Sabbath Day, Part 2
Today, I thought I would talk about how I dress, since I've often been ridiculed for it. In my family, we grew up wearing our Sunday best all day Sunday. It wasn't just for church. After all, it was Sunday best, not church best. A couple of times on long, family vacations we would drive on Sunday, listening to Sunday music and spending that time on the road being together. We were allowed to wear non-Sunday clothes at those times. But even as a child/teen, I never felt comfortable doing that. I felt I was being too lax and not respecting my Lord's day. That there wasn't a clear differentiation. I can wear casual clothes 6 days of the week. On His day, I want to dress up a little nicer, acknowledging that day truly is different from the other days.
Because of this personal feeling, I decided to wear my Sunday best all day whenever possible, and not just because my parents expected it of me while living in their home. I got to test this on my first little stint away from home. I was on a performing tour in Europe for a month right after I graduated high school. I was away 4 Sundays. My parents would never know what I wore. And the people I was with would never care. But I did. On a performing tour, I was at the mercy of our schedule. Practices, performances, traveling, brief hours of sight-seeing. It was hard to differentiate one day from another, especially when I did not have allotted time (or the knowledge of where) to go to attend my church services. Putting on Sunday dress helped to remind me whose day it was, and how I should conduct myself as best I could in the circumstances. That experience sealed my testimony of one way that I could best keep in mind the Sabbath and help me do things to honor and observe the Sabbath.
So, I've been ridiculed for wearing Sunday clothes all Sunday. But I've also been ridiculed for the kind of Sunday clothes. They think I'm too dressed up. My dresses (and yes, I wear dresses to church; very rarely do I wear a skirt--they feel too casual) look a lot dressier than what most (younger) women tend to wear to church these days. But one has to see where I'm coming from to know why I wear these. I have always loved wearing dresses. From 1st grade - 3rd (and maybe including Kindergarten), I wore a dress to school almost every day. I was not a fan of pants. I felt more comfortable in a dress than in pants--I still do. The only reason I switched over to pants from 4th-6th grade was peer pressure. New state, new school, new people. I wanted to be accepted and not to stand out than I was already going to. The joy I felt when I saw skirts become "in" by 7th grade. One of the best Christmas presents ever: my sister gave me my first long, straight skirt. I still have it; I still wear it. Over a very slow time, dresses creeped back in to my non-Sunday wardrobe. They've almost overtaken it now, mostly because finances won't allow me to purchase non-dress stuff. But I don't mind so much not having them right now.
How I love skirts and dresses. I prefer to wear them when I drive--much more comfortable for me. I love to wear them to work. I like to curl up and read in them. I especially love them when I have my many stomach illnesses. They have not hindered me from much, either. I once did a lower body workout in a skirt because I didn't have time to change amongst the 3 activities I had going on. I played Ultimate in a dress. I hadn't planned to play, but I couldn't pass up my favorite sport.
The only time a dress hinders me is if I worry about keeping it clean and in good shape, I want to protect my legs a bit more, or if I don't want anything embarrassing to happen/show/occur in front of the menfolk. So for a girl who wears dresses QUITE a lot, I feel there should be a distinction between my every day dresses, and my Sunday dresses. So, yes, the dresses I wear on Sunday are a lot nicer than what I wear during the week. For what I have chosen to wear on Sunday makes me feel at my best, and that is what I want to offer my Lord on His day.
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