Wearing Dad's T-shirts
When I was a child, there were two other kids in the house with me. I had a brother and a sister. And we each had our own stuff. Bikes, clothes, toys, hygiene products, toothbrushes, etc.
And it wasn’t a thing to swap these out, or to share. There was no reason. We each had our own stuff and we seemed to be okay with that. Maybe it was because of the 5 years between my brother and me. Or because the sibling closest to my age was a girl - which meant sharing stuff was a little strange.
But whatever the case - I grew up assuming that my stuff was my stuff.
It wasn’t until college, when I started seeing stuff disappear. Typically sweatshirts - expensive ones I had bought or been gifted from stores like Roots and Beaver Canoe (Previously their own brand - but now owned by Roots?)
When I went looking for these sweatshirts, I found that they were in my sisters room. What once seemed strange, or unnecessary was now starting to become my reality. And as any good brother would, I most likely went off on her, and demanded that she give them back!
What I realized later (using my adult brain…) was that two things were happening:
She was proud to be Canadian - just like me. And since she didn’t have sweatshirts of her own from these stores at the time, she simply wanted to show her pride like I was able to
There was a small chance that she looked up to me. And getting to wear one of my sweatshirts meant we were on good terms and connected in some way. Now if you ask her about this today - she’ll most likely deny it - but that’s the story I’m telling…
Looking back on this now, I smile, touched by the fact that my sister wanted to wear my stuff. And to this day there is at least one sweatshirt I never recovered…
But time moved on. We grew up, had families of our own and went back to having our own stuff that we didn’t need to share with anyone.
Until recently…
When you have kids, there is nothing you wouldn’t do for them - right? However, sharing your clothes typically isn’t one of them. After all, they are small and you’re not. So it just doesn’t make sense for kids to wear their parents clothes.
But a few years ago I started to realize that my clothes were going missing again. This time it was my T-shirts. I’d go to my drawer to find a specific shirt, and it wouldn’t be there. At first I just assumed it was dirty, or I had misplaced it. But eventually I realized they were being worn by my teenage daughters. They were a little big on them at first, but as time went on they started to fit better.
My initial reaction was similar to what it had been with my sister. But being the adult I am, I was able to get over my initial emotional response and see the bigger picture.
Like my sister, the following was probably going on:
They wanted to be cool like me! As it turned out they were typically taking my branded T-shirts: NHL Hockey Teams, Denver Broncos, Rokform, Wyoming, etc.
And they look up to me (though they probably wouldn’t admit to that any more than my sister did…)
As I thought through both of these experiences, I couldn’t help but feel good that these people In my life wanted to share in the things I was interested in. It was more than just sharing clothes. If that was the case, they could have taken blank T-shirts, or solid colored sweatshirts. But that wasn’t the case. The things they wanted to wear had specific branding, and made statements in and of themselves.
Landing the plane:
The other thing I realized is that there is a spiritual application:
We have Earthly fathers and we have a Heavenly Father
If we’re truly interested in the things our Heavenly Father is into - wouldn’t we want to “promote” the same things?
And if we truly look up to Him - shouldn’t we want to “look” like Him?
Obviously the clothing thing is out of the question
The clothes are just an illustration - a physical manifestation of something more
Internal and external things like: loving like Him, viewing others like He does, being humble, making good decisions, being good role models, etc.
So when people look at us, they see a small piece of Him - as if we’re wearing His clothes…
So what does that look like for you? What could you “wear” this week that would show others a little bit about your Heavenly Father?
Be encouraged - and keep Transcending Human!