What I Wore Sunday, Volume 4

It's that time again--time to join all the gals over at Fine Linen and Purple for another Sunday fashion extravaganza!  I am really starting to look forward to these link-ups!  And I normally shrink and make odd faces when I know a camera is pointed at me, but my husband has signed on as my personal fashion photographer, and I've been trying my best to just relax and smile.  (I've also learned a neat little trick from my #3 son's girlfriend that helps to minimize the double chin effect that has plagued me my whole life in pictures: you stick your chin OUT, and then DOWN.  It feels awkward, but it seems to work.  Out and down, that's my mantra these days!)

So anyway, here's what I wore Sunday Saturday, for the 4:00 anticipated Mass I attended with my husband.  (We knew we wouldn't be able to go to church today, because we're getting in the car as early as we possibly can to start a 12-hour trip to VA to visit with sons #3 and #4, who live there, and son #5, who flew down yesterday for his week-long spring break from Notre Dame.)

Breakdown of the outfit:
Paisley cardigan: Talbot's (marked down drastically--otherwise way, way too expensive)
Denim skirt: consignment shop
Off-white opaque tights: Wal-Mart (I suspect this is considered a fashion no-no, unless you're a nurse...and it's 1950.)
Navy leather flats: Dexter, from a shoe outlet
Freshwater pearl necklace and earrings: gifts from my husband

Detail on the sweet cardigan: beading!

I thought I'd also include a picture of the coat I wore over my outfit, as well as my lace chapel veil, or mantilla.  (The last time I featured a veil in my WIWS post, I was surprised and delighted to learn that it had inspired a couple of women who were considering adopting the practice.)

Chocolate brown veil: made by yours truly, with lace and trim from JoAnn's (I like brown because it sort of blends in with my hair; soon, I'll need a silver-colored one!)
Blue trench coat: Kenneth Cole, from Sam's Wholesale Club (just under $10, I kid you not!)

After Mass, we ran into a dear old friend, the octogenarian nun who used to be the principal of the Catholic K-8 grade school that our five boys attended (until we decided to homeschool our youngest son from grades 3 to 8).  We hadn't seen her in awhile, and she wanted to know how all the boys were doing.  And at one point I said, "The only hard thing is that most of them live pretty far away," and suddenly I was choked up and on the verge of serious tears.

What that incident made me realize is that God gives each of us crosses, but they're all different--and He only gives us what he knows we can handle.  I've often wondered why my life has been so incredibly blessed--why I haven't been asked to bear the really tough burdens that I see others carrying.  Neither my husband nor I have ever been afflicted with cancer (unless you count a few basal cell carcinomas, which a friend of mine said are basically considered no more than skin "rust"), or with any other serious illnesses.  Our children are all healthy, intelligent, gainfully employed, church-going, loving, and thriving. Our oldest son and his wife just welcomed their third precious daughter into the world. Why, I wonder, do others suffer so, when God seems to have given me a pass in the suffering department?

But when I felt myself losing it in front of Sister yesterday after Mass, it hit me: I miss having all of my children about me, and seeing them every day; and that, for now anyway, is my cross.  It's a meager cross, compared to the weight borne by so many other people; but it's mine, and if I own it as God's will for me and bear it with grace and courage, then...well, it can only help me get where I want to go.

But in the meantime, how can I be anything but happy?  I just returned from a two-week visit with my oldest son and his family.  By tonight, I will be with sons #3, #4, and #5.  And son #2, thankfully, lives just an hour away--and when I get back from VA, I'm going to go see him and give him the biggest bear hug of all time!

God is good, and I absolutely believe that He knows what's best for each of us.  Even when we think we know better.

I must go now, the road beckons--but I hope you have an absolutely glorious Sunday!  And don't forget to check out all the faith-filled fashionistas over at Fine Linen and Purple.  ;)