Simplifying… me

I love a good outfit. I enjoy coordinating and pulling pieces of clothes together to come up with a cute ensemble. A pretty blouse and a great pair shoes – combined with good hair – are all I need to make for a spectacular day.

 

I’m not really a true expert on fashion. I just take a lot of notes – mental notes – while observing other women and their great sense of style. I don’t own fashion magazines, but occasionally I’ll Google something I might be struggling with (like “rain boots” after I received a really funky pair from my sister for Christmas, but was completely unaware of the proper way cool people are wearing their rain boots these days). In one of my Google searches – way back when I was pregnant with Brooklyn – I learned that “it’s all about the accessories.” Chunky necklaces, vintage bracelets or a snazzy little clutch can turn a “Plain Jane” jeans and t-shirt combo into “One Hot Mama”. I didn’t realize accessories are all it takes!

 

I do love a good chunky necklace, and have a few in my jewelry drawer. These days, however, I’m accessorizing with children. They hang from my neck and shoulders, and wrap around my waist and legs. It’s a style I’ve been working with for about six years now, and I’m not sure I’m wearing it very well. These accessories have been known to pull on both arms at the same time while I’m trying to do something really important like play on Facebook. They’ve clung to my thigh while I’ve tried walking across the church foyer to say hello to someone. They’ve pulled on my shirt to the point of indecent exposure (I’m NOT kidding – thank you Jackson), they’ve squeezed my neck while I was reading a book and I wasn’t giving eye contact while saying “No, it’s not snack time yet.” They sit on my lap while I’m typing, tug at my clothes while I’m making dinner and play with my toes when I’m trying to sit and relax. The list goes on and on and on.

 

I’m “wearing” children. It’s my new style. I would much rather be wearing GAP or Banana Republic, but alas, I am wearing three hot little bodies, every day. Style is fun. Fashion is great. Accessories – whether bracelets or children – are truly a gift from God. However, I wonder to myself, if I didn’t have the outfits or the enviable shoes or the child swinging from my right arm, would I still feel like “One Hot Mama”?

 

Colossians 3:12&14 says:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.”

 

My brand new pair of Nikes might make my “mommy uniform” really pop when I go to playgroup on Thursday, but that shouldn’t be the one thing that makes me hot. My hair might turn out great this coming Sunday for church, but is that all I want people to notice or remember me for? Man’s accessories are cute and fun, but not eternal. Before I get dressed in the morning, before I choose which pair of shoes to put on that will pull the outfit together, before I hoist my two-year-old onto my hip and enter the public world, I realize I need to clothe myself with God’s accessories: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Most importantly, though, I desperately need love. I need God’s love, His guidance and His grace to wear these accessories when I don’t necessarily feel that pretty on the outside. Love takes all those beautiful attributes, those Spiritual fruits, binds them together to produce a sweet and fragrant fruit salad. That’s the kind of life I want – accessorized with love, reflecting God, and representing Him well.

 

So, the next time you see me I might be sporting a headband with a little person dangling from my wrist, but what I am mostly striving for is that when you get a closer look you will not only see me “wearing” children, but you will see me “wearing” love.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!