Modesty

My Views on Modesty & WLWW Link-Up Party!

February 28, 2012 By Courtney 37 Comments

Last week the issue of modesty came up when I wrote the brave story of Kylie Bisutti - I applauded her for stepping down from her very high profile and high paying position at Victoria Secret. This post opened a can of worms for some readers as modesty becamse the topic of some of the comments…which I moderated (and I know I frustrated some of you – I apologize ).

As a result, a couple emails came in asking me to write on the topic of modesty. So let me direct you to a post I wrote last spring titled:

Spring Fashions and Modesty - this is a summation of my thoughts on that topic.

In the past, I have also featured Rachel Lee Carter’s Video from ModelingChrist.com and I’d like to share it again here because it completely captures my heart and thoughts on modesty!

My very good friend Karen Ehman is featuring an interview of Kylie and a giveaway of Rachel’s book on her blog today!

She is giving away a few copies of Rachel’s book titled Fashioned by Faith and Shari Braendel’s book Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad.

To enter to win – leave a comment on her post at KarenEhman.com.

Now It’s link-up time!

It’s Women Living Well’s Wednesday Link-Up Party!!!

Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don’t forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (Posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, finances, recipes, organization and more!)

To find the code go to the sidebar – or right click and “save as” the button and then upload it into your post!

Walk with the King!

Filed Under: Modesty, Women Living Well Wednesdays

Spring Cleaning Your Facebook Account

March 21, 2011 By Courtney 52 Comments

During the year of 2010, 250 million NEW people joined Facebook bringing the total users on Facebook at the end of 2010 to 600 million! Facebook is growing and the pressure to be there is not going away. It’s the new front porch.

Last summer I went on evening runs through my new neighborhood and it was the dogs, crickets and me outside. Everyone else seemed to be inside enjoying their family, air conditioning, computers, and televisions. I thought – I know my friends on Facebook, blogland and twitterville better than my next door neighbors!

So let me preface all that I am about to say about Facebook with this statement: Technology is neutral. It can be used for good or bad. We, the sinners, determine whether we are going to use it for good or evil.

I personally enjoy Facebook but for those who regularly participate we can find secret sins creeping in – or worse – our sinful heart is revealed for all to see. And I wonder if we should PAUSE and do some spring cleaning in this area of our lives.

I Timothy 5:13 warns young women about becoming “idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips andbusybodies, saying what they should not.” ESV Facebook is an easy place for women to become idle and busy bodies. So Let’s Ask Ourselves:

Am I using Facebook to complain about my husband, children, the weather etc?

Am I measuring my worth based on how many friends I have?

Am I portraying a fake reality?

Am I addicted to checking my page every 30 minutes?

Have I used a sharp tongue toward someone and need to apologize?

Do I have some bikini shots up from 5 years ago that need deleted? (read my modesty post here)

Am I married and flirting with a guy (other than my husband) on Facebook?

Am I married and developing a deep emotional connection with a man other than my husband on Facebook (read my post about this here)?

Am I ignoring my children or husband to hang out on the front porch?

Do I feel excluded from some of my friends when they post pictures together and get jealous?

Am I feeling envious of someone’s house, car, clothes, friendships, status, looks etc?

Am I distracted in my daily life by a Facebook debate?

Am I malicious when I respond to someone with thoughts that oppose mine?

Am I using my status updates to brag?

Am I using the information I’ve read on Facebook to gossip with friends in real life about a friend on Facebook?

Look at this extensive list of dangers that exist each time we log onto Facebook! Did you realize all the temptations that Facebook opens up for you? I honestly did not the first time I created my account. Yet – as I sat down to write this post these thoughts came pouring out of my mind in rapid fire. Why? Because I’ve either participated in the above sins or have been troubled as I have watched Christian sisters pulled into these danger zones.

Dear Christian sisters – we are followers of Christ – our Facebook accounts must reflect this! We are the salt and light of the world – our Facebook updates must look different from the rest of the worlds.

