I’m a terrible clothes shopper and hate to go to malls. Set me in a women’s clothing store with an assignment to find a new outfit, and I’d rather flee the country.
Maybe that’s why my closet is full of outdated items, most of which are older than a decade. Modernizing is just too complicated, not to mention time consuming, expensive, and sometimes humiliating. My failure rate is high.
As I see it, there are 9 clothes-shopping stresses:
Giving up several hours of precious time.- Finding a store with clothes designed for 60-somethings.
- Getting acquainted with a store’s layout and inventory.
- Pawing through endless racks of clothes.
- Choosing a variety of items to try on, hoping they’ll morph into a cute outfit.
- Squaring off with a full length mirror in a harshly lit dressing room.
- Creating 3 piles of clothes in that small space: (A) Possibles; (B) Rejects; (C) Needing other sizes or colors.
- Re-finding the racks of other sizes and colors.
- Repeating 1 – 8.
Even after all that, the whole convoluted process may be fruitless, requiring a 1-9 do-over on a later date. It’s a mystery to me how so many women find this process enjoyable.
Today I found myself in yet another massive mall making a third attempt to find a business-casual outfit that I’ve needed for some time. I put it off as long as possible, not wanting to spoil an otherwise good day. Friends suggested I try a place named Chico’s.
When I stepped into the store, a little flame of hope flickered. A dozen other women my age were working the racks, chatting over great sale prices. Maybe this would be my one-stop-shop.
Our lives are full of things we don’t especially want to do, not necessarily dramatic ordeals but just everyday tasks. We know that if we want to act like responsible adults, we must tend to them. Shopping for clothes is only one of hundreds, and though we might tackle these jobs in fits and starts, for the most part they get done.
But what about spiritual tasks?
Are we excited to push other things out of the way to make room for them? Or do we look at things like prayer and Bible reading as duties we “must tend to?” Do we approach them with eager expectation, or do we see them as non-obligatory chores?
Today I left Chico’s with a bag of goodies, but that’s not usually the case after my shopping excursions. More often than not, I finish empty-handed.
When I go “shopping” for more of God, however, I’m always successful, 100% of the time.
“Acknowledge God…. and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)