Addressing the issue {Clothed in Dignity}
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Last week on January 11, it was "Wear Blue Day," a day in which wearing blue shows support for survivors of the life.
In our culture, color is powerful. Style is meaningful. Pink means breast cancer awareness and support. Lime green supports Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Orange brings awareness for leukemia. Clothing is also powerful. The clothing we wear shows what we find important and how we feel. If we wear a Seahawks jersey, it shows our allegiance to the home team. When a child wears a shirt from camp or school, we learn about something they attended or like.
In my high school, and maybe yours, the sports teams always dressed up on game days. Something nice, something that set them apart. My high school was small so I already knew who played in which sports, but I imagine in a huge high school it helped identify the team. Dressing up for game day has many benefits. It shows respect for one's team or school, and asks those with whom the athlete interact to treat them with respect and reverence. It's about being part of something bigger.
I have been wearing a dress every day in 2019, 16 days so far! Nearly every morning when I come downstairs my youngest daughter, Della, says, "You look nice Mommy!" It's so sweet. After a few days she caught on and, with a furrowed brow, asked, "Why are you wearing a dress again?" In a way she could grasp, I shared about Clothed in Dignity and that for the whole year I'd wear a dress for the ladies at Peoria Home. She knows some of the ladies we've met through Peoria Home. She overhears me talking about some of these issues.
Even a child notices one's clothes, and intuitively knows, "Something's up!"
I am wearing a dress every day for a year because it is pressing me to get out of my comfort zone, to show my support for the abolition of human trafficking and prostitution, and support for those who make the brave decision to leave what they have known and step into a new life of sobriety, safety, and healing.
What do you value? How do the clothes or colors you wear show what you believe to be important?
(1) https://thetab.com/us/olemiss/2016/04/14/dress-up-game-day-10