Not !

I would love to say this photo graced an article denying that shopping is the way to happiness, but it didn't.  It did offer minor acknowledgment that since becoming a mother, the author can no longer indulge entirely in her mantra that clothes-make-the-woman  (her baby barely trumped  her clothes closet).  She spent a lot of time whining about the loss of freedom to attend three-day parties celebrating some big-name designer's new collection.  Her tone was partially tongue-in-cheek and partially her truth.  

I get it.  Really I do.  I'm not a clothes horse but I get how women can get wrapped up in the whole fashion scene.  What I don't get is when these women allow their clothes, or worse yet, the blind pursuit of shopping to define who they are.  I dumbfounded over that concept ~ really, I am.  It's a nice capitalistic sentiment that keeps our economy going (and I'm all for that), but it's not the foundation of my self-worth.  

Even in my BC days (before Christ), my parents' instilled a sense of value and self-worth in me that stood separate from what I did, wore or looked like.  In my AD days (after accepting Christ), I realized my true value in God.  I am His child, pre-thought of before I was even conceived, cherished and loved by Him.  Don't get me wrong.  I still like steppin' out with a freshly washed face and clean, even somewhat matching clothes, but it doesn't make me who I am.  Nothing I own or could buy makes me who I am.  Nothing.