The Hats of My Life ~ A Random Journal Day Experience

Today is "Random Journal Day" for those of us who like to peruse our old journals and files and bring something out from the past to share with you.  Today I have found something that I not only wrote, but presented to a women's group at one of our churches about twenty one years ago.  So if things seems a little out of date, that's because it was written for ladies who still had not crossed over into the 21st Century! Wow! Can I even be this old today???  Anyway, I hope that you will enjoy this little "presentation" from the annals of time.  And then go over to "Enthusiastically Dawn" Random Journal Day to see what others are writing these days!

THE HATS OF MY LIFE

June 7, 1993

      Today I am wearing my favorite hat! 

Me, in my "favorite hat",
dressed as an "Old Fashioned
Girl", right after finding this
hat on the shopping trip with my
mother, 1989.

You may think it a bit unusual or even funny looking.  And you're probably right!  But I like this hat.  It makes me feel like a grand lady from a "kinder, gentler" time...this hat was purchased in a quaint, dusty, cluttered, unique antique's store in Ohio. I happened to be browsing through this "museum" to the days gone by with my parents, who were visiting me from Florida.  One of our favorite things to do when we get together is go jaunting around the countryside in search of out of the way country curiosity shops, or antique stores, or anything that looks interesting and unusual.  We rarely spend much money...just browse and dream of those good old days when people actually knew what all those things were and what to do with them!  I dug up this particular hat out of an old dusty treasure chest full of miscellaneous accessories like silk scarves, faded gloves, and other interesting hats.  I tried it on just for the fun of it...and my mother said it was just perfect for me...so I bought it.  I believe it cost me a whole $2.00!  Not a bad bargain, wouldn't you agree?

I'd like to talk to you today about the "HATS OF MY LIFE"!  No, I really don't have a closet full of these funny looking hats...but there have been many hats in my life that are important to me.

CIRCLET OF FLOWERS:

When I was a child, my sister and I used to weave hats of circlets of flowers for our hair.  You know, things like dandelions, apple blossoms, forsythia, and other spring blossoms. Of course, they didn't last long with all of the handling of their tender blooms, and they were soon discarded on the scrap heap of our childish playthings. But you know, "when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a woman, I put away childish things." (I Cor. 13:11). (or did I?)

GRADUATION CAP: 

The day finally came when I was pronounced to be competent to finish my schooling...I was presented with a diploma, and my tassle was turned to the other side to signify to the world that I was ready to join the ranks of the educated people of the world...full of wisdom and ready to set out and conquer. God's Word says in James 3:13-18 that she who is "wise and understanding among us should show it by good conduct......and where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing will be there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." 

By God's standards, I still had a long way to go! 

BRIDAL VEIL:  Soon the day came along that I was able to put on this bridal veil! What a glorious day that was in my life...and with the wearing of this hat came many other hats! I began first of all to learn what it means in God's Word when it says in I Corinthians 11:3:

            "But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God."... also in verses 7-12: "woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man, nor was man created for the woman, but the woman for the man...for this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.  Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as the woman was from the man, even so the man also is through the woman; but all things are from God."  

And in Ephesians 5:22-33 it teaches us that we are to:
"submit to our own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the Body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything......etc.

That passage ends up by saying in verse 33: "let the wife see that she respects her husband."

      Now, that was (and is!) a hard lesson to learn!  Amen??  Especially in this day and age when the "world" tells us that we ought to get out there and fight like a man for our rights and all the "privileges" that go along with that!!  That's why today so many women are wearing so many different hats...HARD HATS, POLICE HATS, SOLDIER HATS,  ETC.  Not that I think it is wrong for women to work outside of the home...but I believe we need to examine our motives when we do go to work.  We all have to work at some time or another...and there are many noble professions for women today.  We do have some rights and privileges that our grandmother's couldn't have that are beneficial.  But at the same time, we need to remember where our true calling is in life and keep that as a priority.  The order of progression ideally should be in this way:

   1.   I am a child of God first, and my relationship with God should be my top priority in life.

         2.  I am a wife and a helpmate to my husband next, and that relationship needs to remain in that position always.

         3.  I am a mother of my children next...and all the needs of the world should not keep me from meeting my priorities in childrearing and nurturing.

        4. Then I am a woman of the church next...in my case, the pastor's wife...and according to whom you are talking to, the job description can be as long as anyone's imagination will allow.  This is where careful prioritizing of time and energies must be carried out.  Too many pastor's wives are suffering from "burn-out" and stress today.  They must keep their own channel to God uncluttered so that they can be available to meet the needs of their husbands when they get overloaded.

      Now all of the above mentioned positions involve wearing many other hats. As a wife, we many times wear the hat of secretary, maid, cook, co-pilot, bookkeeper, office manager, encourager, exhorter, of course lover, and confidant.  I'm sure some of you could add to this list.

      Then as a mother, the list of new hats grows even longer:  nurse, teacher, protector, advocate, den-mother, room-mother, seamstress, room designer, taxi cab driver, secretary, maid, cook, disciplinarian, encourager, counselor....

      As a woman of the church, we add many more hats to the list...musician, singer, teacher, flower arranger, pray-er, leader, discipler, exhorter, evangelist, puppeteer, writer, deaconess, hostess, cook, dishwasher, social worker.

