Modesty

I've always tried to instill, in my daughters, an appreciation for their bodies and their future husbands, (if they get married someday) through modesty. As my sons get older, I realize how important it is for them as well. Not just to respect and appreciate a woman's modesty, but to practice their own.

Too often I hear discussions on women as objects and about the current lack of modesty among many women. How, when women choose not to use modesty, they put our christian brothers in a place of temptation. Of course, each of us has our own perspective of what modesty is. To some, they immediately think of a woman completely covered from head to toe. To others, it simply means to cover what we were once taught were our privates. And we always seem to think it is a woman's responsibility.

I ask, what about the men? Shouldn't they also practice modesty to protect women from temptation? Are we not also sexual beings, drawn to the physique of a man? I know I am!

I met  a man recently, who believed he should be able to wear a speedo, without question or persecution. After all, women walk around in swimsuits that look like undergarments all the time. If they can, then he should as well. That is equality. He has a point. We are all equally responsible for how we treat our bodies and represent them to others.

Modesty isn't just for the ladies.

Growing Spiritualy

It never ceases to amaze me, how faithful God is. Today was a rough day. It was one of "those" days. It left me feeling inadequate as a mother, frustrated with my parenting and with my children, and wondering "What do I do? How can things change?"

I will admit, I'm a fan of the Duggars. I think they are an inspiration and willing tools for God. The kids and I watched a couple of their episodes last night after church. I'm thankful I did. One episode showed their son Jackson climbing on things, jumping off things, and well, being a boy! Earlier that day, I had dealt with my sons running around chasing each other and wrestling in a small crowded room as I tried to register my oldest blessing for the upcoming soccer season. I could feel the eyes upon me and could only imagine what people were thinking. As I stood in line thinking about this, God spoke to my heart and reminded me, at home this stuff is funny. Maybe it wasn't the best location for their shenanigans, but the fact is they were doing what little boys do. I could worry about what everyone else might be thinking, or I could lighten up and praise God that I'm so richly blessed, knowing that later it would be funny to look back on.

This morning however, was just not a happy one. Remembering to "lighten up" fell off my radar as I went through the same old teeth pulling with my girls about being active team players in the house keeping. It got worse when my younger daughter turned in her overdue book report and I read it. It was pretty much exactly what the back of the book said with a few things changed here and there... In some ways, I can look on that now and find humor in it and even a sense of pride. Not over the fact that she lied, but over her cleverness. Unfortunately for her, I know that trick and she now has to redo her book report.

I hate fighting with my kids and feel like it has become a theme in our home, especially with the girls. I dread the day the hormones really start to fly around this house.

In my discouragement, I wondered what do the Duggars do to make it all work. Is there hope for my family, or did the past mistakes my husband and I have made ruin everything? I went to their website and God showed me what I've been looking for. Answers to the "What do I do? How can things change." and He even opened my eyes to show me, I do more than I realize.

I hope that I can take what He has revealed to my heart and allow it to bear fruit. My first goal in making this change is to learn how to praise my children 10 times more than I correct them. I know I praise my kids some, but I do way more correcting and yelling, nagging, and complaining than I do praising.

I am in awe at how excited God is to watch me grow and to be what grows me. Along with these things, God also answered the question in my heart. "Why is it that I can't go a week outside of his word or church, without it feeling like I've grown so distant from Him." The answer? When we take our focus off of what is eternal, we're left focusing on the things of this world. When the things of the world become our priority, we turn from God, towards our carnal desires and our flesh grows stronger while our spirit grows weaker. The wolf within us that we feed will be the wolf that thrives. (paraphrased of course)

It's Time to Grow and Go

This year, I decided to do a "bible in a year" challenge. I've had weeks where I've not read, weeks where I've tried to catch up, and weeks where I've been ahead. What does that mean? I've not been reading regularly. It also means, I haven't really put much into my faith. It hasn't been a daily quest for me to grow in God's word.

Sure I pray every day, but many times it seems to be a pretty generic prayer. Not much in the way of really conversing with my Abba Father.

I go to church pretty much every time there is a service. I even participate in different church ministries. Once I leave the building, though, the world is ready and waiting to consume me once again.

As I've mentioned before, I've been participating in a bible study group this year, also. We started with the book "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. When I had my baby, I stopped participating in the group for a bit, but continued reading through to the end of the book. It's a really good book about the Holy Spirit. As I read it, I began to question how I look at, and react to, God's Holy Spirit. My birthday was during my "hiatus" from bible study and my oldest blessing got me another book to read. "Follow Me" by David Platt. This is another book worth reading. I'm about half way through it. It has me questioning my life as a Christian. It goes hand in hand with what I've been feeling weigh on my heart lately.

At church we've been doing a series called "Body Building" (you can listen to it at the church website. http://tecumseh-ag.org/) In the bible study group, we are studying the book of Hebrews. And on my own, I've been devouring the bible in the past week or so. The more I feed on the word of the Lord the more I realize something.

I want to go deeper.

I want to know what the bible truly says. I want to understand what it means. I want to really know my God. The one I claim is my Lord and savior.

What is the point of claiming to be a Christian if I'm not devoted to the one that Christianity is all about?

I read about Moses, Ruth, Esther, David, Daniel, Peter, Paul, Stephen, etc... and I think "Why are they so important that they are in this book?" "What is so special about them?"

The answer? Their character. Did they sin, yes. We're ALL sinners. "For ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!" Romans 3:23 In spite of that, these people hungered and thirsted after righteousness. They desired to be with God and in God. To have God be in them. Not to say we are gods. I don't believe that. But we are a part of our Heavenly Father. After all, God breathed life into us.

I want to be like these people. People who did whatever they could to serve the Lord. That even when they fell, they cried out to Him to pick them back up again. Who were bold and courageous and couldn't help but speak gloriously of His name.

It is His command that we share the good news through out the whole world, that ALL may hear and be saved.

I don't want the kool-aid, make everyone happy, kind of Christianity anymore. I want to have true Christianity. A deep spiritual relationship with God, a desire to go forth and grow and share and bring the blessing of good news to all who will hear. To turn from the ways of the world and chase after Him who made all things. For if I am in Him I am no longer part of this world. The things we treasure here on Earth, in this life, mean so little in the grand scheme of things. Money, materials, status, what is it worth when we are dead? It doesn't matter if you believe in an after life or not, these things are useless once you depart from this existence

We sing songs in church all the time and along with the radio, but do we truly mean what the words are saying? We pray, but is it superficial? Christians, what are we living for? God or the world? Can others truly see that we belong to our King? Or do we look just like everyone else?

Maybe you aren't a Christian and you think this is all pretty crazy, God is still your Lord even if you don't believe He is your savior. And the truth is, you can't really know Him just by looking at those who claim they do. If you really want to know the truth about God, read the bible and ask God who He really is. To show Himself to you. God will answer you.