This past weekend, Jeremy decided that he needed new shoes. Now, you have to know Jeremy in order to be shocked by that statement, but let me tell you one thing. Jeremy NEVER spends money on himself...in fact, he barely spends money on us! I have to fight for grocery money, clothing money, school money, entertainment money. It all goes through the dreaded budget filter. Every pair of underwear and socks that Jeremy owns is covered in holes, but he refuses to buy more. His tennis shoes are years old, floppy, fraying and filthy, yet he insists that we cannot afford to buy new ones.

You can imagine my shock at his suggestion that we enter a locally owned shoe store this past Saturday even if it was "just to look."

I immediately jumped at the chance.

Inside the store, the salesmen and women were instantly charmed by Liberty's smiles and silliness. Liberty is very outgoing, and she loves to make anyone around her laugh. She began playing Peek-A-Boo with the workers, and soon a crowd had gathered. This gave Jeremy and I a chance to examine shoes.

After a little while, I noticed the children's section, and my curiousity got the best of me. I asked a sales lady to size Liberty's foot because I have been unsure of what size she should be wearing. The lady pried off the size two shoe that Liberty was wearing and proceded to inform me that Liberty should actually be wearing a size five! I was horrified at the thought that I had been cramming poor Liberty's foot into a size two every day when she should have been wearing a size five. Jeremy thought it was hilarious and of course, has not yet stopped teasing me about my awful mothering skills.

We quickly tried a size five shoe on her, and Liberty happily tripped off to entertain her new fans. We all noticed a difference in her stride, and my feeling of guilt grew.

Jeremy continued to shop for tennis shoes for himself, but he asked me several times if I thought we should purchase the new shoes for Liberty or not. I knew certainly that she needed shoes that fit her, but I could not swallow the price of these shoes. I pulled him off to the side away from the salespeople and quietly pointed out the fact that Walmart would have shoes for less than $10.00 for her, especially since she wouldn't be wearing them very long before her feet grew again. He nodded, appreciating my thriftiness and picked up the shoe box that had contained the size fives that were now on Liberty's feet. While I watched Liberty, Jeremy strode purposefully up to the counter...AND PAID FOR LIBERTY'S NEW SHOES!

My jaw dropped.

We then quickly left the store because Jeremy had spent the money on Liberty that he had planned to spend on himself. I thought he would be sad not to have shoes for himself, but instead, he has been walking on sunshine, thrilled with the fact that he was able to provide new shoes for his daughter. "And they're expensive!" He keeps repeating to me. Like that makes them more important or something. But in reality, it does make them more important, because it is so uncharacteristic for Jeremy to spend more money than necessary.

Over the past few days, people on the street and at church have stopped us and commented on "What cute shoes!" Liberty smiles up at them, happy to have a new friend, but Jeremy's chest swells and his chin stands just a tad bit higher in the air. He catches my eyes and gives a satisfied look. It cracks me up, and it catches joyfully at my heart. I love the fact that Jeremy gets such joy out of providing frivolously for his daughter. The fact that she is oblivious to his sacrifice and the greatness of his gift makes it even more wonderful to me, and it makes me think of the many frivolous gifts God gives me that I am oblivious to.

Now if I could just get Jeremy to buy me some cute shoes!