Purpose: How important is my appearance? Do I put more emphasis on my outward appearance than was is on the inside? How do I view myself? How much do I have that I do not need or wear?
Guidelines: I have 8 articles of clothing (actually 7 clothing, 1 shoes) that I will be allowed to wear this month... that's it... 8. No accessories... jewelry, hats (why?!?!?), scarves, cardigans or jackets. I will be wearing my wedding ring, but no other jewelry. I seriously debated switching out a dress for a ball cap... these days I am in a hat about 70% of the time... no joke... but the sundress won out. Basic, daily make-up tinted moisturizer, sheer mineral powder, mascara, and lip balm. I will also not purchase any clothes/shoes/accessories for myself.
1- pair of skinny jeans
2-athletic shorts
3-running capris
4- gray "My Life is my Message" t-shirt
5- solid green t-shirt
6-long gray cotton dress
7-knee length red sundress
8- shoes (3 pair- running shoes, converse, and sandals)
In the final hour... literally 11:50pm last night the final decisions were being made and a last second switch from a fitted yellow shirt to a green t-shirt was made. Only time will tell if this was a wise decision. :)
Challenges: Aside from the obvious challenge of only have 7 articles of clothing for the month, here were they things I found challenging when trying to prepare for this month.
1- I'm nursing Jax still... this means everything that I wear this month has to be something I can nurse a baby in... in public. So no hiking a dress up over my head to nurse a baby. This, not surprisingly, eliminated a majority of my sundresses. This was both frustrating and eye opening for the summer to be right around the bend (where I tend to live in sundresses).
2- I don't fit in a lot of my clothes... like a LOT! I don't feel comfortable without layering up or adding accessories, so this will be a humbling experience for me.
3- It's May... that means it could be 50 degrees or 95 degrees... I did not choose a long sleeve anything or a swimsuit. I'm hoping this does not bite me in the booty.
4- I have a baby that likes to spit up on me... this could potentially be a smelly challenge.
5- I'm doing a workout program with a friend that requires daily workouts... I did not want every thing I choose to be workout clothes, but it appears this will be a lot of daily laundry or smelly Cassie.
6- May is brain tumor awareness month. As someone that lives with a brain tumor, I usually wear some form of gray everyday in May. I had to let this go. I chose a couple of gray things, but a lesson learned from last time was to put something with color in my wardrobe choice... it really does effect my attitude.
Fears: I prayed a lot about this month, and asked council for prayers and opinions. I really, REALLY struggle with self image and knew this would be a hard one for me. Not only with the guidelines set up, but just knowing that I'm going to have to learn lessons in an area of life I know is already a struggle. The council varied on what they thought I should do for my guidelines for the month, lots thinking with the challenges I had I should maybe go with 8 outfits or 18 articles... but ultimately (and unexpectedly) the Lord put on my heart the homeless, people in third world countries, and surprisingly the Amish. I thought if all of these people can live there lives and serve the Lord with 8ish articles of clothing... I can do it for a month. So that is where I landed with that.
Exceptions: I have 2 exceptions for the month. Both of these had varied council opinions, but it came down to people/relationship experiences over the need to stick to rules. 1- Eleni's birthday party. We usually dress according to theme in this house... it's a birthday tradition. If Eleni wants me to wear something Harry Potter for her party, I will. 2- Pedicure... I have a girls weekend with my daughters that has been planned for a while and the girls chose the activity of getting pedicures together. After discussing it with the girls and them saying it was important that we all partake, I've decided as to not let this be a "feel better about my appearance" choice, the girls will get to choose what I have done to my toes... and they are very excited about this (and I am a tad nervous ;) ).
I think that kind of lays it out for the month. If this is an area you struggle with, feel free to jump on the bandwagon in your own way! Let me know what you are doing and how I can be praying for you.
Thanks for joining me on this journey.
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