I’m not saying that every status update must be a Bible verse or hymn. BUT I am saying that our lives are not our own. We belong to Jesus and so our finger tapping must reflect his heart – not ours. Let’s let Jesus permeate everything we do – from loving our husbands and children to hanging out on the front porch. Pray for your friends, encourage them, be bold and share what you read in your quiet time, respond to friends in crisis, connect with missionaries and encourage them, pass on a blog link to a blog post you read today (hint hint lol!!!), or a youtube that speaks truth into your friend’s lives.

And a good rule of thumb to follow is – no Facebook until you’ve read THE BOOK and have had some face to face time with your Heavenly Father. You will need to be saturated in his truth to handle the onslaught of temptation and ministry that is presented to you everyday on Facebook. I’m praying for you sisters! Let’s make a difference for the glory of God on Facebook!

Walk with the King!

This is linked to Titus 2sdays, We Are That Family, Raising Homemakers and A Holy Experience.

Today’s post is a part of the “Put Your House In Order” Series. Please visit the ladies below!

Organizing With a Label Maker - Smockity Frocks
Spring Inspired Blocks Tutorial- The Casabella Project
Trail Mix With Fruit Seeds and Chocolate - Good Cheap Eats
Spring Cleaning Your Finances – Kingdom First Mom

Filed Under: Community, Facebook, Friendships, Modesty, Putting Your House In Order

Spring Fashions and Modesty

March 7, 2011 By Courtney 43 Comments

(This image is taken from NewYork&Company.com. This is one of my favorite stores where I shop the sale rack.)

The fashion magazines are at it again. They entice us with the newest and hottest summer trends and along with that they usher in a vast array of immodest and indecent clothing.

Malls are packed with clothes that do not cover the body in a modest way. I’ll be honest, I have those moments where I take an outfit to the dressing room, try it on, realize it’s immodest but love it. Then the war begins in my mind. “It’s not so bad. Maybe I could just wear it on vacation where no one from church would see me?”… These are tempting thoughts that end in dishonor to God if I believe them.

In Genesis 3:1-7 we see Satan tempted Eve to take the fruit. He did not put the fruit in her hand and he certainly did not put the fruit into her mouth. All Satan did was tell Eve lies and she became a believer of those lies. Then Eve saw the fruit with her eyes, took it with her hands and then ate it. Then she became Adam’s tempter.

So often we as women – first see the fashion trends and in our desire to be attractive begin to buy into the lies that immodesty is attractive. So just as Eve, we see the clothes and desire to have them. Once we have bought into Satan’s lies it won’t be long before the clothes are hanging in our closet and we are tempting men to have impure thoughts by our sinful choices.

So what is a Christian woman to do?

In I Timothy 2:9 and10 we are told what to adorn ourselves with. “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes but with good works, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”

Here’s the challenge: add a fashion accessory to your spring wardrobe – “good works”! Do you have this accessory ready for the spring season?

Jerry Bridges calls good works – “deliberate deeds that are helpful to others” (The Practice of Godliness). They are acts of kindness that are evidence of our salvation. These are essential for a godly woman to have.

So here are a couple of questions I’ve borrowed from CJ Mahaney that we as women need to consider:

Which do you think about more – shopping or good works?

What are you most noticed for – what you wear or your kind deeds?

What is most eye-catching about you – your clothing or your character?

The woman who is seeking to gain attention and praise for her physical body, as an immodest woman does, is not seeking to glorify God but herself. A godly woman who is devoted to good works will reflect glory back to God.

I want to encourage you to clothe yourself with good works this spring –let your inner beauty radiate and God will be glorified.

Walk with the King!

Today’s post is a part of the “Put Your House In Order” Series. Please visit the ladies below!

This post is linked to Raising Homemakers and We Are That Family.

