My church has been hosting some classes on Sunday nights and for the past two years, a group of us have been studying pretty hard. Our last 14 week session was dedicated to discovering God's call on our lives. This has been fabulous on so many levels that I know I will need to blog many many more entries about it. But for today, the tale of the dress...
At the end of the 14 weeks, we had a graduation ceremony. We were to buy a formal dress for the occassion and it was to be a huge event - second only to a wedding. I was not looking forward to dress shopping. To give some background - I have 4 sons and 0 daughters. I knew that most shopping trips were likely to consist of me dragging a baby and possibly another older boy with me. I would be trying to amuse an 18 month old by dancing around a dressing room in a potentially huge dress while one or more of the older boys is dying of boredom and/or embarassment. We would all end up aggravated. Not a good time. And then you know I'd need some new undergarment - ugh! Not to mention the cost when Christmas is coming and money is tight.
As part of the class, we also needed a mentor. I had picked my dear friend and true mentor, Janna. Janna owns the cat rescue, Touched By a Paw, where I had volunteered for 10 years or so. She runs a resale shop in Whitewater and that income funds the shelter. I decided to leave all the boys home with my husband and run up to the resale shop in hopes that I could find something lovely or, let's be real, anything acceptable there.
My friend Missy was working so we were chatting while I tried on some gowns. I found one "maybe" dress but nothing knocked my socks off. Missy and I were goofing around picking out funny dresses to try - ones with weird feathers on the collar or ones that were way too old. Then I found this GEORGEOUS dress in bright pink with sequins and fabulous swooping material in the skirt. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful it was - it looked like candy!
I skipped to the dressing room with it, giggling the whole way. Missy was laughing too. I tried it on and it fit perfect. Seriously. It was too long, but when you're 5'1" that's a given. But everything else was perfect. Nothing fits me perfect - just to be clear - but this dress was made for me.
I went out and showed Missy and we were joking that I needed to go to the prom. This dress was beautiful. Have I mentioned that yet? I had a nice time spinning in circles and making sure I checked every bit of it out. The dress had originally been $300 but had been at the resale shop for so long, it had been marked down to $60. So price was not so much an issue as the fact that it was very pink and almost too lovely.
With much hesitation, I took the dress off and put it back out on the rack. I told Missy I was going to stop back in and try it on at least once a week.
Then I went back to the cat shelter area and visited with a few old friends and Janna. I was glowing about the dress and we all were laughing about it. Later, Janna walked me out through the store and insisted I take the dress with me because I loved it so much. I told her that was ridiculous - I'd never have anywhere to wear it. She suggested I chaperone the prom and wrapped it up for me.
Let me just tell you all at this point, that I LOVE pink. The more little men I am surrounded by, the pinker the clothing I get. Even at that - this dress is far pinker than a 30 year old wife and mom of four need ever wear. I got home with the dress and told my husband it was my dress for graduation, with no intent of wearing it in public. He said "Holy PINK!", then pondered a bit and said, "If anyone can pull it off - you can." I was kind of floored. The more we talked the more supportive he became.
Of course, I had to try it on again at home in case I changed sizes in an hour. Again, I was sad when it was time to take it off again, but one really can't vacuum in a gown of this nature. I had my husband take a photo so I could joke with the girls at church about it. My thought was that I would show my friend Lori, who is not a dress wearer at all, and say "Your dress isn't pinker than this, is it?"
The more people I "joked" with, the more people were saying "That is so you." and not laughing. I even showed my pastor, told him the whole story, and he was supportive. When I left that night he said "Better see you in pink on Saturday".
Now I had myself a dilemna. I had this fabulous dress that I felt very unworthy of, less than a week before the ceremony and no one was joking but me.
In the meantime, I had to draft a Life Purpose Statement to read in front of everyone at the ceremony. We had to give the meaning of our names, our life purpose, and a life verse. I had picked Mathew 5:16 for my life verse: "...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise our Father in heaven."
