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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Modesty Survey

   Quoted from the homepage of The Modesty Survey: "The Modesty Survey is an exciting, anonymous discussion between Christian guys and s who care about modesty. Hundreds of Christian s contributed to the 148-question survey and over 1,600 Christian guys submitted 150,000+ answers, including 25,000 text responses, over a 20-day period in January 2007.".


   The survey has been endorsed by Albert Mohler and Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and I read through most of it myself and found it quite fascinating! There were some questions asked that I never would have thought of on my own! It was so informative for me as a mother to hear from these young men now that we have a son to guard and guide into the future and you can filter the answers by age so it was even beneficial to me as a lady to hear how my "peers" thought on certain subjects, though I will still, of course, always turn to my God and my husband for the final say.



   As a young , I am ashamed to say, I was not exactly a firm role for modesty. By "worldly" standards I did pretty well for the most part, but there were certain things I would do or wear that I never even imagined as being immodest. But praise God that we don't have to be stuck in our thoughtless ways! He enables us to grow and mature in Him as we do in life and to put away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11). You won't see many pictures of my young teenage years on this blog because the choices I made in hair and makeup make me want to roll my eyes!
   I yearn to raise our girls to delight in modest femininity, not to see how much they can dress like the world before crossing the line but to see how far away from it they can stay without wearing potato sacks and sticking out like a sore thumb (2 Corinthians 6:17) ;).



   We have spent a lot of time studying the Bible and seeking godly council in the area of clothing and a few years ago we made the transition to dresses/skirts for the girls/ladies of the family. We don't see it as a legalism thing, you're going to get to heaven if you have truly accepted Jesus as your Savior no matter what you wear. For us, we see it as the easiest way to keep from being a stumbling block to our brothers in Christ, when worn at the right length with the right blouse, of course, as we strive to live in a way that the Word of God be not blasphemed  (2 Corinthians 6:3&6, 1 Corinthians 8:9, Titus 2:5).

  We still have a long way to go before we have it all figured out. After all, that won't happen until we get to Heaven where we will be able to see everything clearly (1 Corinthians 13:12). Praise be to God for His patience and forbearance with us.  

   Some additional neat links on feminine dress can be found under the Femininity and Modesty heading at Ladies Against Feminism. A few of my favorites are Through the Week In Feminine Dress!Wearing Dresses Gracefully and Dressing EverydayNoble Womanhood also has a neat collection of articles on their website labeled under Modesty and Femininity  A couple of other interesting resources are The Language of the Christian's Clothing, a 2-part sermon by S.M Davis, Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard, available in either book or CD form, and Raising Maidens of Virtue, a beautiful book for mothers and daughters by Stacy McDonald.



In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; ~1 Timothy 2:9A   
  

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Picture Day

   It takes a very special person to be good at children's photography. Lee used to be a professional children's photographer but he gave up that position for promotions and eventually left the company all together so he could be home more often. So now he really only takes pictures of our children...which can seem like a full time job some days ;).



You want me to hold it down here?


Here Daddy, you can have it...


Oh look! It comes apart!!!


...smells good too.


Ho hum..


Got it!!! :)

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

We Have a Sitter!



   He's still a bit shaky at it, but he sat long enough for me to take a couple (dozen?) pictures, which is a big deal because my battery was going out so it took awhile for the camera to prepare to take the next one.
   Lee spent some time the day after Valentine's Day taking some pictures for me. I'll share some of the girls in another post sometime, here are a couple of Andrew...





