Upon his arrival to Hahnville High School, Daverius Peters was rightfully excited. His excitement, however, quickly turned to shame and embarrassment when he was turned away at the door for wearing the wrong footwear.

According to the school’s dress code, male students were required to wear dark-colored dress shoes. “I thought I could wear them because they’re black,” said Peters, who said that his outfit abided by the rest of the code, which included a white shirt and tie and dress pants.

Nevertheless, a school representative at the door disagreed, and turned Peters away. Peters recalled, “I was in shock. I felt humiliated. I just wanted to walk across the stage and get my diploma.”

Fortunately, John Butler was on the scene. Butler, a paraeducator at the school, was in attendance to see his own daughter graduate. But Peters spotted Butler, and explained the situation. Butler said, “Of course, that sounded crazy to me. There was nothing eccentric about his shoes.”

After a brief back-and-forth with the woman at the door, Butler decided the quickest way to resolve the situation was to give Peters the shoes off his own feet, so that’s exactly what he did. Peters eventually walked—actually “slid” is the more accurate term—across the stage with Butler’s size 11’s on his size-9 feet. And Butler attended the graduation in his stocking feet with no regrets.

Butler said, “This was the most important moment in his life up to that point, and I wasn’t going to let him miss it for anything. I was just happy to see him receive his diploma.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Jesus chose time after time to honor children and those who sacrifice to serve them. If we are to be followers of Jesus, we must do likewise.