Defining Moments: The Birkenstock

It was my sophomore year of high school, 1992.
My brother was a freshman at NC State.
His childhood best friend, Heath, was too.
I suppose it was at college that Heath found Birkenstocks?
A large, urban college is much different than small, rural Tabor City where we grew up.
Or it could have been a fad of the times?
Either way, it was Heath who introduced me to the Birkenstock,
And it was Heath who let me know that imitation Birkenstocks don’t come close to the real thing.

I got my first pair of real Birkenstocks at the beginning of my junior year, 1993.
I had moved to a new school in a new town and I wanted some new shoes.
My new school had a no strapless shoe rule, so I had to get shoes with a back strap.
I chose a classic Birkenstock design,
Three strap sandals, brown leather, wide foot-bed with heel cup, raised arch, and toe grip, size 38.
I wore that pair of sandals almost every day of my junior and senior years of high school.
When it was hot, I wore them with no shoes.
When it was cold, I wore them with socks.
I had no idea that I was setting up my foot to become so used to the Birkenstock foot-bed that it would be difficult to ever find any other comfortable shoes.

Since buying that first pair of Birkenstocks (thank you, Mom and Dad),
I have purchased many others.
I may despise buying clothes for myself,
But I will pay for a good pair of shoes—
Even if most people think they are ugly—
And I will pray that God will use them for good things.

Wearing shoes in which my feet feel free is important to me.
My feet hold me up.
They carry me.
They make it possible for me to do the things I desire to do—
The biggest of which is to love those around me.

…How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation…

I still have my original pair of Birkenstocks.
They’re well-worn and may soon fall apart if I don’t take them to be repaired.
(I plan to take them to be repaired.)
They carry in them many years of life and memories…
To which the beginning my tenth year of teaching was added tonight
As I stood in the hallway and greeted hundreds of students and parents while wearing
My first pair of Birkenstocks, now 21-years-old.