Reason #726
There's nothing I love more than a federal holiday. A free day off from work! I spent last week debating on how I would spend today. I couldn't decide if I'd spend it doing chores or if I would spend it relaxing. I found a good balance and managed to do both, and I wouldn't mind having another day or two like today.
I blogged a few days ago about purging, and I did a little bit of that today. I had a collection of formal dresses in the office closet that I have had for a few years. A prom dress, banquet dresses, college formal dresses, and bridesmaids dresses. I didn't take an inventory, but I am pretty sure I had at least 10 or so items. Anyway, one of my friends mentioned that a non-profit in Lubbock was collecting prom dresses for girls in the community who wouldn't be able to buy a dress this year. I had absolutely no need for the dresses in my closet, as my days of formal parties are no more, but I've had a hard time letting them go. Truthfully, it's been hard to give them up because I know how much each one costs. Sure, they were all good bargains (because I wouldn't have bought them otherwise), but I felt that they still had value and maybe I could sell them for some quick cash. I realized that even if I could sell them, it would be a lot of work for a little sum of money. Plus, I realized that they'd be getting a much better use this way, so I loaded them up and donated them today.
One of the employees helped me carry in the dresses along with the dress shirts Aaron had contributed, and you would have thought I had brought him a sack of gold coins. He kept going on and on and on about how "nice" these dresses were. He was so excited about these dresses it was like he knew they held some secret value and he had hit the jackpot. Anyway, he kept thanking me for donating them and he told me, "You have no idea what you've done." I told him they were doing me no good hanging in the closet and that I hoped someone else would enjoy wearing them as much as I had at one time. We walked to the front of the building to get a receipt and he said, "These girls cried last year when they saw the dresses." And the moment he told me that, my heart melted. As I drove off, my heart was filled with absolute gratitude, and I just thanked the Lord that I had those dresses to give away.
I remember the excitement of prom. Really, the thing I loved the most about prom was getting ready for the event. I remember how glamorous I felt getting my hair and make-up done, and when I slipped my dress on, I felt like a movie star. I thought about how my mom and I searched for the perfect dress, and I was so proud of the one we found. And I thought about how I would have felt if my mom wouldn't have been able to take me prom dress shopping or to get my hair and make up done. I thought about how hard it would have been to miss out on my prom because I didn't have anything to wear and the sadness I would have felt showing up to school on Monday to hear everyone talking about such an epic event that I wasn't able to go to. Because, truth is, almost every high school girl dreams about the potential magic of their prom night. And as I thought through these things, I thought about how sorry I was that I ever even entertained the idea of selling those dresses. I thought about how grateful I was that the Lord provided me with a mom who would and could do those things for me, and I was so glad that I could make a small contribution so that maybe another girl or two could feel as beautiful on their prom night as I did on mine.
Going to prom isn't going to make or break your life, but in high school it sure feels like it. And even though prom is just this over exaggerated American tradition, it matters. Maybe not so much going to the dance, per se, but being a part. Because deep down, we all want to be a part, don't we? No one wants to miss out on the big thing in life, and yet some of us have to. Prom is a lot of pressure and stress, even for the girls who have a date and a dress. And now, being almost a decade removed from high school, I realize that it is these things in life that make a big impact on your self esteem. And so I know a dress is just a dress. I know a dress can't determine your life's path, but I know to a teenage girl, a dress can sure make for a memorable night that makes you feel like you were a part.
Well, I'm probably getting too sentimental over these old dresses, but what I really understood today is that God is so generous. So, so generous that we often times don't even see it because we have too much. We are immensely blessed and we don't even realize it. And maybe we forget that we're blessed so that we can bless others. A lot of the time, it's in the small ways. It's having good shoes to wear when your only pair has holes in the soles, it's having a dress so that you don't miss out and feel insecure, it's a can of food when your stomach has been growling for days, a jacket and gloves because the cold wind hurts when it hits your skin. It's feeling accepted, feeling like someone cares. Like Jesus said, "What you've done to the least of these, you've done to me."
I don't have any more prom dresses to give away, but I have a lot of other things. Things in cabinets, drawers, and closets. And so it's a challenge, a refining process that I am going through. Learning to be overly generous because God has been so overly generous. Seeing His abundant provision and being mindful to spread the wealth rather than hoard it for myself. Because we don't get to take any of it with us anyway. And, like the saying goes, "sharing caring." And so I am grateful for a God who cares deeply for His children. A God who lavishes us with blessing after blessing, overwhelming us with His generosity. And I am grateful that He would let me play a small part in His generous ways today.