   Bethani has heard "Andrew" and "chubby" in the same sentence so often that when I pulled up his pictures she pointed and shouted, "There Shubby! There Shubby!" ;). Bri posted another picture of him on her blog.
   Remember when I posted about him sleeping through the night? Well, that lasted just long enough for me to get used to it...the last couple of weeks there have been nights I couldn't tell if he has really slept or not! His sleeping habits are actually worse now than when he was a few weeks old! I've hit a phase where one day seems to fade into another...Sleep? What's that? It was a total shock, we haven't had a problem with sleep at this age with the last couple of babies. I just remind myself when he wakes up for the umpteenth time...this is precious bonding time...this is precious bonding time...this is precious bonding time... ;). And it truly is, I really don't mind, I'm just in a constant state of tired in this life season.
   We decided to go with white for Andrew's purity rose, you can read more on what I'm talking about here if you missed it. I was afraid of yellowing with age but nothing else was "right", white symbolizes purity. The idea is he will "collect" one every year and on his wedding day he will add one red rose on his own to present them to her, red and white together symbolize unity. Here is a picture sure to melt the heart of my future daughter-in-law (Lord willing there is one, of course)...



My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. ~Proverbs 23:26

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Over the River...

...and through the woods
to Grandmother's house we go!



Or, Lee's preferred caption...
Beep, Beep, Vroom, Vroooom...



We hadn't seen Lee's grandmother for over
five years, our family has grown a bit in that
time ;). It was a very special reunion with a
very special lady :).



We pray that God will continue to bless us in
giving our girls strong family ties for our good
and His glory :)!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Yeah...

Bethani loves cream cheese....
Bethani just learned how to open the fridge...
What a mess...

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Give Me Thine Heart...

   We are raising our children to expect the principles of courtship, as we see portrayed in the Bible,  to be the guide to their future relationships. We discovered the principles of courtship a few years ago and our first problem was, we do not know anyone who lives by them in our community. How, we asked ourselves, were we going to make sure the girls understood the why and how so deeply that when they came of age (they are only 9 years and younger now) they would hold these practices and beliefs as their own? We didn't want to "drag" them through the experience. Of course we talk about it anytime the subject comes up and we know people through long distance relationships who believe as we do but we wanted to come up with something "special". And then Valentine's Day came around. A week before Valentine's Day it all kind of came together for us, Lee bought a tiny box of chocolates and a rose for each (Only Bri and Tori at the time). The night of February 14th he read the story of Issac and Rebecca to them and explained the concept of courtship and that that was going to be a picture of how they would get to the marriage altar (family involvement, no one-on-one dating, etc.) . After he explained these things he asked each to give him their heart, handing them their rose as they answered he prayed with them, then they got chocolate ;). This year will be the third time that we get to share this beautiful tradition with our daughters. Ladies, I can't tell you how special it is to watch this little ceremony between a father and his daughters.



     Tori~ February 14, 2005   

   This will be the first year that we have a boy for Valentine's Day and we have decided that we will be giving Andrew an artificial rose each year and keep each of them for him to give to his future wife on their wedding day as a symbol of his purity and commitment to her. We thought of drying real flowers but I didn't like the idea of Andrew having to give his future helpmate something dead on the first day of their new life together, I thought the symbolism of something that can last practically forever was more fitting.    


   Daddy's are so important in the lives of their children. My children are so blessed to have a daddy who loves them and goes out of his way to teach and guide them. I am so blessed to have a husband who loves, protects and provides for me and who makes it a point to use his time to show his love and concern for us. I love you Honey!!!

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. ~Proverbs 23:26


Saturday, February 3, 2007

Guess What I Got For My Anniversary...

   A tooth. Well, not me personally, Andrew did. Yes, at 4 months and 4 days Andrew popped his first tooth, on our anniversary, and we didn't even know he was teething. Looking back the fact that he's been really hard to get to sleep the last few night makes sense now. Lee took us out for Mexican and I was calmly eating my taco salad when I hear Lee exclaim, "The boy has a tooth!!!". And so begins the demise of the toothless baby grin... <sniff, sniff>. On the bright side, those "toothy" grins are awfully cute too ;).


