So, how many shoes does it take to fit one pair of orthotics???

This may seem like a strange question to many of you, but for us it's like the old "How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop" question. Finding shoes that will fit over Aiden's orthotics is really not that difficult until you consider that he wears a size 5 1/2 shoe and his orthotics require about a size 7. They aren't actually that much bigger than his feet. It just requires that much extra space to maneuver the orthotics into the foot opening.

So I embarked on "The Great Shoe Search". Because kids out grow shoes so quickly, and because the likelihood that I will have to cut them is great, I started at Wal-Mart. No luck there. Apparently, Wal-mart has decided that there isn't enough money in children's' shoes so they are only carrying a small selection. Next, I headed to Target. Addison and I looked at shoes for 35
minutes trying to find the right style and size. We came up empty handed. It was pretty discouraging.

It's not like Aiden is running around barefooted. We do have shoes to fit Aiden and his orthotics. The only problem is that they are sandals!! If we lived in a warmer climate I wouldn't worry, but we live in the mountains. There might actually be snow at some point. Therefore, the search had to be continued.

In a last ditch effort to find shoes for my sweet little guy, Dave and I headed out to the Target in Richmond. I was not very optimistic about finding anything, but I went hoping that maybe we'd get lucky. Surprise, surprise! We came home with 9 pairs of shoes.

Not all of them fit; actually only one pair could be effectively disassembled to accommodate his orthotics. But one pair is better than nothing. They are similar in style to the shoes we used with the therasuit; wide heal, wide toe, fabric. I was concerned that the only way that we could get them on would be to "hinge" the backs again. Instead, my mom noticed that the tongue of the shoe could be loosened to allow for easier entry.

Finally armed with a new pair of shoes, we headed to our orthotist today. Marvin trimmed and sanded the orthotics a little and that made getting Aiden's shoes on even easier. YEAH!!!!!

I am convinced that much of my life is like our shoe search. I have to try on a lot of shoes before I find a good fit. Translation: I have to try alot of ways to do things; organizing my house, motivating my kids, scheduling our therapy, etc. , before I finally find what is best for us as family. For much of my life I have felt that I had to do things well all of the time; had to be the best that I could be, and live up to all of the expectations that people had of me. (What a very constraining life to live.) I now know that there is only one person who's expectations I have to fill; the Lord.

God accepts me as I am; a woman who loves her family, does her best as a wife and mother (most of the time), tries to be a good friend, and falls short of the standard of perfection all of the time. I am ok with not reaching the standard. Trying to be "perfect" all of the time was tiring and demoralizing. I could never quite measure up and felt bad about it all of the time. The life that I have as a forgiven child of God provides me with freedom from a standard that I can never achieve.

The birth of Jesus freed us all from having to live up to perfection; He gave us the option to have "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding"...guarding "our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:7
As we head into the Christmas season I hope that you will learn to live in the place of peace that the Lord can provide.

Thank you all so much for you prayers. Aiden was exposed to RSV over the Thanksgiving holiday and Addison required a quick trip home from Richmond on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving because of an ear infection. Once we got home both Dave and I developed some nasty respiratory virus that has us blowing noses, drying eyes and coughing to beat the band. (At one point over the last week we ran out of paper towels, napkins, tissues and we were down to one partial roll of toilet paper all because there was so much nose blowing going on!!) Thankfully, Aiden has shown no signs of RSV and the rest of us are rapidly on the mend.

Continue to pray for Shannon and her family. I believe that Makayla is continuing to improve. Shannon is concerned about the rest of this winter season. I would ask that you pray for good health for them along with peace for Shannon's "mother's heart". It is sometimes hard to find rest in the Lord when your kids are involved. (I am sure that there are moms who know what I'm talking about:) )

Blessings to you all. I won't let so much time pass next time.
Christa