Walk the Walk And Hand Out Shoes Along the Way

Courtesy of Scripps Howard News Service

Each year each of my three children goes back to school with a new pair of shoes. But not before we discuss at length the difference between the shoes they need and the shoes they want. This year, we're going to try something new. This year, we're going to discuss the difference between their wants and others' needs.

Here's the plan:

First, we're going to talk about Mary Damron. Then we're going to talk about Tiffany Taylor. Then we're going back-to-school shoe shopping.

Mary is the national spokesman for Operation Christmas Child, which turns shoe boxes into Christmas presents for poor children overseas. Tiffany is director of Shoes for Orphan Souls, which collects and delivers new shoes to orphans overseas.

Mary grew up poor, motherless and generally shoeless in coal-rich, dirt-poor Appalachia. "I thought God hated me and that was why my life was so rough," said Mary, who spoke recently at Berclair Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn. "I found out God is full of blessings, but it's only done through others and no one was helping God with my blessings."

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