72 HOUR RULE: RANT

ONE SIZE FITS ALL?

Lately I have noticed that I have gained a few pounds, some of my jeans fit a little tight. But truth be told, they never fit anyway, and I had to convince my self and my body to squeeze into them. The next size is too big. (Which is some comfort; because I realize that I haven't gained that much weight) I used to like shopping, because I knew that most of the stores I frequented carried my size and I could always find the size that fit best. It seems that all of that has come to a screeching halt, as of last year, no doubt.

I think that "One Size Fits All" is one of the biggest deceptions being perpetrated. Seriously?
I tend to fall into that crevasse known as "Hard to fit". I think that I acquired this title when I was growing up. I have memories of my mom buying me shoes in a size that was at least one size smaller than I was supposed to wear, (because they were cute) and then spraying them with" magic stretch juice", while I walked around in them wearing a pair of my thickest socks. Now mind you, that these were the shoes I would be wearing to church the very next day. Take two aspirins before inserting small shoe on big foot. Even now, in my grown up self, I still have nightmares of buying shoes. There is a huge Shoe Warehouse Mecca store here in DC called DSW shoes. It is humongous, and of course my shoe size is quite elusive. This is the type of shoe store that you have to make a pilgrimage to. Take a lunch, bring some water, sit down every 15 minutes or so, save your strength. It's like a cake walk. Every one starts walking around the store looking for their size; they walk and walk with their heads down, looking at every shoe. (Nope there are no "Salespeople" per se, just floor monitors asking you repeatedly if you have the DSW savings card.) There is no commradery there either. This is serious shoe shopping. We all know that the female sales people have all of the "elusive" sizes hoarded in their lockers. We know. When you find your size, it is usually the only pair, but if you find another in your size you grab that too. I have seen women grab every pair they can carry in their size and run to a neutral corner in the store to try them on. These ladies usually have their girlfriends with them standing guard.

I remember once complaining to my mom (about 2-3 years ago) about how hard it is to find my shoe size and when I did, they never fit. (At the time I was under the impression that I wore a size 10m. It wasn't until I literally walked out of a new pair of pumps that I questioned this….) so my mom said to me as a way of consoling me, she said "Baby, you wear a size 11 and your feet are wide". I said Mom why didn't you tell me, she said "I didn't want you to have a complex". Seriously, Oprah had this moment too, and she had to find out by herself.

I recently went shopping for a new pair of jeans (like I said). Last year I found a gold mine (fools gold) of what I thought were the best fitting jeans ever. You know the ones, your stomach seems flatter, and your rear end appears to be a tight end. And they were a good price. I found them all on sale and paid less then 20.00 a pair. I spread the good news on this. I bought them at Sears no less, in the Lands End Dept. Remember the saying if its appears too good to be true, it usually is. So I washed in cold water with a special detergent that prevented shrinking. (Are you kidding me?) Woolite dark, I am naming names here. I hung them up and ironed them with a low iron. Now a good pair of jeans will love you through thick and thin, but these did not. They shrunk up vertically and horizontally. I thought that I could find more, but they have changed vendors. It's the same jean like appearance, but the sizes are off. You can blame China, India, or whomever, but I believe that the blame is on the designers and manufacturers. There is a rumor going round in retail that "objects in the mirror may be smaller then they appear". Have you noticed that the family size jar of peanut butter, while still in the same size jar, has maybe 20% less peanut butter food product in it? The manufactures say that they don't want their loyal consumer to panic and stop buying, so they keep the same price, but give less.

I digress and apologize for this rant, but I am truly offended at this and have been for some time. My husband says I should just get over it, but I know he sympathizes because he is in the same boat. But before I allowed myself to regress in to my childhood memories, I found this verse of comfort:

Ephesians 4:7 Amplified Bible
Yet grace (God's unmerited favor) was given to each of us individually [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ's [rich and bounteous] gift.

What's this? Because of the tremendous love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, one size does not fit all. He has given us our own size in proportion to the abundance of "bigness" of the gift of Christ. What gift is that, it is Eternal Life.

Philippians 4:19  And my God will liberally supply ([a]fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus

Just trying to bring all my thoughts and resulting actions, captive to Christ.

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