A Gift that Made Me Smile

This past Sunday was beautiful. The weather was beautiful, and something that happened to me was beautiful, too. A lady at my church gave me a gift, and that gift was a variety of lovely headcoverings!

I always wear a headcovering when I go to church. Sometimes it is a triangular scarf tied in a knot underneath my hair at the nape of my neck; sometimes it is an infinity scarf; and sometimes it is a regular rectangular scarf draped loosely over my head and shoulders. Here is what I wore to church this past Sunday: a regular scarf with the ends tucked into my poncho.

One of the comments I got from a fellow church-goer was, “You look like the virgin Mary,” which I just laughed off (politely). I knew it was given innocently and in good humor, so I accepted the “compliment” graciously.

Another lady at church said that my covering was beautiful. My heart just melted at that! How lovely to hear another woman say that about my covering, even if she herself doesn’t wear one.

And then I got that special present I told you about. A third person gave me a gift bag full of scarves she had collected for me. How considerate!

Here they are:

#1 My favorite one! The material is soft viscose. It doesn’t slide off easily, and it isn’t bulky.

#2 My next-to-favorite one! So colorful and vintage. When folded in half it is a bit bulky, so I think I will do what I have done with other scarves of mine: I will cut it in half and hem the edges.

#3 Beautiful Pashmina wrap. A little thick, but I think it will work well for cold mornings.

#4 This one will be perfect for warm weather. Since it is so thin and slides off easily, I think I will put a clip at the top to hold it in place, and drape the rest around my head and shoulders like I usually do with rectangular scarves. I think that will look elegant and soft.

#5 I already have this one, but in a different color. Can you see the one I am wearing in the picture above? Well, this is the same kind. I love it!

What kindness those people showed to me! I am so thankful!

This gives me encouragement that I am being a gracious and friendly enough person to where they are not intimidated or threatened or irritated by me. I think that our attitude goes a long way toward influencing people to accept the covering. They might not accept it themselves–yet–but this is a nice stepping stone to what I hope will later turn into more investigation on their part.

It is so easy to focus on the hardness of being the only one who covers! It is so easy to have a pity party and say, “Boo hoo, look at poor me, I’m all alone and nobody cares.” And I’ve done that–plenty of times. But is that what God wants for us? I don’t think it is.

I think it is our smiling, radiant, kind disposition that can draw people toward this beautiful symbol and make them want to use a headcovering, too. If we are grumpy and have a “persecution complex,” thinking everybody secretly dislikes us, nobody will be drawn to the truth.

Are there some people who dislike us? In a world this size, there most likely are. However, let us shine like lights on a hill. Most people gravitate toward the light because of its warmth and glow. Let us be like that. We don’t always need to give people a lesson in the reasons for headcovering, though at times that might certainly be helpful. Most of the time, though, we simply need to be ourselves, and be happy.

…that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by [their] conduct…when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adornment be merely outward–arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel–rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

1 Peter 3:1-4