How Beautiful the Feet...

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,

“ Your God reigns!”

Isaiah 52:7

So, one might presuppose that I love feet. I do love feet. Conditionally. They must be feet with Trenkle toes. Feet without Trenkle toes, not as much. I do love my kids’ feet, especially when they’re itty bitty. You can bet that I’ll be smoochin’ Baby Karsyn’s feet til she’s about two. That’s when they start being kid-feet and not baby feet. You know, baby feet are like puppies. They’re cute and cuddly and kissable when they’re small and playful and then they grow up to be dogs and they get all hairy and smelly. (Hey? Did I just crack the code on why people call their feet “dogs?”)

ANYWAY. That’s not my point(er). Sheesh, just kidding.

ANYWAY. (for reals this time)

Fact #1: I love baby feet. And I love baby fingers and baby ears (my kids were all born with fuzzy ears) and I love baby smiles. I love babies.

Fact #2: When I’ve been in the Word since Karsyn arrived, I’ve been in the Psalms.

Fact #3: I read Psalm 18 a few days ago and knew this was what the Lord wanted me to meditate on and, well, then I ended up sharing it my girlfriend’s baby shower the other day. Because it mentions feet! (Refer to Fact #1 to reiterate why that is significant for a baby shower.)

31 For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with
strength, And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.


35 You have also given me the shield of Your
salvation; Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.

39 For You have armed me with
strength for the battle.

Fact #4: According to biblegateway.com, the word “feet” is mentioned 228 times in the NKJV. So when I asked my husband, “Guess what the Lord has been showing me!” He said, “What has the Lord been showing you?” And I said, “The Bible mentions feet 228 times!!!” He did not jump up and down with me. He rolled his eyes! (He abhors feet, he does NOT think they are cute or pretty AT ALL.)

Most of the Old Testament references to feet fall into two categories. God was either crushing His enemies under His feet or He was setting people on their feet.

I thought that was pretty significant. Over and over again The LORD God was setting people on their feet, giving them a place to stand.

On a rock. On The Rock. On a path. On an enlarged path. The Bible says He establishes my steps, that His word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. He keeps my feet from falling. He makes my feet like a deer’s. (I had to recall why deer’s feet are cool for Jesus – it’s because He created deer with surefootedness. Deer can climb to the high places without slipping. Ever read “Hinds' Feet on High Places”?)

And then the verse in Isaiah 52 is one that I’ve loved… “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news!”

I love that. God thinks our feet are beautiful. And it’s because He’s given them purpose. Our feet have a purpose in the kingdom! To take the good news everywhere we walk. Right now I mostly walk around in my house (still in my jammies from 3 days ago, but hey), I mostly walk in front of my children (to lead them), or behind my children (to guard them), I mostly walk beside my husband (to support him) or in front of him (as he cherishes me as his bride), all the while taking the good news of the Gospel. And you probably won’t find me preachin’ it up on the streets with a blowhorn, ya know, but I’ve got my family with me most of the time and it’s my joy as Mama to teach my kids about the Good News with every opportunity

18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deut 11:18-20).

And just as a sidenote, maybe a blowhorn would be a good investment with these squirrely kids of mine, gotta keep track of ‘em somehow – those grocery carts keep shrinking!

We followers of Jesus talk about our “walks” a lot. We’ll ask a friend, “How is your walk with God right now?” or “How close is your walk?” Walk walk walk. And I’m sure you’ve read that poem Footprints, right? Well, this got me thinking (yay, God! one coherent thought… I still have a few braincells in there somewhere!)…

The Bible says to hide God’s word in my heart and soul and teach them to my kids when I… “walk by the way.” It’s the parents’ “job” to teach our kids out to walk, to take those first steps. So we’re holding our tot’s hands and helping them balance, all the while we are taking steps, too. But much to my kids’ dismay, babies are not born ready to stand and run when they get home from the hospital. (Bryson was 2, almost 3, when we brought Kev home and he kept asking us to “Let him out of the carseat, mommy, so I can see him walk!”)