Simple Spring Cleaning Tips - The Casabella Project
Welcome Spring to Your Kitchen - Good Cheap Eats
Spring Cleaning Your Finances – Kingdom First Mom
Spring Cleaning with Kids – Smockity Frocks

Filed Under: Modesty, Putting Your House In Order

What Sundays Were Like In the 1950′s

September 22, 2010 By Courtney 57 Comments

On the Rachael Ray Show I was dubbed a “1950′s Wife“. But my grandmother (pictured above), a mother of 4 (one baby is not born yet in this photo), is the REAL 1950′s wife. She is ALSO a Proverbs 31 woman.

Let’s take a look at what her Sundays looked like compared to ours.

Life was different in the 50′s. In Ohio, there was a Blue Law that required stores and most places of work and business to be closed. This made it possible for most people to be in church. My father recalls that almost everyone went to church. This social expectation even crossed into the classroom. My father recalls his public school 5th grade teacher asking on Monday mornings who went to church and they had to raise their hands. His family sometimes missed and he was a little embarrassed he couldn’t raise his hand – could you imagine that now in our schools?

My grandmother usually spent her Saturdays preparing for her Sunday day of rest. This meant that she cooked her Saturday meals (usually simple hamburgers) plus her Sunday meal (usually a roast and sheet cake). After attending church on Sundays, she merely reheated the prepared food and served it.

Following the meal they spent time with friends and relatives. They would talk and visit all afternoon and then return back to Sunday evening church. My father’s family would often go on a Sunday drive to look at the countryside or skip rocks in a lake.

Sunday dress was very different. Men would not even consider going to church without a suit jacket and tie. Even the little boys (as pictured above) wore suit coats. And on 90+ degree days, in churches with no air-conditioning, the men just sat there sweating. The women also wore their best dresses and shoes and hats too.

What can we learn from Sundays in the 1950′s?

1. Worship must be a number one priority. It has become culturally acceptable to not attend church on Sundays (and trust me no teachers are asking!) or to miss for less than urgent reasons. Sports, amusement parks, boating, or doing yard work is generally an acceptable way in our culture to spend our Sunday mornings. While we do not have a legalistic God – and this list is rather legalistic, I just want to point out that God’s word says these things must not be a “habit”. I do not want to impose needless guilt on anyone – so the question you need to ask yourself is – “is this a one time thing or a habit?” Only you can answer that question for yourself.

Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Acts 20:7 says “On the first day of the week they came together to break bread.”

2. Prepare ourselves for the day of worship. Your temperament on Sundays affects your families and their ability to enjoy Sundays. If your mornings are CRAZY and everyone is on edge because you have not prepared on Saturdays – nor gotten up early enough on Sundays – determine to set time aside on Saturdays to have all your ducks in a row. Proverbs 31:27 says a wise woman “watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Do not let your idleness on Saturday night effect the Lord’s Day of worship. Be diligent.

3. Make Sundays a family day. Our culture is very active and busy. Families become disjointed as each individual does their own thing. Families are breaking down as a result. Sundays are a great day to slow down and reconnect. Be purposeful in thinking through how you can create a simple day for the family to be together.

4. Dress your best. Now again – here’s where I do not want to cross the line into legalism. I know in many churches jeans are acceptable and God truly is judging our hearts not our outer wear BUT that being said. Put some thought and time into what your family wears on Sundays. If you were going to meet the President today – what would you wear? Be sure you don’t respect the President more than God. More importantly – modesty is a HUGE issue in church today. In the 50′s women were modest in church. If you are a mommy of little ones – be sure your dresses are not too low or too short. Too often men get an eye full when moms are leaning down to pick up babies. I know it can be completely unintentional. Just guard your body and modesty. Double check your dresses by leaning over in the mirror – if cleavage shows – put a tank on under your dress.

I don’t want to return to the 1950′s, but I do think there are a few things we can learn from the Titus 2 women of the 50′s. Try to implement one of these things this Sunday! I’m working on number 2 – being more prepared so the mornings can go real smoothly. What do you need to work on?

Walk with the King!

I am linked up here today: