One of the first things I had to just stop and stare at was the big, beautiful, high-heeled “shoe” in the front foyer of South Luverne Baptist Church last Saturday morning. It could probably have passed as a recliner for Samson, my 17-pound tomcat, but I don’t think he would have appreciated the frilly colors. I, on the other hand, did.

Last Saturday was the fourth annual Crenshaw County Women for Christ Conference, and for the first time, I was able to attend. I had even practiced with the Women for Christ Choir the last two years in a row, but something always came up to keep me away. Not this year.

Kim Hendrix was the guest speaker—I’ve always admired her—she’s such a tall, slender, and elegant lady. So gracious and humble. But I discovered something about her that I did not know before. First, she has a great sense of humor. But more importantly, she admitted that she has big feet. I must admit that this resonated with me completely as I am in the same boat as Kim.

“I tell you what, doll baby–you’ll always be standin’ on a firm foundation, that’s for sure,” my daddy would tell me, laughing.

“You could ski on those things,” my older brothers teased. You get the idea.

“Fix Your Feet” was the main focus of the conference taken from Psalms 37:23-24—“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.”

Kim told how her mother had committed suicide when Kim was 21 years old, and how she stayed angry at God for so many years. It’s amazing how we never know the paths others have had to walk—I was shocked and saddened to learn this about her life, something so painful and so personal. But that is the way it is for us all. We each have a road to travel, and no one else can do it for us.

“I finally learned that peace and rest are what I get when I delight God, when I’m obedient to Him,” she told us.

Words that many of us needed to hear, I’m sure.

Her daughter Annie, who is now nine, quizzes Kim on her daily devotions—this is also a way for Kim to get Annie to learn verses of Scripture without actually realizing it.

“If I got the Scripture wrong or missed even an ‘a’ or a ‘the’, Annie would shoot me with a Nerf dart gun,” she said, laughing. “Those things hurt!”

A real person. She’s such a down-to-earth human being who has trials and tribulations, and peaks and valleys just like everyone else. And she has big feet, just like me.

Standing on a firm foundation—that’s what we’re doing.

I want to personally thank the Steering Committee for all of their hard work in putting this together for four years now for our county: Melissa Bush, Lisa Harris, Patsy Jeffcoat, Shanna Malone, Nancy Petrey (who, by the way, does the best “Penny Merle” around), Debbie Roberts, Kathy Smyth, Ann Tate, Veronica Wiley, and Glenda Yancey. The Women for Christ Choir was outstanding, as was the praise team band, “More Than Conquerors,” led by Laura Aaron. Thank you all so much.

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”