#726 - Because He is overly generous.
"Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." - Proverbs 11:24-25
I blogged a few days ago about purging, and I did a little bit of that today. I had a collection of formal dresses in the office closet that I have had for a few years. A prom dress, banquet dresses, college formal dresses, and bridesmaids dresses. I didn't take an inventory, but I am pretty sure I had at least 10 or so items. Anyway, one of my friends mentioned that a non-profit in Lubbock was collecting prom dresses for girls in the community who wouldn't be able to buy a dress this year. I had absolutely no need for the dresses in my closet, as my days of formal parties are no more, but I've had a hard time letting them go. Truthfully, it's been hard to give them up because I know how much each one costs. Sure, they were all good bargains (because I wouldn't have bought them otherwise), but I felt that they still had value and maybe I could sell them for some quick cash. I realized that even if I could sell them, it would be a lot of work for a little sum of money. Plus, I realized that they'd be getting a much better use this way, so I loaded them up and donated them today.
One of the employees helped me carry in the dresses along with the dress shirts Aaron had contributed, and you would have thought I had brought him a sack of gold coins. He kept going on and on and on about how "nice" these dresses were. He was so excited about these dresses it was like he knew they held some secret value and he had hit the jackpot. Anyway, he kept thanking me for donating them and he told me, "You have no idea what you've done." I told him they were doing me no good hanging in the closet and that I hoped someone else would enjoy wearing them as much as I had at one time. We walked to the front of the building to get a receipt and he said, "These girls cried last year when they saw the dresses." And the moment he told me that, my heart melted. As I drove off, my heart was filled with absolute gratitude, and I just thanked the Lord that I had those dresses to give away.
I remember the excitement of prom. Really, the thing I loved the most about prom was getting ready for the event. I remember how glamorous I felt getting my hair and make-up done, and when I slipped my dress on, I felt like a movie star. I thought about how my mom and I searched for the perfect dress, and I was so proud of the one we found. And I thought about how I would have felt if my mom wouldn't have been able to take me prom dress shopping or to get my hair and make up done. I thought about how hard it would have been to miss out on my prom because I didn't have anything to wear and the sadness I would have felt showing up to school on Monday to hear everyone talking about such an epic event that I wasn't able to go to. Because, truth is, almost every high school girl dreams about the potential magic of their prom night. And as I thought through these things, I thought about how sorry I was that I ever even entertained the idea of selling those dresses. I thought about how grateful I was that the Lord provided me with a mom who would and could do those things for me, and I was so glad that I could make a small contribution so that maybe another girl or two could feel as beautiful on their prom night as I did on mine.
Going to prom isn't going to make or break your life, but in high school it sure feels like it. And even though prom is just this over exaggerated American tradition, it matters. Maybe not so much going to the dance, per se, but being a part. Because deep down, we all want to be a part, don't we? No one wants to miss out on the big thing in life, and yet some of us have to. Prom is a lot of pressure and stress, even for the girls who have a date and a dress. And now, being almost a decade removed from high school, I realize that it is these things in life that make a big impact on your self esteem. And so I know a dress is just a dress. I know a dress can't determine your life's path, but I know to a teenage girl, a dress can sure make for a memorable night that makes you feel like you were a part.
Well, I'm probably getting too sentimental over these old dresses, but what I really understood today is that God is so generous. So, so generous that we often times don't even see it because we have too much. We are immensely blessed and we don't even realize it. And maybe we forget that we're blessed so that we can bless others. A lot of the time, it's in the small ways. It's having good shoes to wear when your only pair has holes in the soles, it's having a dress so that you don't miss out and feel insecure, it's a can of food when your stomach has been growling for days, a jacket and gloves because the cold wind hurts when it hits your skin. It's feeling accepted, feeling like someone cares. Like Jesus said, "What you've done to the least of these, you've done to me."
I don't have any more prom dresses to give away, but I have a lot of other things. Things in cabinets, drawers, and closets. And so it's a challenge, a refining process that I am going through. Learning to be overly generous because God has been so overly generous. Seeing His abundant provision and being mindful to spread the wealth rather than hoard it for myself. Because we don't get to take any of it with us anyway. And, like the saying goes, "sharing caring." And so I am grateful for a God who cares deeply for His children. A God who lavishes us with blessing after blessing, overwhelming us with His generosity. And I am grateful that He would let me play a small part in His generous ways today.
#726 - Because He is overly generous.
"Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." - Proverbs 11:24-25
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