Doing the math each year to see how long it has been since high school is becoming increasingly more frightful.
I pulled my dress out of my cedar chest and after I did my Saturday house chores. .
I slipped it on .. with my muck boots and went out to the shop.
He said. . . "where you off to?"
I said. . ."to the field to take pictures of me in my grad dress.. . .will you take the pictures?"
He said .. "let me wash my hands"
Off we went to the field. . .I twirled around a bit in the still wet grass. He said .. ."won't you get it dirty?"
I said. . ."who cares?. . . .just click .. . lots"
He did. . I laughed a little self conciously.
It may seem odd to some that I would enjoy such a silly self. . photography session. . .
but I don't care. . . I'll live this life but once. . .
and the older I get the more I realize that God created me with a personality that is unique to me . .and why should I try to be otherwise if it hurts no one?
I had a mini celebration in the field on Saturday.I celebrated life and the blessings that I have.
Is my life perfect? Apparently some of you think that it is.
Occasionally I am reminded that it appears that this blog makes my life appear a constant state of delight.
I am incredibly blessed .. I will agree.
I have challenges in my life .. . just the same as everyone else.
I choose not to publicly air my disappointments and hurts.
I could tell you many stories of how I have hurt others and have made a mess of things. .. but then I would be telling a story that would partly belong to others.
Without Jesus in my life. . I would likely be a very different person.I have no idea what choices I would have made differently had I not made him Lord of my life when I was but a young child.
Though I have often failed and sinned against God and the people I love .. . .
I am forgiven and live a life of joy and hope and peace.
I believe that Jesus came to this earth. . .
lived a life without sin. .
then died on a cross .. for me. .
My sin was forgiven when He died.
He rose .. .and is alive. .
I see the evidence of that every day .. .
in so many things.
The hope I have is because of His grace. . not because I am such a good person.
Oh my friends. .. I wish that every one you could know that peace with God.
If you ever wish you could live a life of joy. . .
and a life where you feel peace that comes from knowing that you are doing what God has called you to do. . . .. and wonder how. .
oh. .
please feel free to email me. . . I'd love to help you.
Trying on the dress again that my mom stitched with such love ...made my heart full.
To have a mom who instilled in me a love of God and family and a heart to be sensitive . . .
is indeed a very precious gift. .
So .. .I thought of her .. .I tried the dress on mom. . .
thank you for making it .. .so carefully. . .as best as you could.
I may have graduated from high school 31 years ago. . .but learning will never be complete for me.
( at least not as long as I have my faculties. . .snicker)
I have learned more this year about myself than in the previous year.
I imagine .. that next year I will learn more things that God still intends to teach me.
It is a journey . . .this life. . .unique for each one of us. . .
designed by God above to draw us close to Him.
If that isn't love . . .what is?
If you tried on your prom/grad dress. . .and have pictures to show. .
please let us know for the next few days. .
we'd love a peek.
Have a little fun. . . . take a twirl in the field.
Have a wonderful day my friends. . .
I'm packing away my memory. . once more.
I have learned more this year about myself than in the previous year.
I imagine .. that next year I will learn more things that God still intends to teach me.
It is a journey . . .this life. . .unique for each one of us. . .
designed by God above to draw us close to Him.
If that isn't love . . .what is?
If you tried on your prom/grad dress. . .and have pictures to show. .
please let us know for the next few days. .
we'd love a peek.
Have a little fun. . . . take a twirl in the field.
Have a wonderful day my friends. . .
I'm packing away my memory. . once more.
Run over to see other grad dresses. . .
Jill who started the fun with pictures of her dress back then. . .
and Jill's post today. . oh the fun. . I love it. . must see this. .
Vicki has her dress pictures of her dress. . under her gown. ..
Judy has a picture of the dress that her sister designed. . so pretty
Jan has a picture of her gown. . and two dresses . . .such a cutie
Nicki has a picture up of her and her friends in honour of her 20th anniversary
Vee has her prairie gingham dress hanging on her country fence . . .so sweet
Kori and her daughter are both posing in the dress she made with help from her twin
Marg posted her 27 year plan . . a story filled with humor, determination and love
All I can add is a resounding "AMEN!" God's love - His grace - all He did for us - it's too amazing for words! I pray that your words here will touch someone's heart and bring them closer to Him.
ReplyDeleteI have joined in, Lovella! My graduation dresses and stories are at my blog!
