Our son's wedding was a few months away, so for me the big question was

What will I wear?

Ok so I hope you read parts one & two - if not

click here for WHAT WILL I WEAR????

and then on to

Will I Like it? and then head back here again.

........ Fred (my husband) liked it too.
"So are you getting it now?" he asked.

"Do you think the kids will like it?" I ask.

"Of course they will" he replied.

"How do you know?" is my next question.

"They are bound to like it, it's lovely" he said.

The solution?

TAKE A PICTURE!

and that's what we do, thank goodness for iPads and coffee shops with Wifi.

Fred took a picture of me standing in the changing room and we headed over to a nearby Costa Coffee (having taken the outfit off and left it behind the sales desk with a very understanding set of shop assistants).

Now you might wonder why I deliberately mention that we went to Costa Coffee.

The answer is because I am not fond of Starbucks and also Costa Coffee have the greatest lemon and poppyseed muffin which I just adore but have been missing out on since trying to lose weight. One of those muffins has as many calories as my full dinner would have.

So we get the coffee (and tea for Fred) and a muffin which Fred says we have to share so that it isn't too many calories for me - isn't he so considerate? No really, I'm not being sarcastic here because Fred will tell you himself that he is not a muffin eater.

Then connected to Wifi we email the picture to both Linda (South Korea) and Jonathan (Leeds) and start messaging them to make sure they look at their email.

During the time it took to eat the muffin we had a group message conversation with both kids and they encouraged me to go back and buy the outfit.

But

"Do you think Daniel & Suzie will like it too?" I ask

"YES!" is the joint reply

So we head back and buy the outfit.

A few days later we are with Daniel getting the suits for the guys for the wedding and I show him the outfit, he likes it. Later that evening I see Suzie and show her the picture and she likes it so all is well.

Or rather would be well when I would go to the seamstress and get that little alteration done because (back to where we started)

I am petite

and the dress is regular fitting so I needed the straps shortened.

So I had my outfit, and it wouldn't clash with the bridesmaids.

And the wedding is 4 weeks exactly from today!

It wasn't such a hard task after all, sure it wasn't?

Yes. I am Petite!

That does not mean I take size 10 (UK) or below and it maddens me when people use petite in this way.

I am petite because I am smaller than 5' 3".

In fact I am not quite 5' 1"

I do need clothes that are the right length and in the right proportion but it can be very hard to find these even in the small sizes but much harder in sizes over 12. Then we also have to put up with a more old-fashioned look for the petites in those sizes.

When we lived in America I found a lovely shop called "Petite Sophisticate" and I just adored the clothes from there. But there was another problem and that is: Why should we have to pay more money for items that actually have less material in them than "normal" items?

My husband is almost 6' tall so there is a bit of a difference between the two of us. Even so when we had our first son I prayed that he would not be short like me but taller like his dad. 2 years later we had another son and I prayed that he would be tall as well. 3 years after that we had our daughter and I prayed that she would not take after me.

God answered my prayers and our oldest boy is almost as tall as his dad, the second boy is taller than his dad at around 6' 3" (sometimes we joke that I prayed too hard for him) and our daughter is about 5 inches taller than me. My sister used to joke that I needed a stepladder to kiss Fred (my husband) but that's not really a joke when it comes to Daniel (son no.2) and he normally ends up with a kiss on the neck instead of on the cheek.

So I was back to the petite clothing problem when my son Daniel was getting married and I needed an outfit.

I really needed a petite outfit.

Another thing that often goes hand in hand with someone being petite is the attitude of others towards them.

We get lots of remarks about our height.

"Gosh you are small!"
I know I am, do they think they are the first to have noticed?

"You'd better stand in front for the photo or you won't be seen."
I know I have to stand in front, do they think this has never happened to me before?

I normally look at my husband Fred in one of these "height challenged" moments and he smiles just the right way to show he has noticed and he knows how I feel. If he's near enough there will be the squeeze of my hand or a wee stroke on my neck.
Fred can do something just between us that makes me feel cared for in situations where others don't take time to think how I might feel.

Often people don't stop to think how we feel.

So looking for a special outfit is not an excitement for me but can be a dread because of the lack of choice and the way I may be treated.

I know I can't dwell on the fact that others aren't thoughtful or considerate all the time and I know that there are probably times when I don't stop and think to be as considerate as I possibly can.

There is only one person who cares about us all enough to know how we feel and what we need and that is the God.

When I see my husband being so thoughtful and understanding of what hurts me then I see something of the example of Christ and this is the way it is in a marriage. The husband is to love his wife just as Christ loves the church and this means being protected, provided for and cared for giving us security in our relationship.

So obviously when we see a good example of this in a marriage it helps us to remember the security we have in Christ even when we tend to temporarily forget His promises.

Of course this is another good reason to read some of the Word of God each day to be constantly reminded of how much Christ cares for us, enough to die in our place when we did not deserve His love.

Doesn't that make us feel cared for, loved and protected?

Doesn't that make us want to be part of His family?

Doesn't that lift us when others put us down?

Doesn't that bring us joy?

People don't stop to think how we feel. Who Cares?

Saw this riddle for the word PETITE

and I just wish it were true

but it makes me smile anyway.

Well what about that outfit I had to get for Daniel's Wedding?

You can read all about that at What Will I Wear?

and

Here are some other Doses of Encouragement

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Monday

Do You Think the Kids Will Like It? - Coffee & Conversation