I know this topic isn’t really spiritual or all that holy, but I thought it might be pretty relevant to church planting wives. If your church plant is anything like ours, jeans are the staple of your Sunday morning wardrobe. (I used to have church/career clothes, but since church planting and my 4th child, those duds are either too tight or not really in style anymore.)

Hence this blog about jeans. A few weeks ago I was facing a huge dilemma. I had 3 pairs of jeans that I just wore over and over. I had my “skinny” jeans, from Buckle, that I really can only wear a few days each month, but they sure are cute. Then I had a pair of “dark denim” jeans that were a little more dressy and had a mid-rise waist, so they helped prevent the muffin top roll that is left over from pregnancies (see 4 kiddos above). They were a couple of years old, but these were my favorite. Finally, I had a pair of long and lean jeans from Gap that were about 6 years old. They were a little stretched out and the cuffs are tattered and ratty, but they are real comfy.

It happened one Wednesday, when I squatted down in the dark denim jeans and the crotch ripped out! The seam had come apart, about an inch long, a month ago, and I had repaired them with a bonding strip. I knew then I needed to make a shopping trip, but I kept putting it off… till I lost a few more pounds. There was no repairing this though.  Both sides of the center seam were ripped, exactly where my right and left inner thighs made amicable communication millions of times each day, “S’cuse me, pardon me, s’cuse me, pardon me,” as they brushed against each other with every step I took.

This turn of events meant I had to go shopping, at once! If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have anything to wear to church on Sunday since it was far too cold to wear a skirt without pantyhose. I also was going out of town that weekend and had to have SOMETHING decent to wear.  So thus began the torturous adventure of jean shopping, almost, but not quite at loathsome as bathing suit shopping.

I tried my staple, The Gap, but something had happened to me or to them in the years since my last denim purchase and they did not fit like I remembered.  None of the styles fit! I tried my other favorite store, Ann Taylor Loft, to no avail.  I tried on and tried on everywhere with no luck.  Finally, on my way to another store, between prayers of desperation and pleas with my Jehovah Jira (my provider), I spotted a Stein Mart.

I thought, why not? What could it hurt to look there? I must have tried on 20 or 30 pairs of jeans there. But unbelievably, I found 3 or 4 pairs that actually fit! Not only did they just fit, but they were mid-rise (tucked in the muffin top), had cute stitching on the pockets, some whiskering and all in a dark wash that supposedly makes you look leaner. I am slightly embarrassed to say it, but I fell in worship and praised God quietly there in that dressing room. He really did care to clothe me like the lilies of the field! These jeans were name brand, a size smaller than I normally wear (who cares if it is vanity sizing!) and a fraction of the normal designer price tag.

What more could I ask? I bought two pair and am considering returning to get a third style for summer. I know, I know, maybe having the perfect pair of jeans is a little vain.  But I have to be able to set up church each Sunday in them, teach elementary in them and then appear as the pastor’s wife in second service in them without embarrassing anyone. That shopping day, God really came through and blessed me with more options in jeans than I ever thought I would have. My outer thighs were a little chafed from pulling on so many pairs of jeans, but other than that, it was practically a pain free process.

I just thank God for caring about even the silliest, vainest things that his children worry over. And I am reminded again that if He will clothe the lilies of the valley in such beauty, how much more will He care for me or you?

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