Cover Up!!....and Look Good!

1 Timothy 2:9
"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel...."

Summer is right around the corner! That means no school, plenty of sunshine, fun, excitement, pool parties and beach parties....and swimsuits. With that in mind, I figured it was time for a blog post on a certain subject: MODESTY.

I will admit, nowadays, when you hear the word "modest," most cringe or run away screaming. Sadly, the word "modesty" is thought of as boring, draby, and plain. Well, I beg to differ. :)

My sisters and I are big advocates of modesty. And we have discovered that you can dress attractively and modern while still honoring Christ with your clothing. As our culture promotes clothing that draws eyes to curves and skin, God, however, commands His people to dress in a way that draws attention to HIM. Showing lots of skin and wearing jeans, skirts, dresses, or blouses that are tight, short, or revealing will eventually cause others to lust after us, thus committing mental adultery with us. (Matthew 5:28) That's serious!!

Back when I was just entering my teenage years and wanting to dress modern and appealing, I struggled with the boundary of "what's okay" and "what's not okay" when buying clothes. I remember a conversation I had with my dad. After showing him an outfit he gently dismissed, I frustratingly said, "Dad, how do I KNOW if something is modest or not? How can I dress modestly and still look pretty and modern?" He said something then that changed my life. He looked at me and said, "Modesty isn't solely about length of dress or how high the neckline is. I'll just say this: if you try, you will. If you try to dress to draw eyes to your body and show off your beauty, then you most definitely will. But if you try to dress modestly and glorifying to the Lord....you will succeed." I have learned that this is true. Modesty is more of a heart and mind issue. If you desire to lead others to HIM, instead of yourself, then you will discover that you will want to dress accordingly. And as you draw nearer to the heart of God, then you will want to cover up. I once heard a wise father say, "Do not give men a preview of what only your husband is meant to see." That goes for the men too!

My sisters and I have learned a fun way to dress cute, fun and attractive while still being modest. We call it "the layering method." When we are given a peice of clothing that is too short or too low, we layer it! We wear tights under it, a shirt over it, a blouse behind it or in front it, and we cover ourselves while still looking fun and modern.

So we encourage you - COVER UP!! Honor our King with your clothes. Cultivate dignity and nobility while leading others to His light - in every way. You can dress attractively without dressing to attract. You can be modest...and still look good!


** Below are some websites where you can buy modest (yet modern!) clothing at reasonable prices!

http://www.purefashion.com/
http://www.diviinemodestee.com/
http://sierrabrooke.com/

Here are three brand new websites that offers tasteful and modest swimsuit apparel:
http://www.shadeclothing.com/
http://www.limericki.com/
http://www.hydrochic.com/

