Tip of My Iceberg

The fourth time has to be the charm.

We leave for another Rogers’ wedding this weekend. Courtney and Michael are getting married in the Colorado mountains.

She’s actually our fifth child to be married. But it will be Isley’s fourth attempt to pull off the role of flower girl.

Almost three years ago, she threw the flower ball she was supposed to carry down the aisle, and her dad carried her. Bride Melody was fine with that.

Six months later she carried her stuffed monkey, OoOo-Ahah, down the aisle. Forget the flowers. Bride Tiffany was fine with that.

Ten months after that, having practiced with pebbles, she protected her petals as she walked down the aisle. Didn’t throw them. Bride Jillian was fine with that.

It’s been eighteen months, and Isley is now four. The concept of flower girl is better grounded in her mind. She’s been practicing. With coins.

The kid has an arm. 

She received her dress from Courtney in the mail. Has tried it on numerous times. Shows all who come to the house her wedding dress. She wears it with pride and delight.

The same cannot be said about the shoes her mom picked out for her.

They aren’t red and sparkly, like the ones Isley picked out. They are small boots, quite appropriate for the cobblestone clumsiness of the walkway all will be maneuvering at this outdoor mountain venue.  Isley isn’t impressed with practical. She prefers bling. Uncomfortable bling.

She’s so dissatisfied that she wouldn’t put them on to show me how they looked.

This is the little fashion diva who’ll model at the drop of a shoe.

Her comment: “I hate boots this year.”

Isley’s uncomfortable with a style she feels doesn’t suit her. She has, in her mind, a certain way she wants to look. It’s what causes her to rummage through piles of clothes to find the one outfit she wants to wear. It’s what drives her to hate boots this year.

I’m no diva, but I feel uncomfortable with certain styles as well.

Styles of the heart. Outward reflections of my inner attitudes.

Attitudes are the way I outfit my heart. The perspective I choose. The emotions I use to accessorize.

There are days when the attitudes I choose are plain ugly. As if I’ve blanketed my heart with a pitiful slipcover.

God has given me a new, renovated, refreshed heart. But I still choose how I’ll display it. How I’ll dress it.

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life,…Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God–truly righteous and holy.”   Ephesians 4:21-24

These are new attitudes I don’t have to force. A mindset I don’t have to manufacture. It’s choosing to believe Jesus, His truth, and allowing that truth to change the very core of me.

That’s what you call a stylin’ heart.