The DRESS

I don't know how you may feel about wearing skirts and dresses, but I have ALWAYS hated them. From the time I was five, I remember my mother having to fight me into my dress and petticoat for church on Sunday. The petticoats were sticky and itchy, particularly in the summers before air conditioning was the norm (Yes, I AM that old). There was no such thing as a sundress unless you were at the beach.

Then came elementary school and the dress was mandatory. Even if you were walking to school in the middle of the coldest winter of the century. Your mom would put a pair of corduroy pants under your dress that you had to take off immediately upon your arrival at school. Yes, we had tights, but trust me, you would rather wear the corduroys. They were warmer.

In middle school came the fishnet stockings and the garter belt (Yes, at one time they were a USEFUL piece of lingerie). In order to be able to hook the garter belt to the hose in the back you practically had to be a contortionist. You would twist yourself into a pretzel to get those silly things on and it never failed, you would pull a hole in them and have to start all over.

As I matured into high school, I was introduced to the girdle. I have always sworn that the girdle was invented by men. They were hot to wear, had all the same problems of the garter belt, AND they were hard to put on because they were RUBBER WITH STAYS (for you that don't know what stays are, they are like the whalebone in corsets and underwire in bras). We all learned very quickly to do the "girdle twist."

No one was happier than me when panty hose were invented near the end of my high school career. Of course, they were still hot and no sooner would you put them on than they would get a run and you would walk around all day with this horrible white streak down your leg for everyone to make fun of.

So I swore off dresses when I went away to college. I couldn't go to class in jeans, but I could wear pants and I did so rejoicing and praising God for my new found freedom.

Now for the past....well, let's just say it has been a REALLY long time... I have worn my pants and swore off dresses except for occasions that mandate one. I have lived unashamedly in my pants and have told my friends (and older ladies at church) that if they didn't like what they saw, don't look!

Until this summer.... I have rediscovered the usefulness of the dress and figured out why women in hot, arid deserts wear something kin to a dress. It is cooler! With temperatures reaching the mid- to- high nineties starting in June with the heat indexes from 100-115 degrees, even shorts have been hot to wearthis summer.

So yesterday I found an old knit dress I had worn years ago and decided to wear it since I wasn't going anywhere in particular. And it was amazing how much cooler and more comfortable I was. With the death of the pantyhose, the dress is amazingly comfortable!

Life is like that. We grow up not totally understanding what we are being taught and developing ideas based on our own experience and the opinions of our peers. I John 2: 1 says, "My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin." In I Corinthians 13:11 Paul tells me,"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put off childish things."

We all start out like spiritual children and sometimes we come to believe things based on circumstances- like me and the dresses. But we are expected to mature as Christians and learn the Truth. We are expected to be teachable and open to the teachings of the godly men and women God puts in our lives to show us The Way. We are expected to allow the Holy Spirit to shine The Light on our path to help us continue to journey forward toward spiritually maturity.

I don't own many dresses or long skirts anymore, but I am glad I am still able to learn and experience new things. Now let's see...where did I put my keys? I think a trip to WalMart is needed in light of my new information!