Dear One,
A surprising thing happened on our way to Scranton, PA …
Months and months ago our son registered to run a marathon there on October 10th. Being avid fans of his, hubby & I booked an AirBnb in town for the Saturday before so we could see him run on Sunday. Much to our (and even more his) dismay, this never happened. They cancelled the marathon due to Covid concerns.
Since our AirBnb host refused to refund our reservation, we decided to make the most of it and, a bit chagrined, headed north anyway. The best part of our entire trip happened en route.
I had mentioned to hubby that if we saw any yard sales we should stop. I just had this inner-niggling about it. Well – no yard sales. BUT, we passed (yes, passed) a church with a rummage-sale sign. Hubby very kindly and patiently appeased me and changed lanes so he could u-turn it back to the sale. My excitement grew as I read that all clothing was .50 cents and jewelry was 1/2 off. It was going to be a good day.
Inside, I began going through the clothing layered on tables and hung on racks, piling my treasures into the arms of my long suffering husband. I found an adult head-to-toe giraffe suit which I refused (but just might regret) a number of tops, and what I think was the whole reason we made this trip – a spring green pea coat – my color, my size, and as you’ll see in a moment, my gift from God.
As I took the pea coat from its hanger to try it on I noticed the label sewn to the inside which read:
“This garment’s perfection in every detail
can only be surpassed by she who wears it.”
Well isn’t that something! Who wouldn’t want to put that on?!
I had just been doing a little word study on dignity. On how we confer worth and value onto others. How we can put it on ourselves, too, wear our worth like a spring-green pea coat in Autumn (Proverbs 31:25)! And yet we don’t always, do we? Put on our worth, that is. But now here it was, stitched right into the fabric and waiting for me. Best .50 cents I’ve ever spent!!
But wait, it gets even better. When we got to our non-refundable AirBnb, I went through my box of clothes to try all of them on. I checked the pockets as I always do, because one never knows what one might find. My pea coat pocket did not disappoint. Tucked inside was an index card folded in half that simply read:
You Are Loved❤️!
God is everywhere, friend, always conferring upon us both dignity and love, telling us time and again of our great worth. Sometimes I don’t hear Him. Sometimes I don’t believe Him. And sometimes, sometimes, I slip my arms in, try it on for size, and wear that worth like the spring-green pea coat in autumn it is
Clothed in Dignity, Wrapped in Love: Our Little Life Words of the week.
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DEEPER DIVE
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Ponder:
- How does God love you? Stop and count the ways.
- Do you resist wearing your God-given worth and if so, why? What do you wear instead?
Practice:
- Find a way to confer dignity (worth, value, honor) on someone this week.
- Wear something (like a spring-green pea coat!) that makes you feel as if you’re clothed in dignity or wrapped in love.
Play:
- Our song of the week is: How He Loves by David Crowder Band
Pray:
- Show me Your love.