"Living Shoes" is here!

One of my lifelong dreams has been to write and publish a book for my children and grandchildren.  I started writing poetry in high school and then wrote Living Shoes about 15 years ago.

This year my pre-K class and I started a month long unit on "How To Be a Friend To Someone With a Disability" by Joni Eareckson Tada.  Through our month of study we learned about a variety of disabilities and challenges.

Before the unit started we read the book The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews.  It is a small but powerful book about the amazing effect one person can have just by starting a chain reaction.  I challenged the parents of my students to support their children in raising money for "Joni and Friends" and their "Wheels for the World" program.  The kids came up with creative ideas to raise money for wheelchairs to be refurbished and distributed around the world.  They sacrificed so much that they were able to raise over $3,000 last spring.  A butterfly was hung on the wall for every dollar that was raised.  It was such a blessing to watch the effect of this spread throughout the school.  I contributed what I could, but I wanted to do more.  It seemed to be the right time to print my book and add to the "butterfly effect." A dollar from each sale of Living Shoes will be added in honor of my students and to help provide accessibility to those with physical disabilities.

Living Shoes is written for children, but has a message for adults as well.  When a little girl visits her great-aunt's house for the first time, she notices a shelf full of shoes and asks her aunt about them.  Aunt Judy replies with, "Those shoes teach me how to live."  Then she shares the story behind each pair and the valuable lesson they teach.

In addition, the proceeds from Living Shoes will help fund the printing of my next book, Living Grace.  In this book, I share my husband's and my journey in special needs ministry.  My hope is to encourage the church to welcome, embrace, and support the special needs community.

Living Shoes is available for $12.97 (including tax).  If you are interested in purchasing one, please contact me through Facebook or my blog:  

www://specialneeds-deana.blogspot.com.  Thank you so much.

Blessings-

Deana

"BEHIND EVERY PAIR OF SHOES...
Behind every pair of shoes there is a story.  When I was a little girl, my father and I played a game when we went shopping.  We would run off to the shoe department and my father would pick out a pair of shoes.  He would ask me what family member the shoes were most like and I would try to guess the relative they portrayed.  Then it would be my turn to choose a pair of shoes and he would guess. We would try to choose the most outrageous shoes we could find.  Every selection seemed to trigger an old family story and we would get lost in reminiscing.  We had a great time and never seemed to tire of playing it.

This little game gave me the idea for the book, Living Shoes.  Since those early years of childhood, I have looked at shoes differently.  There is a story behind every pair!"