The song Christmas Shoes by New Song is very special to my family. It was Christmas Eve when my parents discovered that my mother had cancer. They kept it a secret from my siblings and I until New Year's Eve for they wanted us to have a special Christmas. My sibling and I were very young at this time. My little sister did not understand what was happening at this time. My two sisters love this song and listen to it every year. In fact, my sisters and my mother made it a tradition to watch the movie every year for Christmas. My brother and I refuse to watch the movie and listen to the song for it is too painful to bare.
Christmas Shoes is a song heard around the world. How did this song become so popular?... The answer simple is because it was based off of a true story. Helga Schmidt came across a little boy and his sister buying shoes for their dying mother in Alco, Kansas. They were three dollars short which Helga Schmidt provided for them. According to Schmidt, the little boys words stayed in here head. He was quoted "these shoes will match the streets of gold in heaven."
The story made it in Schmidt's church's bulletin before it was published in her book Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul. By the 1990s, the story circulated around the internet attracting many readers.
DC Chymes from St. Louis Radio stumbled upon the story on the internet. He asked Eddie Carswell to write a song based on the narrative. It took two years for Chymes and Leonard Ahlstrom to complete the song. The song was first introduced on New Song's album the Sheltering Tree as a bonus track. The group was not impressed with their version of the song and later revised it. The song was later played on the radio and became an instant hit. A year later, New Song entitled their newest Album Christmas Shoes.
Carwell introduced his friend Donna VanLiere to the song who thought it would make an excellent book. There are six books in the series and four movies based off the books. In the early 2000s, the song was turned into a Christian Cantata.
It amazes me how this story has had so many many outlets and affected so many lives. To this day, I can not hear this song without thinking of my mother and the impact she had on me. when I hear this song, I think of all the good Christmases I had and how the Lord has been kind to me. I can only pray that this story will have an effect on people's lives like had on me. What in life is a good remembrance to you? What story or song could be written about your life that will effect the ones around you?...
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| Jeremiah 29:11 God has an expected end for you |
I hope you will enjoy the song.
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