One of the most popular items on display in the Popular Culture wing of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, are the “magic” sequined red slippers that 16-year-old Judy Garland wore in the 1939 film classic, The Wizard of Oz. The shoes, sometimes referred to as, “The People’s Shoes,” bear a plaque that reads: “In the original book by L. Frank Baum, Dorothy’s magic slippers are silver. For the Technicolor movie, they were changed to ruby red to show up more vividly against the yellow-brick road. One of several pairs used during filming, these size-five shoes have felt soles, suggesting they were used for dance sequences.”

The National Museum of American History curator Dwight Blocker Bowers says the shoes are a perennial favorite for visitors, who remember Dorothy’s wish as she clicked her heels. “It’s the idea,” he says, “of ‘there’s no place like home’ and that there is a warm place to cling to — it’s a shared memory.” Is it any wonder these shoes are the third most sought after item in the entire Smithsonian? There is truly no place like home in anyone’s psyche.

Marti understands this better than anyone. She is all about shoes – high-heeled shoes no less. Make no mistake, there is no pretension in this, nothing ostentatious. It’s just who she is. Raised in up state New York with a philanthropic banker for a grandfather and a grandmother who regularly handed out food and clothing during the Great Depression dressed in mink and high heels; it’s somehow in Marti’s DNA. She owns one pair of sneakers but I’ve never seen her wear them. She bought them to jog in but has yet to jog. She did wear them once to a shooting range with our son who is a police officer. As the story goes, she turned out to be a very bad shot in her sneakers. She just wasn’t comfortable. So she switched back into the heels she wore to the range, and bulls-eye, she hit the target! Go figure.

I’ve tried to get her in jeans and sneakers for 38 years, but I‘ve all but given up. I think it has something to do with her sense of dignity. Clothes mean different things to different people. For Marti, clothes are all about how you feel about yourself, and Marti feels dressed-up about herself. She’s not caring about those around her if she doesn’t present herself in the best possible light. She’s caring for them by caring for herself.

When we work with the homeless, it’s the same thing. Marti never dresses down for them; she dresses them up. When we first started going to the Isaiah House, I thought Marti’s heels and dresses were out of place. As it turned out, I was the one who was out of place; they loved her for it. They got it. Funny thing… I found myself starting to dress up to go there myself. You do it out of respect. And thanks to many of you, we were able to give them all sorts of nice things by which to regain their own self-respect.

So think about what you bring to the world and what you are worth. Someone loved you enough to die for you and breathe life into you. Someone wants to celebrate you home.

And pray about becoming a monthly supporter of the Catch. Our Membership Committee is standing by ready to welcome you on board. Three clicks got Dorothy Gale home; three clicks from you will allow us to welcome home those all over the world who are eternally homeless and longing for hope. What an opportunity! What a joy! That’s worth dressing up for!

Your three-click journey starts by clicking on the shoes below. God bless you!