Beautiful Cleats

In the midst of another dismal Denver Bronco defeat something Beautiful appeared on the TV screen. A close up of wide receiver Demaryius Thomas’s cleats gave us a reason to cheer. I can say with the utmost certainty the country of Lesotho has never been apart of an American Football game before -yet there it was written on DT’s cleats, truly amazing!

Why in the world would Demaryius Thomas run around the field Sunday with word Lesotho on his cleats? Here is the rest of the story! Several weeks ago my sister Cindy and her husband Paul went out to eat. Cindy in a rush to get ready put on Bronco jersey #88. As they were leaving the restaurant a man stopped her and said “nice jersey!” And guess who it was? You got it; DT was admiring his own number.

After some small talk, the subject of Africa entered the conversation and Cindy and Paul shared about Bountiful Hope Foundation and how over the years hundreds of teenage orphans have been given the opportunity to attend school in Lesotho. These words tugged on DT’s heart on a couple of levels. As this past summer DT spent some time in South Africa and witnessed the plight of orphans as he toured the country. On a more personal level DT understood the idea of being orphaned as he didn’t have a relationship with his father and his mother spent many years in prison.

So Sunday he wanted to tell the story with his feet about Lesotho and Bountiful Hope Foundation as well as a great ministry that works with families of prisoners called Forever Family. For our family and Oceans this was a beautiful moment watching DT run routes and catch passes knowing he was making these ministries known that are close to our hearts and vision for ministry.

The Scripture text that flashed before me as I saw these bright colored cleats was:

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! (Rom. 10:15)

The apostle Paul is referring to the prophecy in Isaiah where the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be brought to earth and carried all over the world by Beautiful Feet! These feet would share a message of hope and this message would reach out to the poor, the prisoner, and those without earthly parents. This message proclaims that all of us can be apart of a forever loving family by receiving the gift of the Father-His only Son Jesus Christ.

Sunday Demaryius Thomas used his Beautiful Feet. He used the gifts that he’d been given to share about ministries of hope and good news. If you have received the good news of the Gospel your feet are Beautiful Feet as well. Most of us will not have a platform to share like DT did Sunday, but we each have a unique path which the Father has placed before us. Each and every day we walk past people that need to see or hear the good news. We have the opportunity to share the reason for the great hope by both word and deed. I challenge you to use your beautiful feet in a beautiful way this week! Let your life radiate His love!

If you are interested in knowing more about DT’s cleats and Bountiful Hope Foundation go to Oceans’ website and click on partner ministries to find the link.