Jesus in a Prom Dress

This was written by one of our super star volunteer leaders, Mary Pruitt. Shelley is the associate pastor in our youth ministry at Irving Bible Church. She's an incredible leader. I'm so proud of our girls and their leaders.

Enjoy

Shelley first asked several high school leaders if we thought our girls would like to help set up a store for homeless teens to go and be fitted for prom dresses. Of course, we jumped on the chance, because we are always looking for ways to our girls engage with Jesus and serve others. We have amazing girls who love to serve. As Shelley described the project, I realize, this might be the ultimate girl’s service project ever! They get to donate their old dresses, set up a shop and serve all at the same time! We had a brief meeting with the girls and sent out Facebook messages as reminders. The girls showed up with old prom and banquet dresses, shoes and even a few decorations for the shop.

The shop is located in an old antique shop in downtown Irving. The space is lined with empty individual rooms; the prom dress room is located at the front of the store. When we arrived, the room was empty except for two racks, an empty jewelry case and a chair. When we left, the racks where filled with dresses, we had an area to display shoes, the walls were brightly decorated, and a mannequin in a beautiful gown was set up in the front window.

While we were setting up, we went to the back of the space to locate items for the prom room, and we passed other empty rooms. Shelley explained to me they were going to make one a room for baby clothes, so the homeless teenage mothers could shop for clothes for their children. There was a room that was devoted to young men. Another area would be for the teenage girls to shop for everyday clothes. Passing the empty rooms, Shelley and I discussed bringing the girls back to help set up more rooms.

We didn’t even have to convince the girls that our work there wasn’t done. Before we left, we had all caught a vision for what our roll might be. Several girls were talking about things they had at home to add to the prom room, and all agreed we should return to help again. Not only did our girls set up the room, they prayed for the girls who would be receiving the dresses and entering the shops. They prayed they would feel beautiful and they would feel the love of Jesus. They prayed for hope. I love them! And I love how Jesus works in us and through us, exactly as we are…even if we are 16 year old high school girls who most of the time think about ourselves AND even if we are 30 year old leaders who most the of time think about ourselves…I love Him!