The Little Red Shoe
One day recently I was rummaging through some old clothes. For good or for bad, I'm a great "keeper." Especially of the boys' old clothes, old toys, old school papers. Jim once chided good-naturedly, "Mom, I'm a hopeless nostalgic and it's your fault!"
From that stuff I was going through tumbled out a shoe. A little red slip-on shoe. My mind went into backward gear and I remembered the story of that little red shoe. The near terrible events and the ultimate thankful joy.
Our family was headed to the mountains of Japan where we sometimes went for conferences or vacations when the 4 boys were young. This particular day we were settled in the car with Dad at the wheel, the 3 older boys in the back and less-than-a-year old Markie on my lap in the front. It was a special day because Markie had on his first pair of slip-on shoes that I had bought him. Cute little red plaid ones.
But as we drove along, one kept falling off. I blamed the shoes. Silly shoes. One's bigger than the other.
Then as I looked closer, I discovered to my shock that it wasn't the shoes. The problem was with Markie's little foot. One was clearly smaller than the other. And besides, that leg was also smaller.
We could hardly wait until that trip was over and we were back home in Tokyo. We took Markie to the hospital where he was born and there Dr. Johnson examined him carefully. He confirmed that one foot was indeed smaller and by how many centimeters...that's still on his record there. But then he
frightened me even more with, "But I don't think it's a case of that one leg and foot will remain small while one grows normally."
I hadn't thought of that possibility.
Of course, there was no magic medicine. We were on our own.
But we took him immediately to our dear Christian Canadian chiropractor friend who lived nearby. Dr. Baker was a story in herself--retired in Canada at 65 and came to Tokyo where she worked and taught until she was over 80. Dr. Baker put little Mark on her big table, examined him, and in her characteristically blunt way she said, "Why the food isn't even getting to that little foot!" A blockage. Whereupon she gave him a cracking treatment! There were a few more treatments and before we knew it, as time went on, both legs and feet were the same size.
God used the little red shoe to alert us to a serious problem and to get help for it.
From that stuff I was going through tumbled out a shoe. A little red slip-on shoe. My mind went into backward gear and I remembered the story of that little red shoe. The near terrible events and the ultimate thankful joy.
Our family was headed to the mountains of Japan where we sometimes went for conferences or vacations when the 4 boys were young. This particular day we were settled in the car with Dad at the wheel, the 3 older boys in the back and less-than-a-year old Markie on my lap in the front. It was a special day because Markie had on his first pair of slip-on shoes that I had bought him. Cute little red plaid ones.
But as we drove along, one kept falling off. I blamed the shoes. Silly shoes. One's bigger than the other.
Then as I looked closer, I discovered to my shock that it wasn't the shoes. The problem was with Markie's little foot. One was clearly smaller than the other. And besides, that leg was also smaller.
We could hardly wait until that trip was over and we were back home in Tokyo. We took Markie to the hospital where he was born and there Dr. Johnson examined him carefully. He confirmed that one foot was indeed smaller and by how many centimeters...that's still on his record there. But then he
frightened me even more with, "But I don't think it's a case of that one leg and foot will remain small while one grows normally."
I hadn't thought of that possibility.
Of course, there was no magic medicine. We were on our own.
But we took him immediately to our dear Christian Canadian chiropractor friend who lived nearby. Dr. Baker was a story in herself--retired in Canada at 65 and came to Tokyo where she worked and taught until she was over 80. Dr. Baker put little Mark on her big table, examined him, and in her characteristically blunt way she said, "Why the food isn't even getting to that little foot!" A blockage. Whereupon she gave him a cracking treatment! There were a few more treatments and before we knew it, as time went on, both legs and feet were the same size.
God used the little red shoe to alert us to a serious problem and to get help for it.
posted by Lila @ 12:19 PM
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