10 Years and Counting...Our Blessings

   Lee and I joined hands and hearts ten years ago today. We have quite a testimony. I hope to share it some day but today I just want to celebrate this beautiful milestone in our lives, praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!! Neither Lee nor I would have ever dreamed that day ten years ago where we would end up at this point in our lives. Homeschooling, not likely. Voluntarily climbing "down" the "ladder of success"?! Ummm, no. Family UNplanning?! We would have called ourselves crazy :)! We are where we are today because I am married to a very good man, I always knew I was, even in those really dark days. We are where we are today because I stopped trying to tell Lee who he was supposed to be, I stepped back and let God tell him. I stopped nagging at my dear husband when the going got tough and let God whisper to his heart. I stopped trying to force my vision on him and God gave him his own. In honor of these things that God has taught me I'm hosting a give-away of Vision Forum's excellent 2 CD set entitled "The Wise Women's Guide to Blessing Her Husband's Vision". This CD has over 100 minutes of exhortation to wives to be a help meet to their husbands, to love, honor and, yes, to obey them. Whether you have a beautiful marriage and simply could use some encouragement in your noble calling as your husband's wife or if your husband isn't quite the leader or visionary that you need, you will get something from hearing this message.

   And here is something fun...if you don't win first prize you still have a chance for coming in second or third!

   Now, here are the rules of the game. Leave me a comment with a blog link or some other way to get a hold of you or you can send me an email (using the "Email Me" link in the sidebar under "Links"). Wow, that's easy ;). If you leave me a mini bio or your favorite piece of marriage advice in a comment or email, I'll enter your name twice. If you leave me a mini bio and your favorite piece of marriage advice in the comment or email I'll enter you three times. Shipping will be on us as well, of course. Comments made after 7:00 A.M. on February 14th, 2007 may not make it into the running so make sure you comment before then! Winners will be announced later that morning of the 14th.   

   1st place: "The Wise Women's Guide to Blessing Her Husband's Vision" ~2 CD set
   2nd place: "The Role of Women in the Local Church" CD by Vision Forum
   3rd place: "Christian Modesty And The Public Undressing of America" CD by Vision Forum
   Let me know if you have any questions!

   My favorite marriage advice?
   "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." ~Psalm 127:1   And:
   "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." ~Proverbs 14:1

Friday, February 2, 2007

My Little Kitchen Helpers

   In honor of our 10th Anniversary tomorrow I decided to try something I have never done before, I'm making a cheesecake! This Double Chocolate Italian Cheesecake from Tammy's Recipes. Lee tried for years to get me to taste cheesecake but the whole cheese and cake in the same name was a real turn off to me, I couldn't imagine it would taste half-way decent. Kind of what I thought about carrot cake until I finally had some and I love it too. Yes, Lee likes cheesecake but he also likes pickles, lemons, and coconut (I do not...) so I didn't figure that was a safe way to bet. A couple of years ago I was finally served some at a friends house and, not wanting to be rude, I decided to gag it down. From that moment I have loved cheesecake ;).
   The girls had fun helping...





Especially when it came time to lick the chocolate bowl ;)...



Bethani enjoyed taste testing the chocolate graham cracker crumbs as well. That's something else we've never had before...



Even Andrew helped out, see how good he's being while we all work :)?



But, ugh, the mess...



Every mother's dream...children old enough to load the dishwasher all by themselves, while mommy puts the littles down for their naps...



Ahhh, a clean kitchen again...



The cheesecake isn't done yet, tomorrow I'll have to do the glaze and then we can taste it. If it is good I'll let you know, if it's not it's probably because I didn't know what I was doing and I'll have to try again ;).

Don't forget to check in tomorrow for the details on our give-away!!!

Four Months

Little Boys Are Treasures

Little boys are treasures
Who are worth their weight in gold.
And charm everyone around them
From the time they're minutes old.

They're Mommy's little darling,
They're a special pal to Dad,
And they bring the very happiest days
A family's ever had.


~Author Unknown



                    ...isn't he though???



 "O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy
           
endureth for ever. ~Psalm 136:3"