the closet clause ~

For a few years now we've been dealing w/a lack of appreciation for all the good gifts that God bestows on us. One of the largest areas seems to be about clothing. We purchase lots of pretty items that willingly go into Os closet and then seem to disappear for some reason. Oh, they may be worn once or twice, but for the most part she has an ensemble that she prefers and wears it over & over again. So yesterday morning was another semi battle about how there are so many pieces of clothing just hanging in her closet collecting dust because when I asked her to wear her new jacket she told me that "it's ridiculous to do that since I'll only wear it 5 minutes to walk into the building". This from the same girl that begged for that jacket and assured me that she'd wear it.

So of course I was frustrated when I dropped her at school and just went to the Lord about "what to do." And I pray that what I heard was from Him, I sat in His presence quietly for some time, and it's the only message that I heard so.......

I emptied her closet of everything that she doesn't wear except for her ensemble. So basically it is down to 5-6 t-shirts and some jeans and sweats. I left her fancy dresses in there because I know that she can't wear them daily, so they were unaffected. And I piled her clothes in my room. I prayed the rest of the day about how to handle this, how to tell her that I had done this, and when to tell her.

When we got home, she had her swing choir dress, how ironic, right? But maybe it was planned that way? I don't know. So she was excited about having her dress for swing choir and then I open her closet door and show her it's remains. She was angry instantly. But then I explained to her that this is pretty much all she wears anyway, so what was the problem? As a matter of fact, what she was wearing yesterday was also part of her ensemble. An old Aeropastale hoodie from the 6th grade that's all ripped up and a pair of jeans. So it sort of helped prove my point.

I explained to her that this would be her closet for the next 2 weeks and that her attitude would determine how much of it she would get back. I explained that she didn't have a grateful heart about all that God blesses her with, and that if she did, she wouldn't take it for granted. Of course she was angry and upset during this discourse, but I really believe that this is what God conveyed to me.

I had talked w/Brian about this beforehand to ask him his thoughts and get his approval and ask for his backing on this, which he gave. So when he came home, he knew what was happening and why. We both talked w/her for awhile about things and tried to explain things in a practical way. For example ~ I grabbed 2 coats out of our front closet and explained to her that the total for the coats was 150.00 w/out accessories that accompany them, and that I have to work 6 hours in order to pay for them. And that was just for those 2 coats that she won't wear *because one is too heavy and the other itches* and didn't include the enormous pile of clothes in our bedroom.

This morning when she dressed, she had a couple of comments that were sort of under her breath, but I just ignored it and went on w/my devotion time as usual. Before she went to leave, I let her know that it was 41 degrees, and she was probably going to be cold unless she wore a coat, and she informed me that she didn't have a jacket to wear. I asked her what her choice would be and she said that she wanted to wear one that was in my room *that I just purchased about a month ago for her, and she had assured me she would wear it* so I escorted her to my store and pulled out a nice new jacket for her to wear. She seemed appreciative.

Now of course if she walks out of the building w/out her jacket and wearing some kids hoodie today, then I'm going to have a different feeling than I do right now. But I am praying that I'm getting the message across here. Sure wish there were guarantees w/parenting, but there aren't. And it's definitely not for wimps. AGH!!

So wish me luck on my experiment and pray w/me that O will recognize how blessed she is and not take things for granted.