She came into the room with the excitement of a little girl in an Easter dress. Her dress was pale blue, sleeveless, with a classic cut and a fitted bodice leading into a flouncy skirt that hit above her knees.
"This dress reminds me of the one dress my dad ever bought me. A blue Easter dress," my mom said with a hint of nostalgia. It was a significant statement coming from the memory banks of a painfully sad childhood, a wounded dad who didn't know how to love and a little girl who deeply wished he could find a way.
She glowed, speaking shyly as she smoothed her skirt. We told her she looked beautiful, and she did. The dress was a perfect fit and a perfect find for the upcoming wedding which inspired the search. She said she spent more than she thought she would, but instead of second-guessing herself as she often would, she simply said, "I just fell in love with it." It's a timeless dress, one that could be pulled out for many occasions.
Before leaving the room, she twirled, the top layer of her skirt catching the air and dancing just below her waist. The dress not only recovered one of the few sweet memories of her dad, it seemed to bring the memory full circle, redeeming it, reminding her that she was worthy of this dress and that she need not earn the love of her Father. She's had it all along.
Thank you, precious daughter, for capturing a moment and expressing it so beautifully and poignantly. You have a gift from God that you are expressing with grace, transparency and reflecting His Beauty in His special Creation - You!
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