them. The sight of the tattered soles and worn down area which used to support my big toe, was such a comfort to me. They filled me with warmth and hope and a reminder: “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 52:7) I don’t regret a mile in those flip-flops or a day walking with the people. 

Now as a stay at home mom, I participate in the mission in a new way. New flip flops, new tile floors, and new hard, shabby, well-worn, well-worth-it work. 

My work is often not glamorous: washing dishes, folding clothes, teaching my children how to read, and instructing hearts that have gone astray. It wears down my soul and sometimes hurts to love as I am called, offering my very self. Yet while it’s hard, it’s worth it. These feet are still beautiful, no matter which flip flops they are in or which tile floors they walk on. In my home I’m still bringing good news, proclaiming peace and reminding people that “Our God reigns!”