My Dress Reform Journey: By Sis' Thandi (Imperfect mom of three blogger)

It is so true that "sanctification is a work of a lifetime." Daily, God shows us how far we are from Him, how to get closer, and what our next step towards Him should be. That's how it was with my dress reform journey too! I was 'born in' the church and was just a normal SDA. Dressed like the world, ate like the world (minus the pork and unscaled fish), acted like the world and went to church on Saturday. Until I met my husband and I studied a book he had on Righteousness by Faith and read his SOP library. Those were heady days. I felt renewed and refreshed. I realised I had been parched and finally the Spring was flowing for me. I even wanted to quit university and just open up all my time to God. Of course he ('boyfriend' at the time) said no :-)

It was my darling who first made me think about my clothing and how it relates to God by bringing it to my attention how odd it was that females never wore pants to church but wore them elsewhere. Wasn't God everywhere? So why fake holiness at church and not just be unholy the whole time? I tried the "But there are pants for women" argument but honestly, it was just my meat-eating brain that was arguing. Once I started reforming my diet, my brain was more receptive to truth. Just because Satan has made a way for an abomination to be acceptable doesn't mean it's not abomination. I cringe when I think back to the day a female shouted, "Nice butt!" at me. Talk about unholy! So, the pants dropped off. Then back on for work uniform in England and when my conscience seared me, I quit work. (We had to climb up ladders and it would not have been modest for me to do so wearing skirts with men below.)

So, the pants went off and the skirts and dresses stayed on. 

Next, was the head. While we were still courting but with him now overseas, there was an International Sabbath at church. We were told to wear our traditional gear and I was all for it. But the more people spoke about the programs for the day, the more I pictured the outfits, the more uncomfortable I grew. The day was now about us and not about God. I quit being in charge of the Sabbath School programme and changed my mind about looking for a traditional outfit. Instead I thought, "Hmm, we are spiritual Israel, I'm going to dress like a Jewess." And on went the heacovering. The week after that Sabbath, I studied headcovering. It didn't make sense to me why women weren't covering anymore. After studying 1 Cor 11, I knew that I needed to do it for any time I spoke about God, or prayed. So on it went for church and prayer. I remember calling my 'guy' and asking, "Did you know women are meant to cover their heads? Why didn't you tell me!" Like God, he had been patient with me. He knew it, but could see that I was still wrestling with pants. His other reason was that he could see that I was sincerely studying so I'd definitely find the headcovering truth too. Only years later did I think, "Wait a minute. I'm always talking to God. I'm always therefore, praying. I need to cover fulltime." What brought this to mind. The Headcovering group I was part of on Facebook. Run by non-SDA. And on the headcovering stayed all day, every day.

Next? Lengths! I wore dresses and skirts but the lengths were all over the place. None above the knee but still not proper. We were in Tanzania as missionaries when the light came. It was simple. God gave Adam and Eve coats that covered their arms and their legs fully. And when you study the SOP, this principle is still meant to be adhered to. Uh oh, what to do now? I only had two long sleeved jerseys and VERY few long skirts. But God had spoken. So even on the hottest day I wore jerseys and my one long skirt, every day. Obedience needs to be immediate and though pride said no, God said, "Yes." At the same time, I had to discard my high heels too! What was already a small store of clothing (seeing as we'd had to pack a lot of things for our entire family including rice, baby food etc in our car) grew even smaller. But my joy grew larger. There is something about knowing you are following God that makes the uncomfortable heat comfortable. That makes your dismay in wearing the same thing every day, disappear. 

My journey of a lifetime continues. I got rid of my wedding band, as did my husband. I changed my hair styles too. No braids, no health deforming things like relaxers. Just natural hair. And the type of clothing is also changing. I got rid of a lovely long skirt that had some sequins on it. No need to bring attention to myself. Same reason I went from formal hats to headscarves (doeks) to church. My hats were the type you'd see at weddings and when people would comment on how beautiful they were, I knew it was time to change to something more modest. Plus I'd found a quote about large hats and being in people's way in church so they couldn't see the preacher. 

Sanctification is truly a journey of a lifetime. Covering the head is a huge act of humility for most women. And dress reform is linked to health reform. Every step we take towards God gives us more light. I pray that as pride is laid in the dust, we lay ourselves at Christ's pierced feet. Ellen White said that dress reform is a cross. I agree. But like her, I thank God for that cross. When I was still beginning this journey, a day in actually, a woman ran towards a friend and I. She said she was on the taxi but glimpsed us and had to get off just to tell us that she could see by how we were dressed that we were Christians and that we should keep it up. We happened to be wearing long loose skirts that day. A few hours later at a bookshop, another lady said she could tell by our dress and the way we carried ourselves that we were unashamed Christians. Our dress is preaching a message. Are we gathering with Christ, or are we scattering from Him. I know what I want to do, and He is able to keep me from falling. He is able to keep you from falling too.

(My comment:Note that modesty is not conditional:at all times we are to represent Christ in our dress,even at the beach :-))