“Wow Mom, such high fashion!” my kids commented one day this week from the den as I fixed dinner and they perused some of my old school yearbooks. “Took a little time with your hair, did ‘ya?” my daughter teased before noticing the formality that is no longer a part of her school experiences.

“We’re really liken’ how serious the teachers look in their pictures. And what’s with those ties? Nobody wears ties to school anymore!” my kids teased.

I couldn’t let that one go…the part about nobody doing today what we thought was perfectly “in” nearly 30 years ago. I set down my spoon and marched into the den with Saturday’s clothing ad in my hand.

“Check out what my friend LouAnn was wearing back then,” I told the kids. Then I turned to an ad picturing a high school student wearing a pair of gouchos. “It’s all coming back!” I teased the kids. “I wore them and now you kids are adopting the look…clear down to the wooden clogs!”

Flairs. Boys with long hair and sideburns. I thought I was stepping back in time the other night as I watched kids pass by me at Friday’s homecoming game. In so many ways it’s a different world. In a few ways little has changed.

What stands out, however, is that hint of formality nearly erased from my children’s school experiences but still portrayed on the pages of my annuals. Why, on picture day, did instructors, administrators, and students dress up for the occasion? It’s because it was our common understanding that there were times and places for choosing clothing that spoke to the importance of the day. I must say that I rather miss some of those moments today. It’s why, in fact, that Disneyland requires high school graduates attending Grad Night celebrations in their parks to dress up and follow strict dress codes. Officials have learned that people behave better when dressed up.

How often of late have I been forced to question what is acceptable, then make up my own rules on a whim because most social conventions have been tossed out as oppressive. Out of date. Inhibiting. Unnecessary.

It is for this reason that a small group of impeccably-dressed retirees, positioned just outside a mall where I was recently shopping, stood out as I walked with my kids to find our car in the parking lot. This clean-shaven, smartly suited group with genuine smiles and small orange books in their hands intrigued me enough to pull me off course from my car and over to where they stood.

I should have known they were members of Gideons International, dressed to serve their King and there for no other reason than to place into our hands God’s words of love as found in the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs — but only if we were interested in taking the free copies. There was no association with religious rhetoric, pressure, or coercion.

It is what Gideons International is all about: making Scripture available to every human on the planet by standing in the human traffic lanes of life. What you do with God’s Word and how you respond is up to you.

Founded in 1899, Gideons International serves as a missionary arm of the church and is the oldest Christian business and professional men’s organization in the United States. This year an international board of Christian laymen will oversee the distribution of Bibles in 179 countries and in 82 languages, making use of 140,000 volunteers who will pass out well over 45 million Scriptures, this year alone.

“Beautiful day!” was the greeting made to me, and was I interested in receiving a free New Testament? Their approach was as simple and sweet as that.

“You can keep it in the glove compartment of your car and it fits great in the pocket of a backpack if you’re a kid!” I was additionally informed. And did I know of more than one child that might like to have one? There were plenty to go around.

After accepting a couple, we hopped back into our car to watch the gray suits meet up with today’s shoppers — bell-bottomed and shaggy haired, some talking on their cell phones, others adjusting the earphones to their MP3 players.

Outstretched hands and glad smiles. Short interchanges as sunny as the day. Generations gently touching for brief moments with an ease that caught me off guard. It seemed too easy. That’s because it can be. In spite of their formal appearances, the Gideon volunteers were able to pass out New Testaments filled with God’s message to us all: His love is for everyone!