She was Mortified

She was Mortified

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

I swiped the table runner. Without telling my daughter, the loosely woven table cloth she’d purchased was now in my sack of stash. It was a winner, and I just couldn’t keep my hands off it. From the moment I set eyes on it, I wanted it.

This is how it all went down. She’d bought the table runner in order to decorate for a wedding shower. With another layer beneath the soft floral woven fabric, it made its debut. It was beautiful and worked well for the occasion for which it had been purchased.

However, upon leaving her home, I could not help but drop it into my bag of take-home items. I had a plan, and could only hope that it would work.

Our son’s wedding was just weeks away, and I had yet to locate a shawl that

was badly needed. I had been looking for the likes of this for quite some time now, and once I laid my eyes on that runner…I ran with it!

The lace matched the top pattern of my dress, the sparkles were able to be seen through this cloth just enough to make it look as though they were attached to the shawl itself, and the sculpted edges with the tiny fringe was just the touch I was looking for. It was a miracle as far as I was concerned and for the life of me, I could not keep my fingers from snatching it in order to try it out at home.

Once home, I gave our daughter a call. To the best of my recollection, this was our conversation.

Me:  “I’m thinking of using that table runner for a shawl for the wedding and sort of took it home to try it out!”

Daughter:  “Mom! It looks like a table cloth!”

“It wouldn’t look like a table cloth if it was hanging in the shawl section,” I retorted.

“It’s way too long!”  In hopes of deterring me, she persisted.

With this less than enthusiastic response, I doubled down by doubling up the table runner. That immediately solved the length problem. As I was now in the safe confines of my own home, I decided to get a second opinion from the shawl expert lying on the couch.

Me:  “So what d you think of this?”

Shawl expert upon the couch:  “It looks great…especially with the cooler temps coming!”

End of story…or is it?

Isaiah 61:10 reminded me, “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.”

I thank Him for providing for each need far greater than I could ever imagine…even if I had to double up on that which He gifted me to cloth myself in…just for today.  Amen.