MBM: A Pair Of High-Top Tennies

Memorial Box Monday was created by Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity for bloggers to share their stories about God's faithfulness and provision.  Looking back, we remember how in the past God watched over us, and it gives us strength and hope for the future.  This week I wanted to share a story about how God's provision came to us in a pair of special tennis shoes. 

When our oldest son, Matt, was in high school he played on the basketball team.  He went to a large high school near the Twin Cities. Their colors were red, black, and white so their uniforms were those colors too.  During this time Niki came out with red, black, and white high tops and all the players had them....except for our son!  We had no idea!

At the first game we went to, I looked at the team and quickly saw that Matt was the only one not wearing the Niki high tops.  He stuck out like a sore thumb.  I had tears in my eyes as I realized that Matt had not asked us for these shoes because of their expense.  He knew we struggled to make ends meet with our big family, and he did not want to add to that by asking for the high tops.

It broke this mother's heart and I decided right then and there he was getting those shoes.  Unfortunately, they were hard to come by where we lived due to all the teams purchasing them.

Thus began my quest for a pair of size 9 (small feet) Niki high tops.  I called every store in the area with no luck.  I kept calling and praying, determined to find a pair.  Finally one store joined me in the search and called several stores.  Good news!!!  They had found 1 pair of red, black, and white high tops in a size 9 in a suburb of the Twin Cities!  We lived an hour northwest of the cities and I needed to drive to the other side of the Twin Cities...SE St. Paul.  It ended up being nearly a two hour drive one way, but I hopped in the car and drove to get those shoes and happily drove right back to the school just in time for practice that day.  I will never forget the look on Matt's face.

I am so thankful that there just "happened" to be a size 9 pair of high tops for our son.  Do you know, this made an impact on him too.  He likes to share the story of how his mom searched for these shoes and drove a long distance to get them for him.  God provided those shoes I have no doubt!  Yes, they are so special to Matt that nearly 25 yrs later our son, married with three kids of his own, still has them tucked away in his memory box.  It is not only a good reminder for me of God's love and provision, but  also for our son.