Thursday, April 23, 2015

One Size Doesn't Fit All






I spent a lot of time this week sorting through clothes in preparation for our annual no-money-exchanged, absolutely free office ‘garage sale’.

I know that some people cringe at the though of being caught wading through other people’s ‘junk’. Others absolutely love it.  As the saying goes, One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. 

I teeter between the two, having experienced the sharp edge at the ends of both extremes. But I digress…

We organized and sorted tops by S, M, L and XL.  This is where I learned that there is such a thing as a PS which are even smaller than S.  And XXXL is not the end of the clothing universe.   

As if the letter categorization isn’t complicated enough, some clothes are sized and sorted based on numbers. It took me years to figure out the relative sliding scale that morphs from chronological age for babies, children and teens into some arbitrary numeric designation for adults, which of course is different for men and women. I still struggle to wrap my mind around the fact that that there is size 0 or 1/2 for women’s bottoms... but I digress again…

Needless to say, there is much more to clothes than just the size.  There are billions of colors, materials, textures and styles that make a person like me absolutely overwhelmed. 

So many options! So many possibilities! 

And I didn't even mention shoes!!!

The variety is truly limitless.

But, it always boils down to one simple (or extravagant, fun, practical… ) outfit that I chose to wear at any given moment. An outfit that not only fits me but also fits the occasion and the need of the day. Something appropriate and often affected by external conditions like customs, culture and weather. 

Most days I don’t spend too much time mauling over this choice. I try to keep it simple, comfortable and relatively attractive.  I know what hangs in my closet and how to put it on. And even though my husband’s closet is just few feet away, I never help myself with what’s in there. I would never dream of knocking on my neighbor’s door in the morning expecting to help myself with the stuff from her closet?!!?

What we wear on the outside may be off the rack but it’s always personal.

What we wear on the inside may be universal but it’s still no less personal.

Each of us has a spiritual wardrobe at our full disposal every day.  This is where we clothe our souls so they don’t go running around butt-naked.  God’s Word is like our free office ‘garage sale’. It’s well stocked-up with most diverse and amazing getups.  But what is even more amazing is that He has something custom-designed to fit me for each particular day! It may not be lavish and eye-catching but it’s always deeply personal. Each morning I can dive in there with Him, dig through His hangers and ask Him to help me find something beautiful, appropriate and fitting that my soul gets to wear all day! 

Sadly, for some inexplicable reason I seem to prefer checking out the high fashion show of social media first. Then I try to squeeze myself into my friends’ wardrobes. They may look great but their stylish outfits rarely fit me. They only make me feel awkward, inadequate and self-conscious.

I must go digging through my own Closet and find what the Fashion Designer has custom-tailored for me today.

For in the matters of the heart, one size doesn’t fit all. 

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