As I stood in the doorway, I contemplated my options. The situation was grim: torrential rainfall, turning sunny Oklahoma into the Amazon rainforest. I had just finished my flute lesson and was about to leave my teacher’s house. The only problem was that I was wearing a brand-new pair of Reebok tennis shoes. They were the most comfortable shoes I had ever owned, and I was definitely not about to let them get all muddy.

My solution to this dilemma was to take my shoes off and carry them by hand. Looking back, it sounds extreme, but at the time it was the most logical course of action in my mind.

I cautiously walked barefoot down the sloping hill towards my mom’s car, lugging my flute, my music bag, two shoes, the umbrella my teacher loaned me, and a tiny piccolo. I opened the passenger door and carefully threw my items into the van. As I unloaded my belongings, my left tennis shoe wiggled out of my grasp and started a voyage down the road, carried by the rushing stream of rainwater.

I turned my head and spotted my left shoe gently sailing down the hill at an alarming speed. I made sure the rest of my things were safely in the van and began to run down the street to save my shoe from a watery death. The water rushed around my ankles, and I began to fear that I would slip.

Moving carefully but swiftly, I was about three feet away from reclaiming the fugitive shoe when suddenly, in slow motion, a huge drain gobbled up my innocent shoe. I stared down in the drain, but my shoe was nowhere to be found.

I was in utter shock as we silently began the drive home. My mom was upset, and my siblings tried to console me. But I was still distraught—my investment had literally gone down the drain!

I began to dream up all the ways I could fix the situation, like trying to find another pair online for a discounted price. But I began to realize that I would not be able to take care of the situation alone. I prayed that there would be a sale on these shoes at the Reebok store so I would not have to pay full price for another pair, but there were no sales at the time.

After a week of praying about my predicament, I thought to bring my lonely shoe to the Reebok store in its original box. I explained to the Reebok staff the tragedy that had happened. Although it was a strange story to tell and could have been hard for them to believe, they seemed to believe me. I asked if they had an incomplete pair of shoes in a smaller size because my left foot is slightly smaller than my right. One of the staff members went to their storage area and came out with the same style of shoes in the smaller size I had requested. It was a perfect fit—and free of charge. I was so giddy with excitement—not only did I receive a free shoe, but one that fit better than the old one!

God has answered so many of my prayers, even the little ones. I learned that He wants to hear His young people talk to Him about everything, even if we think it’s not worth His time! Matthew 10:29 says that God takes notice when a single sparrow falls to the ground, and there are a lot of sparrows in the world.

As He often does, God blessed me through a trial. I thought that I would have to spend more money to replace my shoe, but instead God provided one for me. And in the end, the replacement was better than the original. God always does what is best for us.

From that little trial, I learned that I can go to God with anything—even something as seemingly insignificant as a shoe.