Dress For Success

Most of us begin our day at a disadvantage—ill-prepared for success. Take me, for example, on Easter Sunday, 1964. While I might have looked like a cover girl for Easter chic as I skipped down the church aisle to our family pew, I was not dressed appropriately for what was to come.

Let me ask you: Have you ever tried to win an Easter egg hunt while running in a brand new pair of patent leather shoes? I hope not. I’m here to tell you first hand that your feet will fly out from under you faster than a jackrabbit at a turkey shoot; traction is not their value proposition.

Picking up those lame plastic eggs with white cotton gloves is impossible—and worse I had to pass on all the dyed ones for fear they would stain my beautifully accessorized digits. I also came to realize that carrying a handbag while toting an Easter basket is burdensome but there was no way on earth I was setting my shiny white pocketbook down on the wet grass!

My oh-so stylish bonnet (intended to shade my freshly Toni-permed curls from the sun) kept flying off; instead of chasing down eggs, I was running down my headpiece. And lastly, most importantly, how does a young lady modestly bend over to pick up an egg in a dress? The answer: You. Don’t.

And thus, I left the gathering in tears with only three eggs in my basket. The game was stacked against me. I wasn’t dressed to win.

Like my egg hunt debacle, we’re often ill-prepared, too, because life has dressed us for disaster. We open our eyes to face another day of challenges unresolved; burdens yet to be lifted; heartbreaks still not mended; and, the reality that an illness might not be healed. We crawl out of bed clothed in despair. I know because I’ve been there. The game of life was stacked against me, too, until I went for a wardrobe change — before I hit the shower.

We can get ahead of our fashion fiasco by adorning our minds with this promise: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Then, accessorizing our hearts by thankfully meditating: This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Living abundantly = a mind and heart, dressed divinely.

What are you wearing, today?