Hop, Skip, Jump

I had the most wonderful birthday (it was on October 2nd for those who are wondering). Just kidding. The day of I was actually really sick and slept through most of it, but the following night, some friends came over and we watched Amelie, one of my favorite movies. And Katie made this decadent chocolate dessert from scratch that was the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.
And, because we only get mail once every two weeks here, I finally got my birthday packages yesterday!!! I already thanked my mom, who sent cool stuff, but especially great was a framed photo of my bro and best-nephew-in-the-whole-world Gabriel. I love him. Them, I mean. And THEN I got to open a package from a woman who was here on a team back in the Spring. Marilyn. She's from Connecticut and so encouraged me when she was here. She sent me a book from 1947 from a wise saint that I cannot wait to start reading. As well, she sent me...A BRAND NEW PAIR OF CONVERSE!!!! I still can't get over it. For those of you who know me well, I live in Chuck Taylors. Lo-tops, not high tops because hi-tops are too hot and you can't wear them with shorts and dresses well. Anyway, the ones I brought down here with me, my beloved burgundys, have gotten completely thrashed from being worn in El Callejon all summer (if you don't know where El Callejon is, you need to be reading these blogs more, really...). They are still so very comfy, but are caked in mud and paint, etc and so are no longer church-worthy. Many of you may be thinking that wearing Converse to church is a little bit, um, not pretty, but whatever. I sometimes wear girly shoes to church, too. I actually just got a pair of coppery-metalic sandals that are really cute and...
But, I have a new pair of Converse and I love them so much I almost slept in them last night. I used to always sleep in my new shoes when I was a little girl. In fact, 'shoe' was my first word. I was four months old. My dad says that I was laying on my stomach on the carpet right in front of his size 11 Clarks and very clearly said, 'shoe!'. I didn't speak again until 7 months later. I always say I was prophesying over my own life: "Go into all the World..." "How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who bring the good news". Hey, if God can use a donkey, surely he can use a four month old.
I still like shoes a whole lot, but since they are not as easily accessible down here and I live on a healthy budget, receiving a brand new pair of my favorite kind of shoes is an incredible blessing.
Thank you Marilyn for the love.