100 Random Things You May Not Know About Me

1. My life revolves around Christ and His ministry, my husband, my family, and my friends. In that order.
2. I drink water more than anything else.
3. I HATE cold weather. With a passion.
4. I dream in color and my dreams are realistic, but I usually forget them the moment I wake up.
5. I'm crazier than people think.
6. One crazy thing I can do pretty well is to "talk in circles" - ask Grant. Ask Melody.
7. My first word was "bear" and I have many of them.
8. I love foreign missions and I want to go to Africa, India, and the Orient sometime in my lifetime.
9. I am terrified of mice. Terrified, I say.
10. I was homeschooled.
11. From the time I was young, I've collected spoons from various states and countries.
12. I've been to Mexico twice and Brazil twice.
13. I've been to Israel.
14. When I was little, I wanted to be a fireman (firewoman?)
15. I decided against it because I'm not too fond of fire.
16. I can say all 66 books of the Bible in order and frequently race my Dad on who can say them the fastest. I still hold the record. :)
17. I'm not a morning person but my husband is currently converting me.
18. I graduated Lake Charles Bible College with a 4.0
19. My ancestry is Irish, French, and German.
20. I love jewelry.
21. I love playing Twister!
22. I absolutely adore my husband.
23. I really want to play the guitar, but I can't seem to make myself practice like I should. (plus, I like my nails)
24. I think Church Camp is the BOMB! Always has been. Some of the funniest memories I have are from late Church camp nights.
25. Regardless of where or what I want to eat, if I'm thirsty, Sonic is where I want to go. And I jump on people when they order a "plain dr pepper." When you're at Sonic, you have to put a flavor in the drink, otherwise, you should just go somewhere else.
26. I love quotes and I want to make a quote book.
27. I thoroughly enjoy movie nights.
28. I can't whistle.
29. I think it would be fun to be on Broadway.
30. There is always a song in my head.
31. My husband is the HOTTEST man alive. Don't argue with me.
32. Melody, Mercy and I quote random lines from random movies.
33. My sisters and I play "Name That Movie" and "Name That Song" and we can beat anyone, I know we can.
34. I LOVE hugs! Genuine ones.
35. I'm very nostaligic.
36. I love falling asleep to the sound of rain.
37. I'm a totally hopeless romantic.
38. I speak to young people a lot in our travels and I've been able to speak in dozens of schools.
39. My biggest platform is purity.
40. I saved my first kiss for my wedding day, and it....was.....WORTH IT!
41. I want 4 kids. 2 boys, 2 girls.
42. I'm secretly in love with chocolate covered strawberries (it's no secret now)
43. BOOKS!! Need I say more?
44. Pride and Prejudice is probably my favorite love story. 
45. I LOVE musicals!!!
46. I can sing and quote Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, State Fair, Oklahoma, Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, Meet Me in St. Louis, etc.
47. Since I've been married, I have enjoyed cooking more than I ever thought possible.
48. I like simple things.
49. I was born in Louisiana (Go Tigers!)
50. But I live in Arkansas (Go HOGS!)
51. Summer breezes make me smile.
52. I have over 200 CDs
52. I love picture frames and photo albums....and pictures. ;)
53. I like candles!
54. When strangers smile at me, I feel like bursting into "....What a Wonderful World!"
55. I wish there could be background music to our life.
56. I want to hold a baby tiger.
57. White tigers are one of my favorite animals.
58. I think deer are beautiful!
59. Larry's Pizza is my favorite pizza place.
60. I've sang in Branson, MO off and on since I was six.
61. My favorite show we had was the WWC show.
62. I can pinch, pick up things, and open doors with my feet.
63. God has blessed me with some amazing friends.
64. My Mom taughth me sign language and I now teach it. I love it!
65. I am still a little girl inside.
66. I still love to swing on swingsets.
67. I enjoy being a girly girl.
68. I LOVE flowers!! Oh my... *blissful smile*
69. Spring and Autumn are my favorite seasons.
70. I can spell antidisestablishmentarianism. See? :)
71. I love singing crazy songs really loud!
72. I love horseback riding on old country roads.
72. I love The Lonely Goatherd song from The Sound of Music.
73. I like bubbles.
74. When I was little (think 7 or 8) I once played Joshua in our Church's Children's play.
75. My Dad has written three Children's plays and we've performed two of them - I Went To Heaven and The Camping Trip. Fun!
76. My favorite hymns are Have Faith In God, To God Be The Glory, I Stand Amazed, Oh What A Savior, and Because He Lives.
77. I love Praise & Worship but, in my opinion, nothing will ever surpass the hymns.
78. I was saved when I was five years old but I wasn't baptized until I was six because I was afraid of the water.
79. I love cleaning. I have to have things clean. I'm not a neat freak, I just like things put up, not thrown everywhere.
80. I HATE doing dishes.
81. I used to love playing truth or dare...until I had to eat chalk. Ever since I've been more of a "truth" person.
82. Cajun fries are the reason I live down south! (or well, one of them)
83. I love wearing PJs!
84. I want to fall more in love with my husband and Jesus every day.
85. I have three books I am working on.
86. Have you tried Edy's fruit bars? On my! They are my favorite summer desert!
87. I hate toe socks.
88. I will come up with excuses to make a cake or brownies just so I can eat the batter. And I've been known to eat half of it, so the cakes sometimes are smaller and the brownies are very often FEWER.
89. Bugs Bunny was my favorite cartoon as a kid and I'll still sing "I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair."
90. One day, Lord willing, I'm going to sponser a child in another country.
91. I've superglued my fingers together more than once.
92. I've always wanted to be the voice of a character in a movie and I think being a veggie on Veggie Tales is ranked with winning an Oscar. :)
93. I enjoy packing ONLY when I'm excited about where I'm going.
94. I like making up words. Like...gorgabeautimatastic! (a combination of words meaning you're looking gorgeous, beautiful, marvellous and fantastic!)
95. I firmly believe that Heaven's angels are the ones who make Dove Chocolate. I have a theory about it that I'll gladly share if you ask me. :)
96. I used to have imaginary friends.
97. Other than my husband, my sisters are my best friends.
98. Sometimes I wish people spoke like William Shakespeare.
99. I have always wanted to go a whole day speaking into a British accent.
100. Life is a blessed gift! And I love living it!

