Covering Testimony: Samantha S.
| Name: Samantha S. | Age: 23 | Location: Illinois | Started Covering: March 2014 |
1) Introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi there everybody! My name is Samantha. I am a 23 year old wife and mother. I’ve been married for a couple of years now and my husband and I have one precious toddler we adore. My husband is in the military, so we live an adventurous life of frequent moves and never knowing what God has in store for each new season of life. The military life certainly keeps us on our toes 😉 I have been a Christian since I was very young, and I have loved growing in my relationship with the Lord for several years now. My husband leads a Bible study, and I love learning more about scripture and watching others grow in their love and knowledge of the Lord as well. In my free time I enjoy reading, crochet, and making crafts.
2) Where do you attend church? Tell us a little bit about it.
My family attends a small non-denominational church. We have contemporary music with worship songs you might expect to hear on Christian radio. Our pastor is fantastic- he really teaches in his sermons, and every Sunday I leave church feeling like I really learned alot.
3) What led you to start covering?
I never knew what to do about the 1 Corinthians 11 passage, and I usually just dismissed it as I read it, or thought I would get to studying it later. Last year I came across your website and that pushed me to read and deeply study the headcovering passage. I spent hours upon hours studying this passage and after much prayer, discussion with my husband, and discussion with a few pastors, I decided that this is a practice I need to be following in my life.
4) What were the conversations with your husband and pastors like?
When I first started to seriously study and pray about the 1 Corinthians, I first asked my husband his thoughts on the passage if I should cover or not. He said he wasn’t sure but we prayed about it and asked a pastor we really respect. This pastor said if I feel led by the Holy Spirit to cover, then I should obey. My husband agrees with the pastor. My husband believes if I feel personally convicted to cover, then I need to be obedient to that leading from the Holy Spirit. My husband supports my covering for corporate worship, Bible studies, and personal prayer. He would never force me to cover, and this is a decision I have made on my own accord, but my husband certainly supports me.
5) While you were studying this topic, what arguments/reasons did you find most compelling?
In the past, I dismissed this passage (1 Corinthians 11) as cultural, because that’s what everyone told me. However, when I really started to deeply study the passage for myself, I realized Paul’s arguments for covering are universal, NOT cultural. (ie- nature, angels, creation order, etc.) I also think it’s very important we don’t dismiss passages of scripture as cultural without being 100% sure it is, because it can be dangerous to dismiss scripture. This is what people do who think women can be pastors and that homosexuality is not a sin (disclaimer: I believe women should NOT be pastors, and homosexuality IS a sin)….they dismiss certain New Testament scriptures as cultural. I think the church has done the same thing with the scriptures on headcovering. It’s a slippery slope to do this because if headcovering is just cultural, then that would lead other passages to just be cultural too (which they are not). I hope that makes sense and I didn’t confuse anyone lol! I also think it’s a compelling reason to cover knowing that the large majority of Christian women covered their heads during corporate worship for thousands of years, and covering just recently stopped around the 1950’s with the rise of the feminist movement. If Christian women covered for all those years, and were taught and believed that it was important, shouldn’t I?
6) What was that first Sunday like when you showed up in a covering?
I felt weird. I felt like people would stare at me or think I was a weirdo, especially since I am the only one who covers at my church. In all reality no one really seemed to notice or care, and no one said anything about it. Now it is a normal part of my dress for worship, and I don’t think much about it at all anymore. It’s normal for me.
7) What would you say is the best and the most difficult aspect about head covering?
The most difficult aspect of covering is that I feel some people think I am legalistic. I am not legalistic, and I know I am covered by the grace of our Lord Jesus (praise God for that!!), and I cover my head not out of legalism, but out of obedience and love for the Lord. The Lord and I know my heart and my motives in covering are pure- just to honor Jesus and my husband. It’s that simple. I don’t look down on or judge women who do not cover. Similarly, the best part about covering is knowing that I am doing my best to obey and love the Lord, even in the small things like covering my head during corporate worship.
8) What kind of covering(s) do you use? Where did you get them?
Most of the coverings I use are wide-head band style. I also sometimes wear hats. I choose these types of coverings because they do not stand out, and I do not want to draw attention to myself in my coverings. Christians should be modest, and wearing something that would attract alot of attention to myself, in my opinion, would not be modest. I get my hats from Walmart or thrift stores, and I purchase my wide headband style coverings from Garlands of Grace. I LOVE their coverings!! They are so soft, comfortable, beautiful, and modern-looking!
