I met Larry Nihiser when I was seventeen years old and for me it was love at first sight. He was a tall blond young man with beautiful head of hair that would rival any teen idol at that time. He drove a beautiful yellow 1964 Chevy Super Sport and I fell madly in love….with Larry not the car. He proposed, when I was twenty one (almost a spinster). I decided that since we wanted a small wedding and I didn’t want him to change his mind, I could pull it together pretty quickly. The wedding date was November 7, 1969 which was two weeks from that date. As you can imagine, I started out immediately to find a wedding dress that was within my rather meager budget. I remember going to a local department store and as I entered the massive old doors I went directly to the information desk located in the center of the big entryway of this upscale store. I promptly asked the lady at the desk where I could find wedding dresses. She directed me down stairs to the basement where I found a rack of wedding dresses, surprisingly in my price range. I picked out a simple short dress (mini) overlaid with the lace, long sleeves and a short veil, on sale at the big price of $50. Pleased with my choice I went to the register and took my prize home to hang for the two weeks before my wedding while took care of other details of my wedding day.
As I told this story to a friend of mine, she said she bought her dress at the same store and in the same time frame, but she purchased hers from the “Bridal Suite” a luxurious department found on another floor. Up until this time I was pleased with my choices but at hearing this I realized that I would have liked the pampering given to the prospective brides and their families. I would have greatly enjoyed and benefited from the advice of a trained bridal consultant but I was directed and settled for the bargain basement. I don’t know if my budget could have survived in that setting and maybe I would have chosen the same dress but I felt cheated because I didn’t pursue the better.
Sometimes I feel like I also settle for the bargain basement in my spiritual life, when there is a “bridal suite” just waiting for me if only I would pursue it. I can stay in the basement or I can pursue all that God has for me. How much peace do I forfeit because I do not trust? How many opportunities do I miss because I don’t listen and obey the voice of the Lord? What do I not receive because I do not ask or pursue? Many scriptures compare us, the church, to the Bride of Christ. My prayer is that He will find me in the “Bridal Suite” and not in the “Bargain Basement”.
As it turned out, I was happy with my simple dress and my simple wedding was just what I had planned. It’s been forty three years now since I married my best friend and I have only a remnant of that old dress. The short dress from the bargain basement has been around. I wore it once when ladies from our church modeled their wedding dresses and I was the only “mini” there giving us all a laugh at the style of that day. My daughters used it when they wanted to be a beautiful bride on Halloween or when they just wanted to dress up “fancy”. It was definitely a bargain!
As I told this story to a friend of mine, she said she bought her dress at the same store and in the same time frame, but she purchased hers from the “Bridal Suite” a luxurious department found on another floor. Up until this time I was pleased with my choices but at hearing this I realized that I would have liked the pampering given to the prospective brides and their families. I would have greatly enjoyed and benefited from the advice of a trained bridal consultant but I was directed and settled for the bargain basement. I don’t know if my budget could have survived in that setting and maybe I would have chosen the same dress but I felt cheated because I didn’t pursue the better.
Sometimes I feel like I also settle for the bargain basement in my spiritual life, when there is a “bridal suite” just waiting for me if only I would pursue it. I can stay in the basement or I can pursue all that God has for me. How much peace do I forfeit because I do not trust? How many opportunities do I miss because I don’t listen and obey the voice of the Lord? What do I not receive because I do not ask or pursue? Many scriptures compare us, the church, to the Bride of Christ. My prayer is that He will find me in the “Bridal Suite” and not in the “Bargain Basement”.
As it turned out, I was happy with my simple dress and my simple wedding was just what I had planned. It’s been forty three years now since I married my best friend and I have only a remnant of that old dress. The short dress from the bargain basement has been around. I wore it once when ladies from our church modeled their wedding dresses and I was the only “mini” there giving us all a laugh at the style of that day. My daughters used it when they wanted to be a beautiful bride on Halloween or when they just wanted to dress up “fancy”. It was definitely a bargain!
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