Golden Handcuffs

Hebrews 13:3

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them;
and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

 
Recently (like in the past week) I have heard many stories from young women and girls that has broken my heart. For the past several years, I have had a burden for the girls and young women of my generation as well as the generation coming up behind me. But lately, I have been nearly bombarded by heartwrenching, true-life stories from all over this country that has reminded me of the great need all around us. Last week, I literally sat on my couch in tears after hearing of girls trapped in prostitution, some even being forced by their own parents to pursue such a dark and horrific lifestyle. I heard of girls as young as 13 engaging in premartital sex and trying (yes, trying) to get pregnant, and my heart has broken over and over again seeing the hopelessness and the helplessness of some, and then the total blindness of others.

What do you say to girls like this?

What do you say at all?

How are we supposed to feel when we look into the eyes of a young 15 year old girl who justifies all her choices in life because she "just wants to be happy." What are we to think? How are we to help?

To begin, I think that it is time to wake up! It's time to open our eyes and see what is going on in the world of young girls and women today. It's time to see the recklessness, the waste, the depravity, the loss and, above all, the lack of Jesus Christ - and then DO something about it!

Hearing stories of young women who are trapped in prostitution, wanting to get out, but being afraid for their life to do so should break our hearts and give us a burden to reach out and rescue them from the world they are forced to live in. Hearing stories of young teenage girls, barely old enough to get a learner's permit, getting drunk and getting pregnant should shake us to our core and fuel a desire to extend a hand and help them. They are bound by what I call "golden handcuffs." They are in prison, but their chains look dazzling. So they stay. They are bound, but their bonds are gold....so they remain bound by their own free will. However, there will come a time in every complacent prisoner's life when they awake to the realization that they are actually in torment; that their life is empty. And most, when they see their life for what it is and has become, are so deep in their pit that they don't even try to get out. So they spend their life, remaining in chains...convinced that their life could never be fulfilling; convinced that they have lost all hope of happiness.

They need to be reached!

They need to be helped!

Please pray with me for the countless girls and young women who are lost, lonely, and in need of an advocate; in need of hope; in need of Jesus. And if we are the body of Christ....then don't you think we need to be demonstrating His love and rescuing power?


Matthew 10:6a
But go rather to the lost sheep...

Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

2 Corinthians 4:3
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

PRAY! - as said by E.M. Bounds

What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer. - E. M. Bounds

It is only when the whole heart is gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends, for none but the earnest man gets access to the ear of God. - E. M. Bounds

Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life. It takes twenty years to make a sermon, because it takes twenty years to make the man. The true sermon is a thing of life. The sermon grows because the man grows. The sermon is forceful because the man is forceful. The sermon is holy because the man is holy. The sermon is full of the divine unction because the man is full of the divine unction. - E. M. Bounds

The goal of prayer is the ear of God, a goal that can only be reached by patient and continued and continuous waiting upon Him, pouring out our heart to Him and permitting Him to speak to us. Only by so doing can we expect to know Him, and as we come to know Him better we shall spend more time in His presence and find that presence a constant and ever-increasing delight. - E. M. Bounds

Waiting

The other night during our crusade, Bro. Jack Daniels preached on the storms of life and it touched me. A few years ago, my family went through quite a storm (though I'd like to label it a category 5 hurricane). But in the midst of that on-going battle, though I had my "up" moments and my "down" moments, I found incredible strength in the promises of my Father. It's very easy for those of us who have been brought up in Church, to look at the Scriptures and simply believe that the promises of God are true. But I'm learning that it's when we are at a point in our life where those promises are all we have - it's THEN that we understand them more and see them for what they truly are. We, then, don't just believe they are true, we KNOW they are. We know because we see them and we feel them. Even when things don’t make sense, we're to hold onto the promises of Scripture. 

Hebrews 13:5 -
"...for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Isaiah 45:2 -
"I will go before thee..."

Exodus 14:14 -
"The LORD shall fight for you...."

Deuteronomy 3:22 -
"Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you."

Deuteronomy 20:4 -
"For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you."

Judges 6:16 -
"And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee..."

We so often ask "Why?" We long to know why "this and that" happens. We want answers and we want to see clearly but there are times when we must walk on in the face of the unexplained and incomprehensible. Some things will go unanswered until eternity. What I'm learning more each day is that I must trust Him. I must trust without hesitation, without reservation. I must trust Him implicitly and leave the “why” to His infinite wisdom. My wonderful Savior, who holds the universe in the palm of His hand, sees every tear, knows every fear, and - get this - HE CARES! What a marvelous God! :) He rides the winds and calms the storms. He holds all in his hands.

In life or in death...He is GOD and He is to be praised.

If I wonder why something trying is allowed,
and press for prayer that it may be removed;
if I cannot be trusted with any disappointment,
and cannot go on in peace under any mystery, then I know nothing of Calvary Love.

If the ultimate, the hardest, cannot be asked of me...then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I ask to be delivered from trial rather than for deliverance out of it,
to the praise of His glory;
If I forget that the way of the cross leads to the cross and not to a bank of flowers;
If I regulate my life on these lines, or even unconsciously my thinking,
so that I am surprised when the way is rough and think it is
strange, though the word is, 'Think it not strange,' 'Count it all joy,'
Then I know nothing of Calvary love.
If my attitude be one of fear, not faith....then I know nothing of Calvary Love.

                                - Amy Carmichael

Genesis 28:15 -
"And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

Matthew 28:20 -
"...and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Deny? Never. Burn Me Up!

This woman is one of my biggest heroes. Her story is one of many stories in Christian history that is a glorious testimony to the power of a consecrated life; a life yielded to our God. Taken from my upcoming book, I want to share her story with you....so that you will burn for the name of Jesus Christ!

Maeyken Wens was a young woman who lived in the city of Antwerp in Belgium. She was the wife of a minister and mother of two sons. Known for her faithfulness and devout commitment to the Lord, she was loved by all and considered a God-fearing and pious woman of God. On a spring day in April, in 1573, Maeyken was taken and confined in the severest prison in the city. While in prison, she was pressed and demanded to apostatize her faith. She refused.

She wrote many letters in the following months.

In a letter to her husband, Mattheus, she wrote: We ought to thank the Lord in adversity as well as in that which is agreeable to the flesh; for if the Lord takes all from us, He takes from us no more than what He has lent us, for it belongs to us no longer….Oh that I could always thank the Lord as well when the flesh suffers adversity, as when it prospers - then we can thank the Lord indeed…


Truly the Lord has said, "He that does not forsake everything is not worthy of me;" for the Lord well knew that it would come hard to the flesh. But I hope that the Lord will also help me through even as He has helped many, and for which I can simply trust Him. Oh, how easy it is to be a Christian, so long as the flesh is not put to the trial, or nothing has to be relinquished; then it is an easy thing to be a Christian.