Your dress is incredible! Your mother put so much love and work into the tiny little details. I'm a bit envious that you can still get into your dress, too. However, even if I could get into mine, I wouldn't - I cannot believe how short my mother allowed my dress to be!
hmmm, pondering, in the truth that lies within all of us, lovingly created by the one that finds us worthy.......inspite of our messiness that sits just beneath the surface of what seems ideal to the outside world....is God our healer, provider and lover of our souls, and you my dear Lovella express His LOVE PEACE GRACE MERCY so beautifully.........striving to extend it to others. thankyou for your sensitive spirit, and thankyou to your mother that nurtured it.........showing it in more ways than we know or can see, but that grad dress and details of every stitch is a stitch of love and pride for her daughter.......it still looks great, i wish that i would have kept mine. so do my daughters, not that they would have worn it. it was a white gingham lace dress very casual....but right for me.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to be able to get into the same dress that you wore a while ago! and how beautifully it is made, your mother must have been a lovley lady.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post Lovella. I'm amazed that you have the dress and fit into that lovely dress 30 some years later! Oh course since your mom did all that hand stitching on it I shouldn't be surprised that you kept it. Love the photos in the field. Thanks for sharing this part of you. I'm glad we have God's grace, we would all be lost without it. Have a wonderful day...
ReplyDeletelovely, lovella! i sewed my daughter's grad dress and it too was lovely...but white. she was beautiful in it. we have known since she was a baby that she would be a beautiful bride in white one day. thank you for sharing your heart. yes, our lives would be so different without the love of Jesus in them. what blessings we have and can be because of that amazingly deep and profound truth! blessings to you this day!
ReplyDeleteA lovely and grace-filled post. Thank you for wonderful words to think about as I start my day.
ReplyDeleteYou look beautiful in your prom dress! Fresh, elegant, young, and carefree! How special that you were able to wear it again and spend time with Terry at a special photo shoot. Who would have guessed 31 years ago that you would be enjoying such a day in the sunshine together.
I love the pattern for your dress. . .and I remember it. I had a very special dress made from the same pattern. . .I believe it's a Vogue design. In fact, I made two dresses from this pattern; one in cotton to wear for everyday (yes, we wore long dresses to school and thought nothing of it!) and one to wear as maid-of-honor for a friend's wedding (it was in a watermark taffeta). I loved those tucks of the 70's! They gave the seamstress some detailed work, but it was well worth the effort.
Great post --- I'm off to see if I can find a picture of me in my grad dress!
LaTeaDah
la tea dah .. I think it was a Belinda Beldin design?. . . does that sound familiar .. yes it was definately vogue
ReplyDeleteThat's the best grad message I've heard...more important than any diploma is the peace that comes from knowing God!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had fun frolicking in the field in your grad dress. It's lovely...and being able to get into it after 31 years is worth celebrating!
Lovella...what a wonderful post...your photos taken in the tall grass...your lovely yellow dress....your amazingly beautiful smile....my oh my.. your personal testimony of salvation...perfect!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post! Your reminder to us that we are each wonderfully and uniquely created is much needed today. Thank you for allowing God to shine through you in the channels He's given you. A blog can make one's life seem perfect, but if it forces one to focus on the positive and what we have to be thankful for, it's a good thing. You are an inspiration to many on how to be a godly wife and how to honor your husband. A good marriage is well worth all the little extra efforts we can put into it.
ReplyDeleteNow how did I get to marriage from graduation? Like you said, whereever we're at, it's a good thing to never stop learning.
Anneliese
(For some reason it didn't want to accept my name. Something must have changed with opening another google account.)
Lovely, just lovely Lovella! (now say that fast..hehe) What a gorgeous dress and I like the 'twirling' in the field!!
ReplyDeleteMy g'daughter is graduating this year and if you don't mind I'd like to share this post with her.. a very good grad message for sure!
This morning in the Daily Bread there was this woman who said that she had looked in the mirror and said to herself' God I thank you that I am myself and can never be anybody else'..and then I read what you said about being uniquely made by God..it all fit in so well!
Beautiful message, and beautiful woman. Would you have believed it if someone had told you you would be more beautiful, in both looks and spirit at age 49 than you were at 18?
ReplyDelete'Tis true. Your words and countenance are a testimony to the power of grace.
I've posted a picture of myself in my grad prom dress as well today. Things have changed for the better for me as well I think...I've grown in spirit and in my womanly charms (slight smirk there...)
Hugs to us back then and more hugs to us now.
Oh, Lovella what a beautifully expressed post of who you are !
ReplyDeleteIt brought tears into my eyes.
You are truly unique in a way that blesses others all around you !!
I can only chuckle at the response I would get if I walked outside in my grad dress and asked my guy to snap some shots as I posed. I'd have to hop onto the bike or something crazy to have him humor me. We'd laugh, he'd shake his head and I would thank him for the thrill. Then he'd ask, why are we doing this? And I'd say just 'cause. Then I'd ask him if he'd like to put on his light blue suit he wore the day he escorted me to grad:) We'd laugh some more. Looking back it was a wonderful sunny evening that he picked me up for grad. Dr. Warren Wiersby was the speaker at my grad. He put forth a challenge to be the best we could be for God. Your post so beautifully spoke to that in your own life today and I hope the challenge for me 31 years ago will continue on in my life as well. Glad you could be you and frolic in the field with Terry:) Kathy
ReplyDeleteOh Lovella...what a wonderful post..more than the grad dress. But what you shared. You are very special. Thanks for sharing with us today.
