Once again this Travelling Tuesday is filled with a gift I’ve been eager to unwrap. The gift of giving, and finding again and again, that you cannot out-give God. Even in giving, you find that you receive more in return — and my cup is overflowing.

As I shared last week, we visited an area called Overcome Heights on Thursday. We had the awesome privilege of teaming up with a ministry there called Living Hope, and we put shoes on the feet of close to 70 children. Many of those children arrived with bare feet and left with perhaps their first pair of shoes.

I’ll try not to wax on too long about this special moment since Travelling Tuesdays are about photos, but I have to say that it was just such a wonderful gift to give away shoes in Overcome Heights. When you come face to face with the reality of poverty, you find yourself newly aware of how very, very much you have to be thankful for. How very, very little cause you have for complaint. How very, very privileged you are if you have a roof over your head… a few changes of clothes… more than one or two pairs of shoes for your feet.

It is a gift to come face to face with the reality of poverty, to let it become more than just pictures on TV and in magazines, to let it become the faces of children that you pick up, touch, hold, talk to — it becomes more than just an idea. It becomes real. And if you let it, it will change you for the better. You can’t have the same outlook you had yesterday. Contentment, and joy, should be easier to grasp.

I hope that as I take a moment to share these realities with you, that you’ll receive this gift, too. That you’ll unwrap it, think about it, hold it in your heart for a while, and maybe even let it change the way you look at life.

As always, saving my favourites for last, check out this awesome wagon!!! These boys were having a blast.

The little one going for a ride received a new pair of shoes, but I think he took them home and kept wearing his old worn-through ones because he didn’t want to mess up his new shoes.

These boys were looking at each others’ shoes for ages. So sweet.

My prayer is that Overcome Heights will be a prophetic name. That these children, who are being ministered to by the awesome volunteers at Living Hope, will overcome heights, and will grow up to change the world for the better.

This is what it’s all about.

I hope you were encouraged this Travelling Tuesday! May you enjoy your journey today, and out of all that you’ve received, find ways to give!

xCC

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This post was linked up to Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.