Confession: I Dress My….Lies

Ok,so there is this new trend among the women in my ward. It is a book called “Dress Your Truth.” I’ve read some of it….

Here’s the thing sisters, I’m too busy trying to dress my fat to bother with how to dress my truth. And of course, you know, my fat is a lie. Under this bulgy, wrinkly, saggy  facade is a pretty young thing with beautiful hips and a flat tummy. I knew quite well how to dress that!! As long as I was modest I was fine. And I do mean FIIIIINE….but now I can’t find pants with a high enough waste or shirts long enough to cover all the lies I have!!!

I should tell you now, that this sturdy t-shirt I’m wearing, is covering the heart of a 1950’s woman. You know the kind. She’s wearing a beautiful dress with a matching, apron, while making the most beautiful meal. Her hair is done her children are tidy and her world is lit with the colors of her truth. All the while, I am searching, searching, for a stain resistant, smell resistant, easy to clean, elegant, lovely, loose fitting, comfortable, inexpensive, ensemble to wear for motherhood.

PLEASE comment if you have cracked that code already. Because that is a book I would read cover to cover!!!

There’s more….the books in my well stocked library are hiding all the jewelry I probably should have bought instead. Because when one is as poor as I, one has to make a concerted choice; to develop the mind or decorate the body. As one gets older, the decision becomes harder. Mainly because one is loosing both their mind and their body. Sometimes, it is easier to hide the former by investing in the later. But not me. I will not let my mind go down without a fight. It won’t matter how beautiful I look, It won’t matter how much jewelry I am wearing, it won’t even matter what color I am wearing, at my daughter’s wedding, if I can’t remember it. It has been proven that reading consistently, will dramatically, decrease a person’s risk for Alzheimer’s.

It all seems so superficial really, to focus so much on what you are wearing, and how you look. I can’t imagine Molly in anything but a modest frock with with a lovely apron, a clean appearance and a wedding band. When I explained to my husband that an underlying theme in the book seemed to say that if you don’t dress your truth you will not be accepted and everyone will know….He said, “Yes, that is true.” I gasped at the thought. He said that rarely, are good people, who are willing to meet the standards of God, accepted. I gasped again at the correlation. It never occurred to me before, that even Molly, a person who I look up to, who I strive to be like, who’s standards I try so hard, on this blog, to meet…..isn’t very well liked. In fact she is made fun of and ridiculed and laughed at and in some crowds, even hated. The truth is how you dress determines how you behave. The Lord has set those standards for us in the church. We are to dress modestly. Modest means so much more than just being covered.

In the end, I was liberated from my harsh winter season color chart, by reading this book, but it was short lived. I found myself coveting a new wardrobe, acceptance from my neighbor, and a trip to Tiffany’s. All things I normally try to avoid. I put the book down, looked deep into the eyes of my two year old who had just got ketchup all over my new white t-shirt and smiled at the thought that it wasn’t dry clean only, poured some club soda on it and happily went about my chores.

My name is Bianca, and I dress my lies. Instead of designer I wear cheap, instead of jewelry I buy books, instead of striving for acceptance I strive to meet standards, instead of colorful, I am modest. What ya gonna do? Always something to work on.

So, next time I am at Costco…I’ll check if they have any of those sturdy t-shirts in my color list. If any of you are wondering….I’m a type 4.

Love you Always,

Bianca