//a ridiculously crazy amount of shoes...

okay.

confession.

i like the harry potter books.

a lot.

in the last book, hermione carries around

oodles and oodles of supplies for harry,

ron and herself as they trek around england

on a special mission from dumbledore.

NOTE : this isn't a post about harry potter, 

so hang on a few more moments, mmk?

she carries all this stuff in just a little purse.

however, this little purse is special.

despite all the size and weight of all

the items she carries, the purse never grows heavy.

the purse never changes size.

i wish i had a purse like that.

i would take as many family and friends

with me to ethiopia.

so they can see what i would see.

but this is the real world.

and there's so such this as magic.

or enchanted purses, unfortunately. (hmph!)

so while preparing for my trip to ethiopia,

i had to decide what donations to collect.

i also wanted create an opportunity for people

to come alongside me and my journey.

...without having to buy a plane ticket, you dig?

so i decided to bring shoes.

i talked to three youth groups.

two churches.

and a bunch of family and friends.

the result?

over 300 pairs of shoes.

i watched teens show up to their youth groups

barefoot with excitement.

some kids were loaded down with 30+ pairs

of shoes alone.

we live in such excess, don't we?

i watched kids take off their favorite

pair of shoes and joyfully donate them.

Jesus, please bless their small sacrifice.

my car still had a funky smell to it. 

(in case you were wondering)

but i'm not complaining.

a huge shout out to :

ps220 student ministry

fellowship chapel

hillside youth groups : foundry + fusion

hillside church

and to all the people that gave up their shoes

THANK YOU <3