As I mentioned, we had to look into the meaning of our names as that can be a prophetic clue to your calling as it was for Abraham and Jacob in the Bible. I found that many times, God changed people's names or that the Bible points out the meaning of a person's name - which indicates that there is something in a name. My first name, Allison, means truthful and sacred fame. But my middle name, Dee, means dark. We were told to look deeper into the meaning of our names by looking up synonyms and definitions, etc. So "dark" could also be used to mean gloomy, dismal, black, cheerless, pessimistic, or brunette. I can't begin to tell you how that is the polar opposite of everything I am - especially the brunette part!
We had been told that if we discovered our name meant something bad, we should pray over it and claim the opposite for our lives. Well, I must confess, I felt over-confident that God had delivered me from being dark!
The more I pondered over this and my life purpose, the more the word "light" came to mind. Most of my friends life purposes were about being wives and mothers and their jobs and I really felt God tell me very simply, "You are a light." That is all encompassing for me - no matter what I do, I am to shine His love and goodness.
When it comes to my children, my delight in the Lord must show. If they see that I love to sing worship on Sunday mornings, that I go to church because I want to, not because it's a duty they will see that God is good. When I give my testimony on how God has blessed Jack and I for tithing people will see how He provides. When people see my optimism after what I have been through, they will see how God loves and restores his people.
This is my purpose...to shine. So why then, was I afraid to wear this fabulous dress? I was afraid to stand out, afraid that someone would say something unkind to me because it stood out, afraid that I was not pretty enough, confident enough, thin enough to wear this beautiful gown. I kept making bargains with God, "If I can find someone to hem it with no notice, then I'll wear it." Everything fell into place.
I wore the dress and it felt lovely. I was certainly not as confident as I would have been in my back up black dress, but it was a lesson for me that I could not forget. I felt so loved that I had been provided that dress for free - Janna had given it to me and the lady that hemmed it for me would not accept money in return. All things fell into place.
Another lesson: Sometimes I feel badly for asking for things in prayer. I always think "There are people whose children are dying, how can I pray for my cat who is ill? There are people without homes, how can I pray about my furnace? God has much more important things to tend to than my needs and after all, my needs are so petty in comparison to others and I can take care of them myself and 'God helps those who help themselves', right?" WRONG! I was so wrong. Each and every one of our needs is of concern to the Father and even some things we never thought we needed and certainly don't deserve - like fabulous, georgeous gowns in PINK!
At the end of the 14 weeks, we had a graduation ceremony. We were to buy a formal dress for the occassion and it was to be a huge event - second only to a wedding. I was not looking forward to dress shopping. To give some background - I have 4 sons and 0 daughters. I knew that most shopping trips were likely to consist of me dragging a baby and possibly another older boy with me. I would be trying to amuse an 18 month old by dancing around a dressing room in a potentially huge dress while one or more of the older boys is dying of boredom and/or embarassment. We would all end up aggravated. Not a good time. And then you know I'd need some new undergarment - ugh! Not to mention the cost when Christmas is coming and money is tight.
As part of the class, we also needed a mentor. I had picked my dear friend and true mentor, Janna. Janna owns the cat rescue, Touched By a Paw, where I had volunteered for 10 years or so. She runs a resale shop in Whitewater and that income funds the shelter. I decided to leave all the boys home with my husband and run up to the resale shop in hopes that I could find something lovely or, let's be real, anything acceptable there.
My friend Missy was working so we were chatting while I tried on some gowns. I found one "maybe" dress but nothing knocked my socks off. Missy and I were goofing around picking out funny dresses to try - ones with weird feathers on the collar or ones that were way too old. Then I found this GEORGEOUS dress in bright pink with sequins and fabulous swooping material in the skirt. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful it was - it looked like candy!
I skipped to the dressing room with it, giggling the whole way. Missy was laughing too. I tried it on and it fit perfect. Seriously. It was too long, but when you're 5'1" that's a given. But everything else was perfect. Nothing fits me perfect - just to be clear - but this dress was made for me.
I went out and showed Missy and we were joking that I needed to go to the prom. This dress was beautiful. Have I mentioned that yet? I had a nice time spinning in circles and making sure I checked every bit of it out. The dress had originally been $300 but had been at the resale shop for so long, it had been marked down to $60. So price was not so much an issue as the fact that it was very pink and almost too lovely.
