The Red Dress

He had said he would be there at 7:30. Denise had hurriedly pranced around her townhome, glancing in every mirror she passed, making sure she look just perfect for their first date. Butterflies had danced in her stomach as she donned her fancy red dress and dreamt about how Charles would adore her in it. She finished her makeup and touched up her curls just as the doorbell rang. Denise greeted Charles at the door and they were quickly off for an evening of romance.

"So how had they ended up here?" Denise pondered. The evening had barely begun before Denise's dreams were dashed. She had anticipated a candle lit dinner and perhaps a stroll on the beach. Instead Charles had driven without much of a word to a local cafe on a dark, lonely street. And there they sat. From the moment they took their seats at the bar, there was awkward silence between them. Charles had struck up a conversation with the bartender and seemed to forget about his lovely date. Denise felt uncomfortable and out of place. She wondered to herself, "Why did I wear this silly red dress, anyway?"

This is a story I wrote this summer in response to an impromptu Emmanuel House assignment. We were instructed to choose a character from the above painting and take a few minutes to write their story. Little did I know about how much my own heart's story would spill onto the page!

I've been challenged lately to revisit this story. It is about this world, where little girls' dreams and desires go unfulfilled, and hurt and disappointment abound. We (along with our male counterparts) are left longing to be noticed, to be loved, to be enjoyed.

My struggle (and the struggle of Denise in the story) is to believe it is still worth the risk to live boldy, to be fully alive, to wear the figurative red dress. Knowing I'll be disappointed when a desire is unmet, knowing I am likely to be misunderstood, and knowing people may not like me, often causes me to play it safe. I say, "Why wear this silly red dress, anyway." I live in mediocrity, hoping to avoid pain and disappointment.

In recent months I have tasted of more. I have taken risks in living boldly and it is invigorating. I need no longer live in captive fear of disappointment or of others' response to me. Daily, I want to challenge myself to don the red dress and live fully alive because Christ has set me free!