Walking a Mile in Her Moccasins

By TONYA KIPPLE
Director of Children's Ministry

Made of hides, moccasins formed to the foot of the wearer.

A common saying in the United States is “You will understand a person better after you have walked a mile in his moccasins.” The word moccasin is an Algonquian Native American word that means “shoe.”   I have some Algonquian Nanjemoy blood in me, and have always had an interest in that particular culture.  Did you know that this particular saying has a deeper meaning?  Moccasins will tend to mold themselves to the feet of the wearer so that the shoes become somewhat personalized.  If I was truly to put on someone else’s moccasins, it would be quite a different experience from just slipping on a generic size 7 tennis shoe.  Initially, I would really feel how my feet were different from the original wearer’s feet. It might be uncomfortable, maybe even painful.  I would obtain a greater degree of understanding about that person if I walked a path normally tread by them in those very same moccasins.  However, after “walking a mile in their moccasins”, something amazing happens – those very same shoes would begin the process of gradually conforming to my own feet. That first mile would be a doozy though!

During this fast, I feel I have had to walk a different path than I am used to. Sometimes it has been uncomfortable (like giving up so many of my comfort foods).   I have heard myself say “Wow, I am HUNGRY!” and I really have been hungry instead of not just as full as I usually am. It has been inconvenient and fraught with temptation.  Mostly, it has been eye opening and humbling.  To a very small degree I am experiencing what the normal person in the DR experiences with regard to daily food.  Have I truly walked a mile in her moccasins? No, not really. Perhaps just a few feet, but it is more than I had walked before.  God has begun the process in my heart of developing empathy, not sympathy, for the people in the DR and for that I am truly thankful.

Prayers of Thanksgiving For:

• Increase in the number of children attending PBF for weekend services
• Families doing daily devotions together during the 40 Days of Solidarity – Thank you to the parents who have shared that their children are reading the Children’s Daily Devotions on their own!  Thank you Jesus!
• The Angel Tree children that PBF will be ministering to this Christmas season.