Pretty Floral Bonnet

Growing up I wore a skirt all the time... always....except when I showered or went skiing (I got to wear snow pants, which was still kind of a no-no).  As a girl who grew up in a strict sect most of my life, pants were like the forbidden fruit; they might kill you. :) Pants were mans clothing. You couldn't look like a girl while wearing pants, right?. And while I spent most of my life wearing a skirt with a sincere heart, it became the norm to me. I wore one when I went biking, rollerblading, working, and even in gym class. Looking back, that was kind of silly. I wonder how many of my class mates got a better look than I ever intended? I don't want to think about that.

Fast forward to today, I do not wear a skirt the majority of the time.................GOOD GRAVY! SAY IT AIN'T SO LAWD! While I have absolutely NOTHING against those who still believe and practice this, I no longer choose to. Clearly,  in this era there is such a thing as woman's pants. As we all know, back in the early 1900's pants were an article of man's clothing. Go back even further, and woman who didn't wear one of those death trap cage thingies under their massive dresses were considered scandalous. What if someone saw the shape of your derriere under the 50 layers of fabric? Go back even further and men wore tunics! And the more I travel through time, the more things change.

As the time changes, so do fashions, so do trends, so does the number on my scale (ugh). Woman wear pants in 2015. Men wear skinny jeans............... I don't like it...... but it's true. What is the real problem is the reason behind your clothes or how you dress yourself. I went to churches as a kid where girls were following the rules to a T, yet they somehow still seemed scantly clad. Their collars went up to their chin, and skirts to their ankles, yet they were the first ones to try to get out of a church service, and find the group of cute boys, or pick out the tightest clothes so you could see every lump and bump anyway. I'm not saying everyone is like that, not ever saying that. But from what I saw, wearing exactly what you were told did nothing for your heart... so in turn I'm saying, NOT wearing what they say is acceptable does nothing for my heart either. I still love God, maybe love him a little more if that's possible.

All I saw these sort of standards and rules do, is make everyone judge everybody else: the quiet new couple that slipped into the back of the church, the granny who sat next to you who had been going to the same church for 40 years, and the sinner (which we all are) who came to church for the very first time. I used to look at someone and instantly judge how close they were to God based on the length of their hair, the clothes they wore, jewelry, facial hair, makeup, the version of their bible, the height of their high heels..... shall I go on?

Now, I don't notice these things at all! In fact it's kind of scary. I often think if I ever had to give a description to one of those police sketch artists, I wouldn't know where to begin: "Were they wearing glasses?" "Dunno" "What color was their hair?" "Dunno" "Did they have a face?" "Dunno"


This scripture right here, I've heard a million times, but only now do I get it.

1 Peter 3:3-4

3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.