ReplyDeleteYou are still as lovely as you were on grad day!
Your pictures are wonderful! I'm very impressed that first, you even HAVE the dress and second, you are wearing it! If I had a grad dress, there is no way in the world I would be fitting into now! : ) I wanted to join in the fun though, and posted some pictures from my graduation day (and a couple of others!) on my blog! Hope you like them!
ReplyDeleteJan
Oh, Lovella, what a beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteI loved the way you told him to "Click fast" He did a great job. What wonderful memories and what a legacy.
I think today our hearts hit a common thread in weaving our Tapestry.
Praying that you can continue to be the person, exactly the way God intended.
A beautiful dressed stitched with love - what a wonderful treasure! But even greater, the treasures she gave to your spirit. How wonderful to learn of God's unending love at your mother's knee.
ReplyDeleteAnd BTW, that dress still looks fabulous on you!
Such a beautiful post...such a beautiful dress...such a beautiful soul.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lovella...
I thought about putting my grad dress on for this occasion, but since I only graduated a mere 10 years ago I think it's partly cheating if I don the gown again. Yes, I can still fit my dress and I suppose that's part of the fun...to see who can! But in true spirit of the idea, I instead chose to post a story in full graduation style about my sister's even this past week. It is heart wrenching and I figured telling that story would be a whole lot more interesting to read than me putting on a not-so-old gown that I can still easily fit. Let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your post.....I LOVE the yellow and how your mom made it. What an incredible heirloom you'll take with you for life. And now wonderful that you can fit it! Bless that pedometer. Hee hee.
I also agree that there is nothing quite like the Love of God. I'd be lost without Him.
Your dress is so pretty! How special that your mom made it. I wanted to participate, but things are busy here and I never got a photo of me in the dress scanned, and I'm camera-less for another day. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate what you said about not sharing all the problems of life on blogs all the time. I feel the same way about my blog (will people think I have a perfect life?) But, it would not be appropriate for me to share all the heartaches and struggles, and it just wouldn't be encouraging to me anyway. :)
A beautiful, post full of fun and truth and hope...you still look charming in your dress. And I love that dress too, with the tucks and embroidery and sheer sleeves and the tie in back. It's really very pretty. Am I crazy to wish women wore long dresses every day? They are so graceful looking.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm going over to visit the other grad dress posts.
How special that your mom had a "Peace" rose. I'm sure it meant alot to her.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm really enjoying your new cooking blog! Great recipes and fantastic pictures. I wish y'all would have a luncheon and invite all your readers!!!
:) LaTeaDah
Hi Lovella I followed a link on Vicki's page to your blog (I hope you don't mind). I'm very glad that I did. What lovely joy filled photos and your message of God's love was so inspiring. I recently found a photo from my high school graduation of myself and 3 friends which I will put on my blog later today. It is our 20 year reunion in about 2 months time and I have been reminiscing a bit lately. It is hard to find the similarities between who I was then and who I am now. I hope that people will see the difference and wonder what brought it about giving me an opportunity to share the wonder of having found God about 5 years ago. Your comment about only sharing the good things that are happening in your life on your blog has given me some thinking to do. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures... the grass the twirls! Very fun!
ReplyDeleteI also love your heartfelt post. Keep blogging, I am always inspired!
Beautiful...you and your dress. Happy celebration!
ReplyDeleteKimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted
Thanks for sharing your heart. It was very meaningful. Your dress was stitched with much love and still looks so nice on you. What fun you had!! Martha
ReplyDeleteLovella~ What incredible love you shared with all of us! The love of your mother is so creatively expressed in your beautiful dress; the love of your Life as you twirl in that meadow and the Love of the Savior that will give unending to all.....
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting us share a glimpse of your heart.
You look FANTASTIC in your dress. I love tucks and embroidery, both featured on your dress. Good work your mom did. The photographer does good work too.
ReplyDeleteYou crack me up, from motorcycle mama to this lovely yellow dressed nymph that makes you look like sunlight dancing...
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post in honoring the King!
Another amazing post. I completely agree that God's love is amazing and is the only reason I can get through life sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYou look awesome in your dress. You are an inspiration for still being able to fit into it. So great! My dress and pictures are in storage .. darn! haha It actually would've been fun to pull it out.
Thanks for the trip down many people's memory lanes.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI don't remember how I stumbled upon your blog, but no doubt I was probably blog jumping. I'm glad I did. I have very fond memories of Victoria B.C, where my husband and I honeymooned. We stayed at the Fairholme B&B.
Your blog blesses me.
I did not keep my graduation dress. I don't even remember what it looks like. :o) BTW - We're from CA but now live in Virginia.
~ Monica
A beautiful and encouraging testimony...thank you so much for sharing it.
ReplyDelete