That we will not be forgotten

                                                 

Strength and resilient faith shown in their deep brown eyes. Some young and some quite aged sat surrounding us as we shared a meal together in Bangalore, India.

Widows. 

They shared their stories of being widowed. A few were left with little when their husbands passed away and others were rejected, renounced by family and made to leave their home because of their faith. One by one they shared their stories.

When asked how we could be praying for them, one elderly widow spoke up. In her native tongue she said, "That we will not be forgotten." As quickly as she said it a broad smile stretched across her face, wiping away the deep sorrow that had just been there, "But God has not forgotten, he sent you."

Moved to tears and beyond words my friend and I could only nod, smile, and extend our hands to hold their hands. 

You and I have an opportunity to let these women, over 300 of them, know that they are not forgotten this year. We would like to give them a gift of a beautiful sari, their traditonal dress, this Christmas. Each sari is only $6. 

I have personally had the blessing of being able to place these in their hands a few years ago. You cannot imagine the joy that fills their hearts from this simple act. For these widows this will be the only new sari they get all year.

Maybe this year a sari, or two or ten, could be on your Christmas shopping list!

You can email or direct message me if you want to be a small part of letting these women know that they will not be forgotten.

The Best of Haute Couture

"Playing dress up begins at age five and never really ends." 

One glance at my Pinterest board reveals that I like clothing. I am certainly not the latest fashionista, but style I like - sometimes classic, sometimes bohemian, always neutral colors, casual with bangles and scarves of course! I saw every episode of What Not to Wear at least twice ~ appreciating that they would dress women as they were, not how we envision we should look. While I enjoy clothing ~ it's important to me as a woman and mother of a teen daughter to keep the most important attributes of style at the forefront of my mind.

"As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,

gentleness, and patience. 

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you many have against one another.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues put on love."

Colossians 3:12-14

We can adorn ourselves with the latest fashion, ensure our hair and make-up are just right, and finish our look with the perfect scarf or bangle (your finishing touches may be different). However, if in our fashion fun these things begin to take the leading role we have lost our perspective. These are merely the accessories to the things we should truly adorn ourselves with: remembering to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness & love.

I can quickly lose sight of the most important, the things that sustain, can be life giving. The earrings I choose or that pair of heels will not impact the lives I teach, encourage the single mom down the street, or give hope to those who are walking through a valley; BUT when I clothe myself in the virtues mentioned in Colossians - my style takes on a whole new meaning, suddenly my style touches lives. 

PS

Haute couture is fashion that is constructed by hand (without the use of sewing machines and sergers/overlockers) from start to finish, made from high quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques.

Therefore I conclude that the master dress maker is God himself, when wearing His style it certainly turns heads and changes lives ~ let's make sure Colossians 3:12-14 is a part of our daily wardrobe!