The Christmas Shoes
By Steve Hearts
The Christmas season—undoubtedly my most favorite season of the year—holds many unforgettable memories. To name a few: It was on a snowy December day when I was six years old that our family flew home to the U.S. from the Philippines, where we had been missionaries for the past several years. This was my first time to meet the grandparents, and the first time to experience snow. Christmas of 1998, the year I was 15, was spent on tour with a band that had come to Mexico from Washington D.C. to hold benefit concerts. I had a blast playing percussion on this tour.
But the two most memorable Christmas seasons for me occurred in 2002 and 2003, and they are linked together by a simple song and its impact on my life.
Christmas 2002 was an especially joyous occasion. My mother had been declared cancer-free several months earlier, and was feeling much stronger than she had felt in quite some time. One day in December, she was baking something for a gathering we were to attend the next day. I remember the aroma filling our Southern California apartment. The radio was set to a station that played holiday favorites 24-7. The repertoire consisted largely of lighter carols, such as “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” etc. Then suddenly the tone drastically changed when a song began to play that captured my attention. I put aside what I was doing in order to tune in to it.
I later found out that it was titled “The Christmas Shoes,” performed by Newsong. The song tells the story of a man who found himself in a line at a store on Christmas Eve, trying to finish his last-minute holiday shopping. In front of him was a little boy, with an appearance which made it obvious that he’d seen better days, holding a pair of shoes in his hand. When his turn came to pay, he turned to the man and said he wanted to buy the shoes for his mother who was sick and didn’t have much time left. He wanted her to look beautiful if she were to meet Jesus that night. The boy put all the change he had on the counter. The cashier told him it wasn’t enough. He turned and looked at the man imploringly. The man helped pay for the shoes, and could not forget the look on the boy’s face as he thanked him and left.
As I listened to the song, tears rolled down my cheeks. I realized just how fortunate I was to still have my mother by my side. I imagined how sad I would have felt if I were in the place of that little boy who was about to lose his mother. The song stayed with me through the remainder of the Christmas season, eventually fading as the new year was ushered in.
As time went by, Mother again took a turn for the worse and her cancer recurred. By Christmas of the following year, she was in a nursing home, where she could only be kept comfortable until the end. One day during that period, I was out running errands with my brother, listening to the radio as we drove around. Suddenly, on came the forgotten song, “The Christmas Shoes.” How true it rang as I heard it this time around.
Moved by the song, we immediately bought Mother a pretty pair of shoes, which fit her beautifully and gave her great joy. She left us (in the physical, at least) only weeks later.
Today, this beautiful song helps me look beyond the hectic side of the Christmas season with all its outreach activities, plans and preparations for festivities, family visits, and what have you. When the ceaseless activity threatens to drive me nuts and I find myself succumbing to frustration, I hear my mother’s voice whispering to me, “Remember the ‘Christmas Shoes’ song.”
With this reminder, the stress and frustration dissipates, as I remember to be thankful for all I have and count my many blessings. I think of my family and loved ones who are still alive and well, and give thanks for my own life and health too. Last of all, I say a prayer for the many who find themselves in painful circumstances during the Christmas season—as the little boy in the song did, or as my family and I did in 2003. I ask Jesus to lead me to such people and give me an opportunity to be of comfort to them. He often does so. Gone is the nervousness I feel over the approaching singing engagement I don’t feel sufficiently prepared for, the irritation I feel when important details are overlooked, and all other such cares, as I strive to simply appreciate the fact that I am alive and able to enjoy yet another Christmas season.
Editor: Here are a couple of links where you can listen to the song:
Song with lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS4_b2LbLW4.
Music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJcPVB-we7g. This shows clips from TV movie by the same title. Be aware: It’s a tear-jerker.
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