TITUS WOMAN (Old black hat)  

      When I went to one of our former churches as the Pastor's wife, I was asked if I would like to become the "Titus Woman" for our MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) program. Then when I came to our current church, I was asked to lead our "Woman to Woman" program, based on this same "Titus  Woman." Before I could commit myself to being this "Titus Woman", I had to find out just what a "Titus Woman" was supposed to be.  So I looked, where else? In the book of Titus and there I found her in Chapter 2, verses 3-5.  This is what it says:  "The OLDER WOMEN likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."

      OLDER WOMAN???, ME????   Well, I guess just because I no longer have any "preschoolers", I am now considered an "older woman".  I mean, just because I've been married almost 24 years, (at the time of this writing) have three sons aged 21&1/2, 20, and 16,  and one of which is getting married two months from today - (praise the Lord to a wonderful Christian girl whom I am very pleased and proud to call my daughter-in-love (law) - does that qualify me as an "older woman?"  Just because I happened to turn 4-0 not too many years

Me, at the time of this writing in 1993
(trying NOT to look like an "Older Woman")

ago...Gee whiz, do they have to rub it in?  But I had to come to terms with the fact that, yes, I am getting older (and hopefully better), and that our younger women do need "role models" for their lives.  I'm not too sure I'd want any young woman to model her life after mine, but there is always that risk when you become a leader in any circle.  Our young women today are hungry for guidance, for encouragement, and for someone to be a "mother figure" to them.  Many of us have moved away from our own natural mothers in the search for happiness and fulfillment in careers, or have followed our husbands in their search far away from home. Our communities have become so diverse in multi-cultural backgrounds  that it is sometimes difficult to get too close to anyone.  In many churches today, our "older women" are working, helping to put the kids through college, etc. and there just aren't too many motherly types available to lead the way. 

      Stepping into those "mature years" can be the opportunity for many to serve the Lord in several different ways that weren't possible while they were raising their own children.  To be a "grandmother" to some family who is displaced from their own family can be very rewarding for both the giver and the recipient. Or to be a "mother" to a young bride or career girl away from home and family who just needs someone to talk to can bring such blessings to both.

     But for many of us caught in the daily grind of living in this almost 21st century, the list of hats we wear could be exhausting.  As women today who all wear too many hats, we need a shield and defender, and a covering that shelters us from many storms of life.  Jesus wishes to provide that covering for us. 

In Isaiah 61:10, the prophet Isaiah says" "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." 

       Psalm 91 tells us:  "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.  He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge."  His truth shall be your shield and buckler.  You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday...A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.  Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. 

      Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your habitation, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.  They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.    You shall tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 

      Because he has set his love upon ME, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My Name.  He shall call upon ME, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.  With LONG LIFE I WILL SATISFY HIM, AND SHOW HIM MY SALVATION."

CROWN: 

      I Corinthians 9:24-25 says, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?  Run in such a way that you may obtain it.  And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.  Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown." 

      II Timothy 4:8 says: "Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing." 

      James 1:12 says:  "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

      Yes, we will wear many different kinds of hats, or coverings in our lifetime. And perhaps in the life to come as well, but the most important covering is the covering of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ.  When He gave His life freely on the cross, the Blood He shed was meant as a 'covering' for our sins.

On the day that Jesus died, He, too, had to wear a kind of hat:

a CROWN OF THORNS,

that was placed upon His head by Pilate's soldiers. The soldiers mocked Him, beat Him, and spat upon Him...they said, "Hail! King of the Jews!"Then they led Him to a cross and nailed Him there, and left Him there to die.  And Jesus Did die on that cross,  and He was buried in the tomb, but we can praise God today that  He didn't stay in that tomb.  In three days He came forth from the grave ALIVE!  He then ascended to His Father in Heaven after 40 days of further ministry to His disciples...and He said to them and to us:

      "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  John 14:1-4 

      In verse 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"   in verse 6 Jesus replied:

      "I am the Way, the Truth, and The Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."

      Revelation 4:1,8-11:  After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.  And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.:"

8. And the four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within.  And they do not rest day or night saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"....10: the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

11. 'You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."

      Because of that Crown of Thorns that Jesus wore, we will find ourselves unworthy to wear the crowns that He gives to us. We will one day stand before our glorious King, the Spotless Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world, and we too, will cast our crowns at His feet and bow down and worship.

      I hope that everyone here will be among that thankful multitude in heaven someday. 

Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that "God has highly exalted Him and has given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

      Romans 14:10 says that "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ...and verse 12 says "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God".  

       Hebrews 5:12-13 says "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is NO Creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."

      But I don't want to leave you there trembling in your boots!  Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus is our "great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, so let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come BOLDLY to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

      Jesus is our advocate before the Father. He pleads our case.  He has paid the price for our sins already.  All we have to do is repent of those sins, accept His forgiveness, and believe that He will cover us with His blood.  He remembers our sins no more.  They are washed whiter than snow. 

      Do you know this Jesus?  Wouldn't you love to know that your sins are covered? This covering or hat that He offers is free....all you have to do is receive it.  Won't you do that today?