Offended turned Correction………..Crees Blog Entry

I remember when I first started going to my Church, Second Ebenezer. I would sit in the back because I was new and didn’t want to be seen or heard. I never imagined myself sitting in the front rows, to me it seemed as if you were there longer…. that was YOUR spot. At my Church you could “come as you are” and that was one of the main reasons for me joining at that time in my life. I didn’t have a wide selection of dress clothes, and the little I had, I could mix them up with dress pants, and jeans.

 

As time went on I became comfortable, and started sitting in the first 5 rows every Sunday. One day I wore a dressy skort. It was my favorite outfit. But one of the older ladies of the church came over to me and placed a lap scarf over my legs with a smile, and walked away. I WAS SO OFFENDED. Not to mention EMBARRASSED. In order for her to come over to place the scarf over MY leg, SHE must have felt that my skort was too short. Boy was I on fire in that service.

After service, I never mentioned it, I just went home. But it stayed on my mind. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she did that. I knew that if I called and told several of my friends what had happened, they would tell me that she was out of order, that she was wrong, that I shouldn’t go back there again, that I should have confronted her about it. But I’m not the type of person who will call my Sisters or Friends and say… “Let me tell you what this lady did to me “. I go to God… all the time. Because what I found out in doing that is…..friends will tell me what seem right to THEM. Maybe a few of them would ask to see the skort, and say…. yeah maybe that is too short. We tend to ask people just to hear “their opinion” when in reality, our mind is already made it that we were “offended”. There’s nothing else to be said, nothing to be discussed. I felt offended…. and that’s final.

 

It stayed on my MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND…. yes it did. Every time I went to Church and saw that woman… it was on my mind. I never got an answer from God at that time when I felt that way. But he surely reminded me of it when it was my time to “get it”. As time went on ( been there for 20 years now) I started to build my wardrobe. For some reason I didn’t want to wear jeans any more. My mentality had changed in the way I dressed. I was very conscience of the way this woman of God carried herself. I cared about the way I dressed in the house of the Lord. I knew better, and I did better. I would see women coming in church with their cleavage showing, with short dresses and skirts. And I remember thinking…. wow.. people come to the house of the Lord…. any old kinda way. THEN, God bought back to MY remembrance, of when I was wearing my short skort…. I didn’t think it was too short. But as you leave the MILK… and start eating solid food… you see things totally different than you did before. God had answered my question. I had every reason to be offended… when I didn’t know any better. When I knew better, and dressed better, and respected the way I felt about myself….. I understood. That lady wasn’t trying to hurt my feelings or offend me ….. she helped me. I would never in my life wear that skort again. Never ever. It was so short. I wouldn’t even wear it outside. I’m not a person who care if someone likes my shoes or boots. My clothes or anything that I wear. BUT I DO CARE if someone says… your dress, skirt or skort is too short. As a woman of God.. that would be something , that I TAKE CARE OF ON THE SPOT … EVEN IF I FELT DIFFERENTLY. I don’t want men staring at me, or coming on to me because of the way I dress. I don’t want my breast hanging out, or cleavage showing. I don’t want my behind showing, and I want to be covered up.

 

What I learned in this Life Lesson that I’ll never forget is that… there are some things in the house of the Lord that YOU JUST DONT DO when you know better. IF……. you know better. Ask God to show you if you’re wrong about being “offended”. I was use to dressing the way ” I wanted” and felt that I was in the house of the Lord. I came to hear the word not to be judged. No one had any BUSINESS to correct the way I dressed.

 

Seasoned Christians know better. Babes in Christ….. will have to learn.

New Living Translation 1 Corinthians 3:2
I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready,

*photo with friends is the skort I wore to Church*
*photo above is how I looked at the lady when she places the scarf over my legs*