If I were an Ornament

OK, brace yourselves.  I just asked myself the dumbest question.  If I were an ornament which kind would I be?  This all came about as I was thinking about what I was going to wear to church this coming Sunday.  You see, I've been asked to write something, kind of like a blog post, and then read it to my church.  So, my thought this morning was--what shall I wear?  Which dovetailed into the ornament question, or was it the other way around?  Oh well.

If you know me at all, you know that I am the most casual of casual dressers.  In fact, don't tell anyone, but I only own one dress and zero skirts.  What?  Yep, that's right.  And the only reason that dress is still around is that I might just have to wear a dress one day, so it's life has been spared.

My closet consists of many (and I mean many) pairs of colored jeans, a couple pair of dress pants, tons of shirts and OK, tons of sweaters.  The question is--which pair of denim pants and which sweater shall I wear on Sunday?  Oh, and shoes, I have a lot of shoes.  I must make sure that they make a statement.  And maybe a scarf, since I also have many of those.

So, back to the ornament thing--I have come to the conclusion that I am not a bright shiny ornament.  I can fully admit that now.  I wanted to be one when I was younger, I tried hard to fit in, i.e., wear a dress.  But, then I realized as I got older, that I'd never ever be shiny.   No, I am dull in color i.e., I wear jeans.  And, I'm OK with that.  That is who I am.  I am not the shiniest ornament on the tree.  However, I have some great friends who are.  In fact last Sunday one of my good friends was all dressed up in a gorgeous red dress.  She looked beautiful. She is taller than I am, thinner, and had lots of pretty jewelry--in other words, she is a shiny ornament.  And as I began to look around my little church I noticed lots of other beautiful shiny ornaments.  It seemed as though everyone was dressed festively for the season, and I was not.  I began to feel a little self-conscious at first and then realized that even if I owned fancier clothing I would not wear it, it's just not me, and that's OK.  Well, it's OK with me anyway, maybe not so much with them.

Yes, I am perfectly OK with being just a plain old ornament--not too tall, not too pretty, not too talented, not too much of anything really.  I like just who I am, most of the time.  Unless of course someone comes along and makes me feel really bad about myself.  Then it's a whole new ballgame.  I have to analyze a few things then, do some self-talk, and pray.  After a bit, I am fine again with whom God has made me.  And one thing I'd like to make clear is that I am also OK with how God has made my friends.  I like that they are all different--some shiny, some plainer like me.  However, there is one thing they all have in common, they are my friends.  I feel so blessed that they are in my life, they encourage me and pray for me and I know that all I have to do is call out to them and they'd be here for me in a heartbeat.

All my ornaments--they are from all over the world, some are glass, some are metal, some are made of wood.  They are all unique, they are all beautiful, they all have special meaning and bring about fond memories.  My ornaments, my friends.

In looking at my Christmas tree just now, I have found an ornament that best expresses my heart and my emotions this season.  I guess I am feeling humble today...