Monday, November 20, 2006

Dress it up!!

I am a no-frills, comfort first personality. Pretty versus comfortable? Comfort is king. I don't think I was always this way as I seem to recall spending hours primping before going out making sure everything was hanging out just so and looking good while doing it. Something about youth makes you think that if more is on display, more is looking good. I no longer feel that way. I also think the young girls who dress modestly are so much better looking than the ones letting it all hang out. When I look back to what I attracted with my tight jeans and boobs on display, I shudder a little. What would my life have been like if only I had been taught modesty and inner beauty? To live as Christ? I just want to throw a big shawl over the girls I see and tell them to slow it down and look around for a boy living life in the slow lane as well. God give me the words to teach my girls.

Wow, I even sidetracked myself!! Not where I was going with this post at all. It does kind of factor in though. The pendulum is swinging wildly-all about looks in my teens and twenties, now swung back completely the other way not caring about looks at all in my late 20's and early 30's. As I near 35(Feb), I wonder if I am not beginning to fall somewhere in the middle. I like to look my best. I like to wear nice clothes. Sometimes I even fix my hair. It does not come from the same place as it used to. It is more a desire to look nice for my husband and to set an example of looking your best to my daughters. I hate to be noticed by other people. I just don't like to think of anyone looking at me. I wish I could be invisible. To be so plain that I am not noticeable. I am sure my past plays a huge role here.

This is where I went all into my past. I am not going there. It was good to write it all down though. I had a very grateful day yesterday. Grateful for where we(Erik, God and I) have been and the turn-arounds we have made.

Lilly danced beautifully. She loves it soooooo much. She was so serious and attentive. AND well behaved. Nice for a change. She is mini-me. Minus the dancing, singing, and musical talent, of course!! But her wide open, super-sensitive, loud boisterouness-that's all me baby!! Can't wait to see what fun that brings us. Enjoy your Monday!!

5 comments:

Jacinda said...

I agree about wanting God to give me the words in order to effectively teach my children about modesty.

Anonymous said...

I agree, I think the best teacher is our own example of how we carry and take care of ourselves (and what we wear of course:)
My oldest daughter (7) is so aware of being modest, I'm so proud of her. She won't wear anything revealing in any way. She had gotten some Bratz stickers recently and the stomach showed a little and she said "it was not modest" and she threw them in the trash ! I was so proud that my 7 yr. old is already aware through what I've taught her. I think it's good to start at a young age teaching simple principles about different things that'll come up later on in life. We plant the seeds in them now and God waters. She is such a blessing and as I watch her growing in the Lord and her behavior and her own convictions (like the modesty)shows me everyday that I'm doing doing something right !:)
Deborah

Anonymous said...

My 7 y/o daughter is naturally modest. I never even had to teach her. She just always gravitates toward modest clothing. I buy her 2 piece swim suits (at first thinking of easier potty training issues!) and she always was pulling them down. So, it was nice when they came out with the tankinis. Modest, but easier in the bathroom. In any case, my niece is more of the exhibitionist. She's always been that way. I wonder if some of the modesty is just ingrained in some girls? Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

On re-reading my post, I meant to say that Madeline pulls the bottom of her top down a bit, trying to cover her tummy. Do I make more sense now?

Anonymous said...

I agree with you Susie, I do think that modesty can just be ingrained if the parents are raising their children to follow God's ways.
I think chidren observe what's around them and a Christian home (I believe) is going to have differences than a non-Christian home.
I think it's a lot harder for a girl raised in a non-Christian home to have modesty "ingrained" in her, not by any fault of the childs, but usually the Mother as the example (in many cases, not all)does not dress modestly herself. So the child knows nothing else but what she's around and observes. I see so many girls ages 6-13 years old and the way they dress is just unbelievable to me !
I think children are a "product of their enviroment."
Deborah