Ok so I may have combined a couple of bible verses for the title for this outfit post, but that was what came to mind when I was editing these pictures. The skirt reminds me of fire – when I walk it flows around my legs like they are engulfed in flames. And the earrings I accessorized with made up the second part of the title.
(You can still get it at Ann Taylor, for an additional 50% off the sale price! Whaaa? Yeah I totally recommend it. The earrings are available at Nordstrom for only $8! Nice, right?)
I love love love this skirt. It was a little birthday present for myself. It’s just my kind of red – with an orange undertone. This outfit encompasses the comcept of joy, don’t you think? In Scripture fire is mostly used as imagery of joy and for God’s love. When the fire of faith is enkindled in our hearts, we feel a burning joy for the Lord (2 Timothy 1:6). And John tells us in Revelation 5:6 to weep not because the Lion of Judah (i.e. Jesus) has conquered. When Jesus said “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49), He was expressing a desire for every soul to know His love, experienced as a “fire of burning wisdom” (St. John of the Cross)! All the saints who’ve walked this faith journey before us and reached the summit of His love all expressed it as a burning fire. Even though their faith walks were all different, they understood that burning love – that longing to be united with Him.
Our Lord wants the world to know the joy and freedom that exists in being in His presence, in becoming more and more one with Him. We don’t always feel this, of course, as our feelings ebb and flow in our prayer life. Unexpectedly, the Lord granted me a keen experience of this joy in my heart that day, and a constant awareness of Him walking beside me and being with me the entire time.
I don’t know how to explain it really. The day didn’t start out so great – it was an intensely hot and work was extra stressful day as I struggled to get all the summer packets for school ready to mail out for the parents before school started. And I was grumbling about my work internally. But at the same time I was keenly aware of Jesus’s loving gaze on me as I complained and pouted, and the stress was relieved with this assurance of love.
And the evening of my birthday was filled with time with good friends, plus a great Confession just in time for my consecration renewal to Mary on the Solemnity of Assumption, and then a surprise encounter with some friends in the adoration chapel that led to good conversations of some fro-yo. When I thought the night was over, another group of girlfriends ambushed me with cheesecake (my favorite) and little gifts they crafted! I was sure Our Lady was looking over me that entire day, and these little favors were a birthday gift from Jesus, especially since my love languages are quality time and gifts. He knows my heart. And the joy that resulted from these little favors were practically overflowing in my heart.
How I wish more people in our world would reject the culture of death to see the amazing things God has in store of each one of us. Individually. Uniquely. Each of us can have a special relationship with the Lord that cannot be duplicated or repeated.
Sorry for getting offtrack with this outfit post. I didn’t actually wear this outfit on my actual birthday, but a couple days after on an outing to the Griffith Observatory. Since the skirt is vibrant enough, I thought a chambray top is a good neutral piece to pair with it. I wanted to wear a statement necklace without making too much of a statement with my jewelry (again, the skirt itself is a big enough statement), so I wore it underneath the button up top so it peeked out without drawing attention to itself.
P.S. My friend captured my surprise at the birthday ambush on her instagram here. Just wanted to share what loving and amazing people are in my life.
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