Through months of severe torture, she continued to remain steadfast and unmovable. Her faith did not falter throughout physical torments, and no matter how many tried to persuade her to renounce the name of Christ, she would not be swayed. After six months, her sentence finally came and she was to be burned at the stake in the public square of the prison. The execution was to be carried out within twenty-four hours.

Though trembling in the flesh, Maeyken was fearless in spirit. That night, she wrote a final farewell. To faithful friend and fellow Christian, she wrote: I do not have much, and hence I cannot give much. And now I can also not write much, because I have been sentenced; nevertheless I was so full of joy, that I should not be able to express it with the mouth, the Lord be forever praised for, the great grace He has shown me, who has feared so much. Oh, what a strong God we have, compared with what we see the wicked have. Oh, let us have good courage; we shall devour our enemies like bread.

To her eldest son, Adriaen, she wrote: Oh, regard not the great multitude, or the ancient custom, but look at the little flock, which is persecuted for the word of the Lord, for the good persecute none, but are persecuted.…My dear son, be not afraid of this suffering; it is nothing compared to that which shall endure forever. The Lord takes away all fear…

The following morning, she was brought out for her execution.

To prevent her from testifying to the crowd or singing songs of praise, her tongue was fastened to her palate with an iron screw. While the witnesses gathered, she was placed at the stake and then burned to ashes. Her son, Adriaen, was among the onlookers. However, he lost consciousness and remained on the ground until the execution had been carried out. When he awoke, he went to the place where his mother had been burnt and dug into the ashes until he found the screw which had held fastened his mother’s tongue shut. He kept it in remembrance of her.

Maeyken Wens was a true heroine and valiant servant of Jesus Christ. While most people would have tried every excuse to avoid such a horrific death, Maeyken did not flinch at the verdict. Though many would have begged for mercy, she did not. Her name lives on to this day.

It goes without saying that men and women like Maeyken Wens had tapped into a supernatural, unexplained power that transformed their very existence and shook the watching world. They were unmovable followers of Christ. In the midst of intense pain and torture, they fixed their focus upon the God they had forsaken all to serve. While we boast of our faithful attendance at Church, they risk everything simply by believing. While we shy away from persecution, they welcome it as a privilege. While we think of every plea bargain and loophole to prevent any discomfort, they stand firm upon the Word of God that says “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us”

Missions Quotes

"'Not called!' did you say?
'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.

Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. — William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army


Friday, my fiance' joined my uncle, my aunt, my cousin and a team from Branson, MO and flew to El Salvador where they will spend a week doing all they can to lead souls to Christ. And I say amen! My only problem is that I'm not walking the streets with them. But God wants me here and so I am content. But my thoughts and prayers are over there with them as they speak, preach, sing, and share the love of our great God.

All of us are commanded to GO! You may not be called to go work and serve in Africa, India, Haiti, China, or El Salvador, but you are told to GO! It could be your backyard; Your school, your home, your work, etc.  If you are unable, then send someone or pray for those who do. In some form or fashion, in some way - we are to reach people for Christ. I pray you will GO!

"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" — John Keith Falconer

"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" — Hudson Taylor

"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him" — Hudson Taylor

"Is not the commission of our Lord still binding upon us? Can we not do more than now we are doing?" — William Carey

"The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." — Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia

"We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it" — P.F. Bresee, founder of the Church of the Nazarene

"In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been" — Robert Moffat, who inspired David Livingstone

"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?" — David Livingstone

"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." — Keith Wright

"This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!" — Keith Green

"If God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king" — Jordan Grooms

"If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death." — Dave Davidson

"In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions?" — Dave Davidson

"People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives ... and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." — Nate Saint, missionary martyr

"Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real action is — where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge." — Robert C. Shannon

"I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!" — Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand