At the Well -- What to Wear to the Store

What do YOU wear to the grocery store? It seems a simple enough question. However Gina from Chats With an Old Lady purposes in today's Gathering at the Well that it is not such a simple question. How we dress when we go to the store or anywhere else reflects our relationship to God and his influence on us and our relationship to the world and its influence on us.

Let's look at these questions:
What am I allowing myself to be influenced by?
Who do I allow to dictate to me what I should be wearing?
How am I representing the God I claim to love and live for?
Do I know the details of how God wants us to live as well as I know the details of what is in fashion?
Am I seeking to become conformed to the image of Christ...or the image that our ever changing society throws in front of our faces?

I will admit I like nice things for my hair. Shiny hair pieces. A nice fashionable scarf. I call them fashionable because that is what is on the sales racks at the Wal-Mart. I am really in love with the new EZ Clip. When I choose to wear a head cover I really like the lace ones, or a scarf with a nice fringe or accent piece. I do not know how much the world influences this. Do I like these things because they are beautiful or because the world says that I need them. I got the EZ clip because it looked nice and it seemed to be quick and easy to use. When you have five kids and a house to run, schooling to do, etc. something quick and easy goes a long way.

Proverbs 31:22 says "...her clothing is as fine linen and purple." In the days that Proverbs was written purple was the rarest and most expensive color clothing to have. The same could be said of the fine linen. This women dressed in the best, and looked her best. Now granted I cannot dress in today's equivalent of fine linen and purple, but I can dress the best I have and look the best I can look. I dress to go to the store as well as for the every day. I have a few lounge clothes that I save for those days when I am ill or such. Most days I dress before the kids are even up.

What does this mean to be dressed. I am not getting dressed for a ball or wedding. I am not even dressing for church. It means that I am dressing modestly, and nicely. I try to be stylish without being faddish or even fashionable. Since most of my clothing comes form the thrift store then they are at the very least last years fashions. I guess I do not even know what is in fashion. I used to keep up with it by what I wouldn't buy at the store.

"...Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control..." 2 Timothy 2:9,10

What does this mean? All I can tell you is the way I dress and why. I like long skirts. I feel more like a women in a skirt or dress. Does that mean I am a dresses only gal? No, I am a dresses mostly gal. One of the keys for me is does the garment flow, does it have feminine lines? I do not believe most pants meet those qualifications. Some skirts or dresses do not meet those qualifications either. I do have one pair of jeans and two pairs of capris. If I am crawling under a sink to unclog the drain, or down cleaning out the back of one of my deep cabinets I am not wearing a skirt. Where is the modesty in that?

My clothes must fit but not be tight and form fitting. Clothes that do not fit right are always having to be readjusted and draw undue attention to me. When someone sees me I want to make a good first impression. I want them to open to listening to me should the opportunity arise to share the Good News with them. If I am fidgeting with my clothing the whole time I am speaking with them then what has their attention my fidgeting or my speaking. This is also the reason I wear more skirts than dresses. I am very long waisted so most dresses do not fit me right. Then we are back to the fidgeting with the clothes again. I do like the stream line look of a dress so I am making some skirt and top sets out of the same material in order to achieve that stream line look.

I also wear layered tops. I am large chested with narrow shoulders for my frame. Cap sleeve tops and tank tops many times have higher neck lines than most other blouses and tops. I get them a size smaller so that they do not create bulk under my top. I have found that having the under layer keeps my tops from sliding down too much or off my shoulders. I have not been able to alter the tops to fit me right so far, so the layers work best. This give me a nice clean look that sometimes with some beading or lace it can be dressed up a bit.

The one person who has the most influence over what I wear is my man. He doesn't like paisleys so I do not wear anything with paisleys. He prefers the natural look, so I do not wear makeup. That makes it quicker and easier to get dressed. The Bible is my guide. If I have any questions then I refer back to it. I try to keep the worlds influences out as much as possible. The TV feed is gone. I try not to look at all the mags at the register. Of course if you take your kids with you while your doing your shopping you do not have time to look at the mags. I am sure some of the influences of the world creep in and have some impact. To please the world is not my goal. To glorify God is the goal of my life.

I want to present to the world a pleasing picture. One that most if not all of the world can accept. I do not want to offend or distract those that I may be of a witness to. I also do not want to blend into the background where I am not seen. A lit candle in the window can be seen and is inviting.