Gift Cards

With each special occasion that occurred, either at the church or within my personal life, it soon became customary while I was on staff at the church for me to receive lavish gift cards for Dillard’s from the Pastor and his wife. If we were having a series of special meetings at the church with guest speakers, I would receive a gift card so that I could purchase new clothes for the event. My anniversary at getting hired on at the church was also celebrated by a gift card to Dillard’s. Birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and the occasional just because bonus was usually celebrated using a Dillard’s gift card. The amount of the gift card was never less than two hundred dollars and I gladly accepted those fabulous cards as I filled my arms with much loved designer labels that I could have never afforded without those monetary pieces of plastic in hand. But with each card there was always a stipulation. I was not allowed to buy anything with those gift cards for my children or for my husband. After each card was spent I would be asked to confirm whether or not the entire amount was spent on me alone. I was also expected to wear those clothes right away. That part never bothered me so much because being the girly girl that I am I would of course wear my newest items of clothing at the soonest opportune moment. I would sometimes leave the store wearing my newest favorite item. But the request, had I really looked at it, would have been considered inappropriate at the time.

I do remember one incident where a gift card was given to me and the Pastors wife didn’t know about it. It was October of 2008 and we were going to be having a series of camp meetings and the Pastor had invited a few influential guest speakers to attend and minister at the event. A few days prior to the event a Dillard’s gift card was again placed into my hands and there was an added stipulation that the clothes were not to be worn before the Camp meeting. He expressed his desire that I look professional and trendy and to keep that in mind as I made my purchases.

Wednesday service rolled around and I could not help myself as I decided to disobey his stipulation that I not wear any of my new clothes before the Camp meetings. As I got ready for work that day I chose to wear one of the items that was part of an ensemble. I chose to wear a green and white tiered Liz Claiborne skirt that I had purchased just the day before. I slipped on the skirt, gave it spin, and made my way to the church. The Pastor’s wife upon seeing me immediately commented that she liked my skirt and so my response was that it was one of the items that I had purchased the day before with my Dillard’s gift card. I hugged her neck and profusely thanked her for her generosity in giving me, yet another, gift card. As I pulled away from her I noticed something strange, although she tried hard not to show it. Her face showed shock and bewilderment. She hadn’t known about the gift card that had been given to me.

At the time, I didn’t think much of her reaction other than it was an oversight on her husband’s part, but that day was the beginning of some very strange conversations between the Pastor’s wife and me.