My foot is healed!  I had a stress fracture in my heel so I had to wear the boot you see above for several weeks.  Notice that it is all taped up at the top.  That is because it has had a bit of wear and tear over the past few years.  My sister wore it twice…the second time was during our trip together earlier this year.  All over Italy she hobbled in that boot, on and off trains, down into catacombs, up and down a mountain.  Amazingly it never slowed her up one bit, and she never missed a beat!  So when it came my turn to wear it, I considered it somewhat of a badge of honor.  If you’ve ever worn one, you know it can be a nuisance.  But I was proud to wear this boot!

I also wore the boot twice.  The first time for me was when I broke the same foot falling off a table at church on Sunday morning.  You know the song “Footloose”….lyrics go “Kick off your Sunday shoes”… Well, I should have when I climbed up on that table, but I didn’t.  So when I fell, I caught the heel of my shoe in the hem of my dress and landed on my foot backwards.  I also broke my wrist.  We have christened this boot the “Ballard Boot” because my Dad also wore one when he broke his leg falling off a horse.

There was one other episode with my feet when they broke out in an itchy rash.  I went to the Dermatologist and he determined that I was allergic to a certain Italian leather.  He rubbed some soothing antibiotic cream all over my feet, then put my feet into baggies and my shoes back on my feet to wear home.

Lovely!!  I walked to the elevator feeling very conspicuous.  When I got on the elevator, I felt all eyes were staring at my feet while trying not to be obvious.  Finally I said to everyone, ” I guess you are all wondering why I am wearing these baggies on my feet!  Well…it seems I am allergic to my shoes!”  There was a deadly silence.  No one laughed but me.  No one said anything.  Later as I was telling this story at church, my friend Rob Landes said, “At this point you should have introduced yourself as the ‘Shake N Bake’ pastor from St. Lukes!”

Comforting scripture for today….”How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of her who brings good news…”    Isaiah 52:7

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