(Kev, 3-days-old, on Bryson's lap, 2006)

No, newborn babes are not ready to bear their own weight on their legs. We carry them for a season. We carry them thru infancy. For the first year of Karsyn’s life, there’ll be my set of footprints and Bryan’s set of footprints until she can walk and then there’ll be 3 sets, as we walk beside her.

Just as the Lord carries us thru seasons. I don’t know how it is for other mamas, but when I’m carrying my child in pregnancy, it’s a real spiritual experience, I feel so intimately connected to the Lord as we partner together in nourishing the babe in the womb. And those first hours after birth, too, are so special and intensely intimate and worshipful. And then I’m not sure when it happens exactly but I go in to bare minimum survival mode where I’m doin’ real good if I make time to read a Psalm or two. That’s when I know the Lord is carrying me. Just like I’ll be carrying my infant until she can walk.

Psalm 119:58-60
58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.
59 I thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60 I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.

It’s Bryan and I’s job to teach our kids how to walk physically AND spiritually. To point them down the right path, to turn our feet to God’s “testimonies” – His Word… The Truth, The Way, The Life!

And it’s not a super easy thing. There’s lots of opposition to parenting biblically – lots of distractions, you know? The world is full of distractions that can keep us from putting the emotional and spiritual needs of our family first… work, money, hobbies, self… mostly self in my case. (I tend to lose track of time, spending it on the frivolous instead of on the necessary.)

It’s a battle. Shepherding our children’s hearts is a battle. Being the wife God asks me to be for Bryan, there’s a battle. Making time to spend with the Lord, there’s a battle. Getting up and getting myself and four babes dressed and fed and make it to a 9am appointment, there’s a battle. Life is full of busy-ness and distractions of all sorts, but God strengthens us for all of it.

39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle.

He’s given us armor! Spiritual armor – we just have to put it on daily, so that we can EFFECTIVELY and VICTORIOUSLY walk the path He’s enlarged before us.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:14-16

Amen! (Gird my waist with truth? That’s having the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God ready. The breastplate of righteousness, guards my heart, where His Word is hidden. Shod my feet?… that’s being like a Boy Scout, ready to take the good news everywhere. And the shield of Faith, when held up against the enemy, protects me from Satan’s lies and my unbelief.)

And I’ll tell ya, there are days, when I am just exhausted. Every ounce spent and I don’t have the strength to put my armor on! And as I was reading thru the 228 Bible references to “feet,” I came across Hebrews 12:12-13…

12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down [weakened, exhausted], and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Can you picture it? I can… all slumped over, yesterday’s mascara smudged under my eyes complimenting the already dark circles, hands limp, back achy from carrying a fussy baby in a front pack for 3 days (not that I’ve experienced any of this…since… well, never mind). Well, after finding this verse, it’s like the perfect pick-me-up when I’m at my weakest physically and emotionally and spiritually… Make a straight path for my feet… be healed! Which trail should my mrs.trenkle toes tippy? To the Life. To. The. Life.

And the Life is Jesus.

There are lots of times the word “feet” is mentioned in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels. In the Old Testament, God was setting people on their feet. In the Gospels, we see people, again and again, at the feet of Jesus.

Falling at His feet.
Weeping at His feet.
Washing His feet with tears.
Kissing His feet.
Anointing His feet with fragrant oil.
Begging.
Sitting.
Thanking.

That’s where I wanna be. Cozy at Jesus’ feet. And I pray that as I’m watching my kids grow by leaps and bounds, as I’m smoochin’ their toes and tickling their feet that it’ll be a physical reminder be at His.

I want to stand on the Rock that is Christ. I want to walk the paths He’ll make straight for me. I want to armor up. I want to turn my feet toward His testimonies. And then meet up with the Father… at the feet of Jesus. Yeahhhhhh, that’s where I want to be.

Jesus’ feet was a place for the humble of heart.
For the contrite spirit.
For unabashed, unashamed worship.

Because if I’m at His feet, then I’m on my knees.

As a mama and a wife, that’s the place to be.