How to Lose a Shoe

There are so many important things to talk about.  Serious topics that warrant much thought and contemplation in the conversations.  Things like, how the current political discourse is dividing the country; genocide in Sudan; or childhood obesity.  Today I want to discuss a topic that has had me asking questions and seeking the wisdom of sage counselors for a good deal of my life.  I want to know why there are so many single shoes laying on the side of the road? How does this occur?  A single shoe.  By itself, without it's mate, alone and discarded in the gravely no-man's land that is the highway shoulder.  There are numerous possibilities for the shoe finding itself in this situation.  But I cannot seem to find a peace about any of them.  The most obvious being that it was tossed out or fell out of a moving vehicle.  But is there more to this than meets the eye?  Could this shoe have decided it had enough of being worn on a smelly foot all day and decided to run away?  Was there some sort of quarrel with it's mate leading to a trial separation?  Is there a shoe revolution being waged against forcing shoes to stay in pairs?  Their picket signs would read "It's Not Fair, No More Pairs, WE ARE INDIVIDUALS"!  There is really nothing more intriguing than the story of the single shoe on the side of the road.  Wouldn't it be great if the discarded single shoes could be collected and somehow recycled and repurposed into something useful like a pop can cuzzy or a planter?  That way we would feel better about the fate of the single shoe.  At present there is a social stigma attached to it.  We are uncomfortable with it.  Probably because we cannot explain it.  This is precisely why I felt the need to dialog about it.  Open up a conversation.  Get people talking. 

Some interesting things I've observed about the single shoe; it is almost never a women's dress shoe, it appears more often on major highways instead of neighborhood streets; the number of single shoe sightings do not seem to change with the season; and last but not least, vehicles NEVER stop to pick it up.  Again, this is most likely due to the unsettling nature of it's circumstances. 

Being in a ministry family means that at any given time you are involved in collecting donated items for people in need.  I've worked in a women's shelter that collected clothes and shoes, as well as numerous clothing drives and fundraising garage sales where clothes and shoes were donated.  Oddly enough, there is almost ALWAYS a single shoe mixed in with the donated items.  One would think that the single shoe donation would answer some of my questions, but it only results in more, leaving me utterly confounded.  Over the years in working with donated items, I've learned the hearts of the people donating.  They are done with their stuff, but they hope that someone else can still use it.  With that in mind, how do they reconcile donating the single shoe?  Do they believe that there is a poor soul out there with only one leg or foot that happens to need that exact kind, gender and size of their single shoe?  But what if they needed the left shoe and only the right shoe was donated?  DOH!

OK enough of the silliness.  In spite of my concern for the plite of the single shoe, there is a bigger picture at which we should look.  Having worked on mission in Mexico, with people that truly needed shoes, I have a general understanding of the importance of a good pair of shoes to improve the quality of life.  There are some positivley spectacular ministries that collect and distribute shoes to people all over the world AND there are shoe needs to be met right here in our town.  So the next time you are driving down the highway and see that sad, neglected (or perhaps just independent minded) single shoe on the side of road, let it be a reminder to you that someone out there needs a PAIR of shoes.  Go home, grab a pair of your shoes and give them to a local charity.  If you are one of those people that has a single shoe stuffed in the back of your closet because you don't know what to do with it......why not fill it with concrete, bedazzle it and call it a doorstop.     Thanks for listening.    See you next time.

In the beginning......

So here I go with my first Blog post.  Not even really sure what a "blog" is.  I'm thinking it was originally called WEBLOG or some geeky thing like that.  Don't know, don't care.  I've spent hours trying to come up with a clever name for the blog.  Hours I can not get back mind you!  I tend to be pretty particular about what I read and to whom I listen, so with that said, I assume that there will be very few, if any, people that want to read what I write or hear what I have to say.  Even so, there will be a great deal of satisfaction gained by my simply saying it, even if no one is listening (or reading).

If this first post gets complete a miracle will have occured.  Worrying about a second post is futile.  Hopefully there will be more than one as I, in all my self-importance, believe that I have much to say.  Again, regardless of whether or not anyone is listening.  So "My Potluck Sunday" blog post number 1 is underway.  There is one thing of which my readers should be aware.......my second language is sarcasm.  It may be difficult to distinguish between sincerity and sarcasm, but I believe that is a fine line anyway.  Be warned.

If anyone is at all curious about the name of the blog, and even if they are not, it is a nod to my role as pastor's wife.  Yes I am married to a Baptist preacher.  This being the sole reason for my wanting to blog at all.  While I am blessed, honored and mostly surprised at the idea of serving the church in this role, I can be honest when I say that being a pastor's wife has its challenges.  One of which is the notion that I should be careful of what I say at any given time.  For example, I am on Facebook all the time, but quiet most of it.  That blank status update field poses a question, "what's on your mind?"  but alas, I can not answer for fear of offending.  Please don't misunderstand.....I am not whining or complaining about this.  There are just times when everyone else I know is spewing and sputtering about what is on their minds and I feel an obligation to keep my mouth shut.  Even now, I keep typing thoughts, then deleting them, out of concern that I may be misunderstood.  I have found that I am only one "misunderstanding" away from being placed on the prayer chain without any explanation.  It is in those times that I am most likely screaming at the computer screen (with my mouth shut, which sounds a lot like when you scream underwater). 

Is this normal?  I have no idea.  After months of being frustrated with this fact, I came to the conclusion that blogging might be the answer.  Turns out there are A LOT of pastor's wives that blog and most of them have a clever name for their blog like, "Diary of a Pastor's Wife", or "Not your typical pastor's wife".  With those self-explanatory titles taken, I decided to think about what most people REALLY think when they think about a Baptist preacher's wife.  Sadly I believe that most people think about big hair, fake tears, judgemental stares and casserole dishes.  From there is was a pretty easy jump to "My Potluck Sunday".  This name could be either simple and forthright OR it could have a deep seated, passive agressive sarcastic meaning behind it.  Time will tell.

For the most part, I would love if you or anyone you know would like to join me in these rants and raves.  Feel free to tell me "what's on your mind".  Till next time.....