Shopping prayer

Audrey and I headed to Target yesterday afternoon (ended up going after all, Holly!) on a mission: To find a cute holiday outfit for her. One she loved, one I liked, one that would be appropriate for some holiday things.

Sounds impossible, right?

But we're going to hear The Messiah at Village Seven Presbyterian Church (the church I grew up in) in Colorado Springs on Sunday with my parents. And Mom is taking us all out for a girls' lunch at the Broadmoor the week after Christmas.

Holiday things for which jeans and a hoodie are most definitely not appropriate. So an outfit is a NECESSITY. (Things in capital letters automatically make it into the budget. Like GROCERIES. And HEAT. And a HOLIDAY OUTFIT FOR AUDREY.)

My sweet Audrey is a jeans and hoodie and Uggs girl at heart. Unless it's a sweats and hoodie and Uggs day. Which is usually fine. With school at home and attending a super casual church, she doesn't really need dressy clothes, and doesn't really have anywhere to wear them if she did have any.

Off to Target we went, praying all the way. Because--if you have an almost-teenage daughter yourself--you know that mother-daughter shopping has the potential to be either WONDERFUL or HORRIBLE. One or the other. There is no in between.

So we prayed. Earnestly. For a good outfit that she would feel great in, that would be her. (No Santa dresses for her.) For fun and laughter and joy in looking and trying on. For love to prevail.

We loaded up the cart with anything and everything that caught our eye--some things she liked that I didn't, some things I liked that she didn't, some things that we both agreed on. To try it all and see.

An hour and a half later, we found something we are both so excited about. Something that looks great on her. That she feels great in. That's versatile. And is just so darn cute. And warm. (Really, why so many sleeveless holiday clothes? Yes, they are cute, but winter is typically COLD!)

I'll post pictures when she debuts the whole thing.

(And while I'm asking questions, why the six item limit in the dressing room? To find a good outfit, you need to mix and match and put all kinds of things together. Shoes alone ended up being two of our items. In and out and back and forth to the cart, swapping out items for different ones is part of why it took so long to try everything on.)

We prayed after our trip to Target too. Because while the cute outfit is wonderful, the fact that we had a ball together feels pretty miraculous. THANK YOU, LORD!

(And for those of you following me on Twitter, I bought a slip. Which means that not only will my tights stop sticking to my skirt, I can wear a clingy dress that was already hanging in my closet on Sunday that just needed some, well, foundation underneath.)

Comments

[Yvette]

Maddie is a hoodie/jean girl too. We don't have any clothes that would be appropriate for holiday happenings. I am so glad you had a wonderful experience, and I agree about the 6 garment limit. Seriously....

[Anuja]

Yey! Unsuccessful shopping trips are such a bore, so I'm glad that yours was successful in more ways than one! Isn't God so kind that He even cares about shopping and outfits? I love Him for that!

[angela]

Success!

[Sharon]

It drives me crazy when stores have a limit on how many items you can try on in the dressing room. I'm usually too impatient to go in more than once, which means they most likely lose out on a sale from me as it's not often that I find the item I love on the first go round. I usually go to stores that don't monitor their dressing rooms, like Kohls and J.C. Penney's.

[Marla Taviano]

What a blessing, friend!! And it makes me super-thankful that we don't have any fancy holiday plans. If we do in the future, I'm going to enlist your prayers and possibly beg you for some hand-me-downs from Miss Audrey. :) Can't wait to see her in her new clothes!

[Joanne Heim]

Re: [The Simple Wife] Marla Taviano submitted a comment to Shopping prayer

Sweet Marla,

It is so fun to get dressed uponce you figure out what youre going to wear!

Love you!

Joanne