Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: RASH (04/12/18)
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TITLE: The Pearl-Embroidered Wedding Dress | Previous Challenge Entry
By LeslieJean Anderson
04/19/18 -
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But I did not know to seek God’s favor at that point in my life. I wasn’t an atheist, and I had even found a pastor to marry us. But I was a child of the 60’s – suspicious of meaningless old traditions. God and religion was one of those meaningless traditions, according to all my college professors.
So it never occurred to me to pray to God about my upcoming marriage to a handsome pilot with a good future. Or even to pray about the uncomfortable fact that my wedding day was in a few weeks, and I had a case of poison ivy bad enough to send me for medical help.
And it was spreading – to my face.
Poison ivy cannot be concealed with makeup, so I did raise the possibility of postponing the wedding for two more weeks. It was an informal home wedding after all, and I knew I needed more time to heal. I cringed at the thought of being wed when I should have been in bed, hiding my swollen and blistered face. But the invitations had already gone out and I was living under my future mother-in-law’s roof.
The entire situation was bizarre. Looking back now, I wince at my odd position, because I really should have been at my own house with my own mother planning my wedding and tending to my needs. But in the 60’s we felt free to “do our own thing” and my own parents were overseas at the time. My fiancee's family seemed willing to stand in for them, and so I let them. It was all peace and love in those days.
I did begin to miss my own parents terribly as the wedding approached, but the logistics and expense of planning a proper wedding for me was overwhelming. It also would have taken another year, and I was unwilling to wait. So, I put on a brave front and continued to get ready for the big day in spite of my blistering skin.
But what was I supposed to do for a wedding dress? I didn’t think the stores would even let me try one on with my skin condition. It looked like I would be married in my skirt and blouse.
As I envisioned my pathetic wedding day, my brave front began to collapse. I was so scared and miserable, I finally began to pray. Not that I thought anything would happen, but I knew I needed help, so I prayed with the tiny bit of faith I still held in my heart.
That evening, I got a phone call from the airport. The customs office wanted me to pick up a special overseas shipment that turned out to be an exquisite pearl-embroidered wedding dress from my mother! I could see it would fit perfectly and I held it up, squealing with joy. It had arrived just in the nick of time!
But then the officials informed me that I would have to pay $200 in customs fees. In a flash my joy crumbled into despair. I told them I didn’t have $200. As I began to pack the dress back into the box, I began to cry. The customs officials went into a huddle. Then they handed me the box.
“Here, Miss. Consider it a wedding present from Uncle Sam.” I almost kissed them but remembered my poison ivy and shook their hands instead, thanking them over and over.
It seemed like a blessing settled upon me after the dress arrived because immediately afterwards the poison ivy began to heal, and I started feeling better. And on my wedding day there was no sign of the rash above my shoulders! The high neck and the long sleeves of the dress covered the last of the receding blisters. It felt like a miracle.
My young woman’s dreams had come true. I was a beautiful bride. The pictures prove it.
It is clear to me now that God honored my little prayer and allowed me to experience joy on my wedding day, and for several years after that.
Twenty years later God brought me the husband of His choice, but I have never forgotten His mercy and grace on a distressed young woman with only a tiny mustard seed of faith to offer Him.
Matthew 17:20 & Luke 17:6
750 words This is a true story.
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