Modest Monday: When Your Closet Euphoria Comes Crashing Down

This modest Monday post is a little different from the norm.  I have decided to talk about my closet. 🙂

Here’s a little background story.  When I was a young girl, I looked to my grandma, aunt and my cousin for fashion advice.  My grandma always looked nice when we went anywhere in her suits and she always had on lipstick.  She used to tell me that if nothing else, a woman needed to apply her lipstick before leaving the house. 🙂 My Aunt also always looked really nice!  She always had on make-up and had her hair fixed.  She is a cosmetologist who finished school at 17 and has worked in the field ever since!  I spent a lot of time at my aunt’s house because she lived next door.  I would get my nails done, hair done, and play in her make-up.  I felt like a movie star!  Her daughter (my cousin) followed her grandma and mom’s footsteps and has always had her hair fixed nice, make-up on when leaving, and beautiful clothes!  She had the first walk-in closet I had ever been in and filled it with beautiful clothes!  I wanted to be her when I grew up! LOL!  I used to spend time with my cousin just going through her clothes.  When she went shopping for new clothes, she would pass her old ones to me.  It was like we both went shopping!

Years ago, I lost a lot of weight.  Then, after having so many babies, I gained it all back, plus some.  I was pretty heavy and couldn’t fit into any of the clothes I owned.

 

(This was right after I started to shed the pounds. You can see my clothes starting to get big.)

After moving several times because of military reassignments, Clay finally got tired of moving trunks of clothes I could no longer wear.  He wasn’t mean about it nor did he ever say anything about my weight.  He was just tired of moving things that no longer saw the light of day.  Clay is a minimalist by nature.  If it doesn’t get used, it needs tossed.

When he made his case and asked me to get rid of the unused clothing, my response was, “No.”  You know how we women are, we think we will lose the weight someday!  So to make me feel better he told me that if I lost the weight, he would buy me a whole new wardrobe.  LOL!  He told me years later that he didn’t think I would lose the weight and thought he had a sure bet.

Well if you read my weight loss posts HERE and HERE, you know I did finally drop those pounds!  I was so excited when the clothes I was wearing would no longer fit.  I did the only thing I could.  I approached my husband, showed him how my clothing was too big, and he hung his head down low and gave me the credit card.  I went shopping. 🙂

When I met my goal weight, we were living in Washington.  I probably had the smallest closet since we had been married and I kept inching my clothes over a little more to his side.  Clay ended up putting a lot of his clothes in the garage.  HE LOVES ME! LOL

So as I was looking at houses to buy, I focused on the layout, the kitchen, and the closet.  LOL!  As long as the kitchen wasn’t tiny and I had a walk-in closet like my cousin’s, I marked the house down as a favorite.  Yeah, I know we are not to covet what our neighbor has.  I didn’t, not really.  I was happy for her but I did always want in my dream home something similar.  So I waited many years to finally get it.

I think I now have closet euphoria!  I am slowing down now on adding more clothes to my closet unless I REALLY like the clothing and have a need.  Also, I don’t buy any clothing unless I can get a fantastic deal.  I can’t tell you how many items I bought for less than $10.  So how did I build my closet back up?

• SALES SALES SALES
• Goodwill- I LOVE shopping at Goodwill!!!
• Outlet stores
• Zulily– I find many good prices there!
• StitchFix– I will continue in this program. I love the surprise of what I get sent each month.
• Blogging- I admit that I am blessed with great clothing and products to review.  These reviews have afforded me the opportunities to be able to bring you these posts each week.
• THIS post shares other places I get modest clothing and HERE on setting a budget.

God is good and has provided incredibly!  Where do you like to get clothes?

In Christ,

Laura

Update: After I wrote this post the unbelievable happened.  Now, I am not sure if God is telling me that more support should have been used to begin with in my closet, if I have too many clothes, or if He was trying to ensure I remain humble—which we can’t be modest and not be humble right?

Friends, my closet crashed…literally!  A couple nights ago, we were sitting in the living room and heard a crash.  Clay ran up and checked the kids and then checked around the house.  He could find where the noise came from and shrugged it off as a neighbor making some noise.  When I went into my closet the next morning, I discovered the source of the noise we heard.  My beautiful clothes had came tumbling down.  So now my clothes lay in piles in our bedroom floor while Clay repairs the walls.  Then he will rehang the shelving and put EXTRA support into the studs.

This is a good reminder of us as Christians.  God helps us repair the holes and the cracks.  He fills what has been ripped open.  Then He offers us extra support so we can stand strong against the heaviest of loads.  I admit when I saw it I wanted to cry.  I had just got our bedroom fixed the way I wanted right before Clay came back.  Yet, that is so much like life, isn’t it?  Sometimes we want things just the way we want them instead of seeking proper support.

This week, reflect on my closet story and think about how you want to live your life.  Sometimes our lives are like my closet.  They look nice and everything is organized just the way you want it.  Then suddenly everything comes crashing down because we didn’t have the proper support.  God is our only source for proper support.  Looking to Him daily through Bible study, prayer, devotions, and service are what will give us a foundation that will not come crashing down.  Don’t just settle for what looks good, pursue that which cannot be broken.

Have a blessed week in the Lord!

In Christ,

Laura