New Shoes...

There was a time in life that I was obsessed with shoes. The funkiest, most beautiful, most unique shoes filled my closet.

Some of them I would wear with only one outfit, but they were so amazing I had to have them...some of them I would buy first, then find an outfit to wear with the shoes.

Sometimes I would spend nearly my whole paycheck on. One pair in particular that comes to mind are the shoes I wore to my senior prom. These shoes were AMAZING! They were silver, with an iridescent sheen to them. As soon as I saw them, I knew they must be mine.

Because Daddy was paying for everything, I had to convince him that these shoes needed to be had. I painted a pretty picture. Told him they were the only ones out there that matched my dress perfectly, and the cheaper ones I bought were ruined when taken in to be dyed. I haaaaaaad to have these shoes!

So he forked over the money and I ran to the store to buy my perfect shoes. And they sat in their box until the big night. I got fully dressed and then went to put on my amazing shoes. It was like Cinderella had found her glass slipper. I remember my friends gasping at the sight of them. Begging to know where I had found them, if they could borrow them, etc. etc..

I knew I had something special. Something no one else was wearing...but in the back of my mind I also knew...that these shoes were AWFUL! Oh the pain. Pain I could hardly endure. They were the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever owned. I couldn't wait until I could take them off. Who would invent such a horrible torture device for feet?!?!?!?

I never wore the shoes again. To this day...they were the most amazing shoes I've ever owned. I still love the idea of those shoes. How they looked, how they looked on my feet. But the fact was...they didn't fit.

From that point, I have never bought a shoe based only on the look. I wear them around the store for a while, sometimes looking like a fool, but I know from experience not to waste money on shoes that don't fit, or won't last in the long-run.

And reaching back to that experience, I see no matter how glamorous, and beautiful, and shiny, and fabulous England has looked to me, until I "put it on" to try out, I couldn't see that it just wasn't a right fit.

There are many reasons why, and maybe we'll line them out, right now I'm still just processing this decision we've made. But it isn't a right fit. Even though we still dearly love London. We know we must go home.

We changed our return flight, we will be going home next Wednesday. And I'm sure there will be people questioning what in the world have we done...but we don't question our intentions at all. We had to try it on for size. We had to know before we committed, and it wasn't the one for us, and we never ever would have known unless we tried. And there is a peace about it all that I can't explain. But I know that we will always have friends here, and always have a special place in our hearts for England, and will come back for years to come to visit.

The journey continues. We don't feel like we're being led blindly, but rather, going with the wind. And it's a wonderful feeling.

Thanks for being on the journey with us.