Paranormal Story Archives
July 2002 – Page 18

The Shoes
by Don B.

The following experience occurred in 1956. While it is framed in a religious context, I no longer consider myself religious. This story is one of many paranormal experiences that have occurred to me over my lifetime. I grew up in a family where my father and mother managed to graduate from high school. I was convinced I was destined to become a minister. My family while not opposed to my passion to acquire a college education, also did not feel it their responsibility to assist me financially. When I arrived at college I had saved up just enough money to meet one third of my first semesters tuition. I put myself on the list at the employment office and was willing to take any odd jobs that I could get to survive. Jobs came through for yard work, which I was fairly effective at pleasing my temporary employers. Usually they just wanted a boost to get their yards under control. I was a very aggressive employee so while these odd jobs paid me well they lacked a residual impact on my income. I had a dining hall card that supplied me with two meals a day on week days, but I could not afford to have weekend meals so generally went without meals during my freshman year from Friday evening until Monday morning. I would save up fruit or any savable items during the week and sometimes I would stretch a loaf of bread and peanut butter over a weekend for nourishment. Sometimes people would invite me home for dinner after church, which I'm sure I looked like I needed a meal or two as I was getting pretty thin on my college diet.

This was 10 years after World War II, and while the '50s were prosperous, items that we can buy inexpensively now were not easily available for those on marginal incomes. I needed shoes badly and was down to one pair. There were no second-hand clothing stores then as now and no Payless Shoes made in Southeast Asia available. I had saved $10, which I carried in my wallet. I was attending a very interesting Methodist Church on Sundays, which I walked about two miles to attend. As I felt the sidewalk coming through my shoe sole, I was reassured that Monday morning I would be buying those perfect shoes I had already reselected. I was just in time for this very warm lovely Church to begin its morning worship service. Rev. Record, a very adequate devout pastor set an introductory worship tone that inspired my heart. The hymns chosen that morning empowered my soul. I was giving everything I had to God to prepare for this ministry and I was so grateful for all my needs were now met and I was going to have new shoes tomorrow. The pastor introduced the prayer time, "I am so please to welcome pastor Howard Dart who is passing through with his family and has joined our worship service today. I am going to ask him to lead us in our worship prayer time."

The visiting Pastor Dart began to pray. I was distracted from his beautiful spirit and prayer by the strangest notion. I was gripped by the idea to give my $10 to him at the end of the service. "No this is not God wanting me to give up my very basic needs for someone I did not even know," I argued. I could not concentrate on the rest of the service. All I could think about was an absurd notion to give this man my $10. "I do not want to do this," I persisted to myself. At the end of the service I went out the back door and found something I needed to do in the Sunday School annex. I made an agreement with myself that if when I went around to the front of the church, if the visiting pastor were there I would give him my shoe money. My heart sank as I came around to the front of the church to find he and his family were still talking on the front church steps to the head deacon. They were the last people leaving the church. I walked up to him and excused myself for interrupting their discussion and pressed my money into his hand. I said, "God has spoken to me that I should give you this."

The next morning I went to my mailbox on campus and there was an envelope from a woman who also had worked her way through college in my home town who felt moved by God as she said, to send me $30. I waited until I got back to my dorm room and threw myself on my bed and told God that I was so sorry to have been so reluctant to follow his instructions and that I would definitely be more faithful in the future. I knew now that I was being cared for. And I would now trust more that all my needs would be supplied and I was so grateful to still have money for my shoes.

The following Sunday it was with a special sense of pride that I walked the 2 miles to church in my excellent new shoes. The deacon who was last speaking to Rev. Dart on the front steps of the church the week before was anxious to give me an envelope that had come to me in care of the church. It read: "Dear Don, I got your name through Deacon Meyers before I left so that I could write you appreciation for your very special gift. Our family had to attend an emergency family event and our car broke down on the trip using all our available cash. I told the family that we would go to church and trust God to tap someone on the shoulder to supply our needs. Your $10 was just enough to get us home where we had additional resources and my family's faith was increased because God spoke to you without us telling anyone about our needs."

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