Hiding Money in Your Shoes

March 19, 2023
 
Reflections From the Heart of Allan Redenius

Not too many years ago, Armona and I went on a cruise.  Always the cautious one, I came prepared.  What if our credit card doesn’t work?  What if the cash I carry is lost? So, in my preparation, I went to the bank and got two one-hundred dollar bills.

Where do you carry that much money?  It can’t be with your normal go-to cash in your pocket.  You can’t keep it in your luggage back in your room.  So, here’s a little secret I’ll share.  Do you know that you can remove the inside sole of your shoes?  A hundred-dollar bill slips right under those soles.  If you get held up, your secret is safe.  If you lose your money clip, well now there is a reserve.  I was so proud of myself!

On a cruise, you can take “side excursions,” trips to various scenic beaches or landmarks.  So, we signed up to ride on a little boat to a get-a-way beach.  All was going well and we were ready to board.  Then the skipper said, “Everyone take off your shoes and put them in this basket.” Gulp!  What are the odds of this?  Thinking that surely, once the shoes were all gathered in the basket, the skipper would put them on board for safekeeping.  Never assume anything!  As our boat floated away from the dock, I told my friend, “The basket with my shoes in it are still on the dock.”  He asked, “What’s the worry?”  To that, I told him my secret.  “There’s two-hundred dollars in my shoes!”  He almost fell out of the boat from laughing so hard.

Gone for several hours and all I could think about was, “Will my shoes be there when we get back?”  Yes…they were!

The story continues.  We got home and I forgot about the money in my shoes.  Months later, I remembered and retrieved my now less than paper thin hundred dollar bills.  Keeping money in your shoes for a long period of time renders it unspendable.  I took those bills to the bank to exchange them for new bills.  The teller asked, “What in the world happened to these?”  All I could say was, “You don’t want to know!”

The Bible says, “Don’t store up your treasures on earth where they will rust and moths will eat them.”  Let me add to that.  Don’t store your money in your shoes for long periods of time.  It will soon be crumpled to almost dust. 😊
 
Love in Christ,
Pastor Allan
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