With much hesitation, I took the dress off and put it back out on the rack. I told Missy I was going to stop back in and try it on at least once a week.
Then I went back to the cat shelter area and visited with a few old friends and Janna. I was glowing about the dress and we all were laughing about it. Later, Janna walked me out through the store and insisted I take the dress with me because I loved it so much. I told her that was ridiculous - I'd never have anywhere to wear it. She suggested I chaperone the prom and wrapped it up for me.
Let me just tell you all at this point, that I LOVE pink. The more little men I am surrounded by, the pinker the clothing I get. Even at that - this dress is far pinker than a 30 year old wife and mom of four need ever wear. I got home with the dress and told my husband it was my dress for graduation, with no intent of wearing it in public. He said "Holy PINK!", then pondered a bit and said, "If anyone can pull it off - you can." I was kind of floored. The more we talked the more supportive he became.
Of course, I had to try it on again at home in case I changed sizes in an hour. Again, I was sad when it was time to take it off again, but one really can't vacuum in a gown of this nature. I had my husband take a photo so I could joke with the girls at church about it. My thought was that I would show my friend Lori, who is not a dress wearer at all, and say "Your dress isn't pinker than this, is it?"
The more people I "joked" with, the more people were saying "That is so you." and not laughing. I even showed my pastor, told him the whole story, and he was supportive. When I left that night he said "Better see you in pink on Saturday".
Now I had myself a dilemna. I had this fabulous dress that I felt very unworthy of, less than a week before the ceremony and no one was joking but me.
In the meantime, I had to draft a Life Purpose Statement to read in front of everyone at the ceremony. We had to give the meaning of our names, our life purpose, and a life verse. I had picked Mathew 5:16 for my life verse: "...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise our Father in heaven."
As I mentioned, we had to look into the meaning of our names as that can be a prophetic clue to your calling as it was for Abraham and Jacob in the Bible. I found that many times, God changed people's names or that the Bible points out the meaning of a person's name - which indicates that there is something in a name. My first name, Allison, means truthful and sacred fame. But my middle name, Dee, means dark. We were told to look deeper into the meaning of our names by looking up synonyms and definitions, etc. So "dark" could also be used to mean gloomy, dismal, black, cheerless, pessimistic, or brunette. I can't begin to tell you how that is the polar opposite of everything I am - especially the brunette part!
We had been told that if we discovered our name meant something bad, we should pray over it and claim the opposite for our lives. Well, I must confess, I felt over-confident that God had delivered me from being dark!
The more I pondered over this and my life purpose, the more the word "light" came to mind. Most of my friends life purposes were about being wives and mothers and their jobs and I really felt God tell me very simply, "You are a light." That is all encompassing for me - no matter what I do, I am to shine His love and goodness.
When it comes to my children, my delight in the Lord must show. If they see that I love to sing worship on Sunday mornings, that I go to church because I want to, not because it's a duty they will see that God is good. When I give my testimony on how God has blessed Jack and I for tithing people will see how He provides. When people see my optimism after what I have been through, they will see how God loves and restores his people.
This is my purpose...to shine. So why then, was I afraid to wear this fabulous dress? I was afraid to stand out, afraid that someone would say something unkind to me because it stood out, afraid that I was not pretty enough, confident enough, thin enough to wear this beautiful gown. I kept making bargains with God, "If I can find someone to hem it with no notice, then I'll wear it." Everything fell into place.
I wore the dress and it felt lovely. I was certainly not as confident as I would have been in my back up black dress, but it was a lesson for me that I could not forget. I felt so loved that I had been provided that dress for free - Janna had given it to me and the lady that hemmed it for me would not accept money in return. All things fell into place.
Another lesson: Sometimes I feel badly for asking for things in prayer. I always think "There are people whose children are dying, how can I pray for my cat who is ill? There are people without homes, how can I pray about my furnace? God has much more important things to tend to than my needs and after all, my needs are so petty in comparison to others and I can take care of them myself and 'God helps those who help themselves', right?" WRONG! I was so wrong. Each and every one of our needs is of concern to the Father and even some things we never thought we needed and certainly don't deserve - like fabulous, georgeous gowns in PINK!
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