Makeovers at Darlin’ Bonne’s Shoppe
As a teen I daydreamed a lot - (I still do!) - one set of those early meanderings became a major part of my novel, Ruthe’s Secret Roses, but it is only recently that I’ve seen how intuitively that solved some problems.
We are all dissatisfied with ourselves in one area or another. We don’t like how we look, or our clothes don’t suit the persona we want to project, or they don’t fit well. Maybe we don’t like our personalities. We want to be like someone else. Or, we don’t like our situation at all. We wish we were someone else in another time and place.
If we know about God and have heard that He made and loves us, we are convinced that He is no good - all because we are quite dissatisfied with ourselves. “If God is suppose to have made a mistake like me,” you may think, “then I have no respect for Him.”
But turning our back on our Creator is exactly the wrong thing to do.
There are some things about ourselves that we can make over. Shabby appearances can be as a result of bad health. So set a goal for building good health and make yourself over. Perhaps a hair and make-up makeover would complete the project.
No, you are not designed or destined to be over-weight. Let’s not blame God for that. You put the food in your mouth by your own choice. It may be a hard choice and you’ll need help, but you can choose to work at reducing that excess baggage in your body. Weight makeovers ARE possible!
If you are stuck wearing cast-off clothes that don’t suit you, or are too shabby, (sigh! I know it’s no fun), you can work towards a better wardrobe. Someday you will be able to afford or make good clothes. However, try to remember that there is much more to you than your outer appearance.
When your spirit shines with enthusiasm and joy people connect with the real you and don’t notice exactly what you are wearing. So work on developing the inner you, not just your wardrobe. Otherwise, they will intuitively recognize you for nothing more than a clothes hanger.
Keep in mind that though God put the DNA into the sperm and egg that became us, He still thinks of us as creative works and masterpieces in progress, and He’s giving us a chance to participate in the finished persons we are to be. On many points God waits for our decisions.
Are we going to pursue knowledge and understanding? Do we want to improve our mind and appearance? Where will we choose to live and work? Whom will we choose for friends and which ones will we avoid?
Now you are wondering how I worked all that into the novel as a result of my daydreams.
The plot thickened and jelled as I learned to know and understand the above points.
The Darlin’ Bonne’s Shoppe was started in the book as a way and means of giving a teen aged girl that Ruthe the heroine had rescued from sure death, a home and a way to support herself. The plan was for her to design and sew clothes, even though she had never sewn a stitch before, and to talk with her clients while she sewed, telling them about the transformation she had experienced in trusting Christ.
God divinely intervened and brought other girls into the shoppe and the plan developed as they learned to sew and design, and then some more as clients or patrons began to visit and use their services. Betty, a student nurse, came to the door, recalling a conversation she had overheard between Ruthe and Darlin’ Bonne. She was dropping out of her studies and wanted to join them. Then neighbour girls, Donnie and Louise came to see what the strange sewing noises from that green house meant. They begged to join too. Later, a social worker brought over Evelyn, who needed a home and a new career, after her last parent died. Another day, Ruthe brought over a runaway girl she had seen at dusk, escaping from a black market adoption.
Their good reputation grew as women and girls, and children too, came in to have new clothes made for them, and as they got to know the seamstresses like personal friends. While they planned and cut out and sewed up clothing for these people, the Darlin’ Bonne girls developed a sense for who needed an inner makeover as well. They learned to share Christ with them, and guided many to pray and receive Him as their personal Saviour and Lord and Friend.
Sometimes, as in the story of Phyllis Shulton, they would all gather around one woman, and sew a new wardrobe for a totally new look, and at the same time, lovingly counsel her to a spiritual makeover. These transformations gave me a lot of pleasure to write, and I trust they give readers a great delight too.
If you like makeovers, you will especially enjoy those scenes and chapters in my novel, Ruthe’s Secret Roses. If you would like such a makeover, you may pick up enough clues to know how to get one in your real life.