Awesome babywearing scene!

Tonight I took the littles out (Michael and Jacob aren't home from Australia yet [they'll be home late tonight!!!!] so I only have the other 2) so I could gas up the van, grab a coffee and get our mail. We were driving back from Starbucks when I spotted an awesome babywearer!!

There was a family (mom and 3 children) who looked to be of African descent (the mom seemed she might have grown up there because of some cultural things I noticed) walking on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road... let me paint you a picture:

9ish year old boy in front carrying a box on his head. A girl that seemed a couple years younger than the boy, carrying a grocery sack. Then mom with a young child (1 or 2 y/o) in a sling on her back - mom was also carrying a grocery bag in one hand and had another sack balanced on her head! The mom was dressed in what seemed to be cultural attire (long, printed skirt and matching top, with some sort of head covering).

It truly was an awesome and moving sight. Beyond the fact that her older two seemed very well behaved and they were out on foot walking along the sidewalk of a very busy street (Academy for you locals), they were not ashamed of their culture/heritage.

As I drove away from the light, I began to ponder her uniqueness and how extremely practical those things are. Truly, it might be beneficial if we all had proper posture and stride so we could balance things on our heads! How many times have you seriously wished you had an extra arm or two? And wearing the baby, well, we all know some of the benefits to babywearing (closeness, security for baby, free hands for mom, etc.). Modesty in dress, that doesn't really need an explanation.

** I do not personally know this family and cannot attest to anything about them. My speculation of ethnic origin is based on the cultural things I noticed and the very beautiful, dark skin tone they all had. I could be COMPLETELY wrong and I am aware of that. It's just a hypothesis, OK?**

A call to modesty - Part 2

If you missed my first post in this series, you can find it here.

This post is bound to cause some controversy because I will be discussing the very sensitive topic of what we should be wearing. My prayer is that you will be open to my views and read this post with an open heart and mind, you can disagree as much as you'd like. I will not judge anyone who doesn't see things as I do. Please keep in mind, much of this comes from my own personal conviction and God doing some works in me that require me to be completely obedient to His will in this area of my life before He can open the doors to the things I see coming!!

I will be discussing 2 things today:
* Adornment (jewelry, makeup, etc.)
* Clothing

Adornment:

This is a very difficult subject for most Christians (myself included). I definitely don't want to tell you something that isn't in alignment with God's word and I also don't want to be too careful to be 'politically correct' because following God's word and instruction isn't about pleasing the world (Romans 12:2), it's about being pleasing in God's eye. No one will stand in judgment for my life other than me and all I can do is strive to be what He calls me to be.

I'll try to tackle makeup first:

There aren't any specific references in the Bible where anyone is instructed to wear/not wear makeup. There are several references to painting of faces/eyes, etc. and the references lean to both good and bad.

The Bible does tell us:

3- Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. 4- You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 1 Peter 3:3-4 NLT

No where in that scripture does it give a specific command of do or don't, but it does say don't be concerned. One commentary I read in the Full Life Study Bible - KJV says that "gaudy, showy or expensive adornment is contrary to the spirit of modesty that God desires for the Christian wife." This doesn't mean that we are not to wear makeup at all, it simply says to me that we are to be cautious and not let the significance of looking a certain way overtake the true spirit God intends us to have - one of discretion and meekness.

A woman who is beautiful but lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout. Proverbs 11:22 NLT

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself
with crimson, though deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest
thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will
despise thee, they will seek thy life. Jeremiah 4:30 KJV

These two passages speak to vain attempts to 'beautify' oneself. What we show on the outside is a direct reflection of what we are on the inside. The old adage 'don't judge a book by it's cover' really doesn't hold true for those of us professing to be believers in God's word because one should be able to tell just by looking at me that I'm different and if I'm modest on the outside, I'm most likely that way on the inside. Again, I have found no direct references to whether we should or should not 'paint our faces', but I have found numerous passages cautioning us to be careful not to do such things in vain attempts to beautify ourselves or our selfserving nature.

For me: I do wear makeup. I do not wear a lot of makeup. I've even cut out a couple of things that I was wearing - over the years I had let myself add too many 'enhancements' to my makeup routine. I personally wear foundation, blush, a tad bit of eyeshadow and mascara. Nothing dramatic.

Jewelry is next....

Again, I find lots of references in the Bible where jewelry is seen as a good thing and then references (usually to LOTS of jewels/pieces) where jewelry is seen as bad. I have the same thought on discretion and vanity as I do of makeup. What is our purpose for wearing jewelry? Obviously wedding bands and watches have a direct purpose, but I'm talking about necklaces, earrings, etc.

The following scriptures are examples of good adornment and examples of our husbands adorning us with whatever he sees fit for us to wear.

And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2 KJV

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my sould shall be joyful in my god; for
he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a
bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 KJV

And it came to pass, as teh camels had done drinking, that the man took a
golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten
shekels weight of gold. . . Genesis 24:22 KJV

Ah, so you can see why this is such a conflicting area for most Christians. My prayer would be that you look inside yourself for the reasons why you wear the adornments you do. I cannot tell you personally if what you are doing is correct or pleasing to God because I do not know your heart. I can say for me that I was putting too much emphasis on my jewelry until recently and I now see that even though I wasn't wearing all that much it was definitely for the wrong reasons. Do I still wear jewelry other than my wedding band and watch? It's about 50/50 and really depends on if I think that extra piece of jewelry will call too much attention to me or not. Mostly these days any extra jewelry is a necklace - I haven't changed my earrings in ages and they are very simple small hoops, most days (if my hands aren't swollen - 3rd trimester...) I also wear a ring that was my mother's when she was younger on my right hand.

Clothing

This has actually been a very simple concept for me to grasp. To some it will seem not-so-simple and maybe there are others of you that will come to the same conclusion I have. God convicted me in this area before any of the others and when I started researching everything (to make sure it really was God's will for my life and not the enemy trying to pull me into some trap) it almost seemed like a no brainer for me.

In my last post I discussed what modesty really is and how it pertains to every area of our life. I also discussed some specifics, such as what should be covered, but I didn't really go much further than that.

In my research, I've come to realize that women in "Bible days" wore robes that were long and flowing and were very different from the garments men wore. Here's some research I found on that subject and the difference between the garments men and women wore. It's worth reading the entire post, but if you just want the specifics on the type of garments worn, you'll need to scroll down to the 12th section (they're not numbered, so you'll just have to count them off!!).

From reading the section in the link above you've discovered how different the apparel for men and women was and it's only evolved to what it currently is in the last 60 or so years. Before that, most women would never have dreamed of wearing 'crotched garments' such as shorts or pants because they would be looked at as being in men's clothing.

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a
man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all that do so are an
abomination unto the Lord thy God. Deuteronomy 22:5 KJV

In my opinion (and for my personal life) that sums it up pretty well for me. Crotched garments (pants, shorts, etc.) are not to be worn by women and this is most likely because they actually show the countours of our body (legs, bottom, crotch area, etc.). It doesn't stop at just wearing a skirt ladies, skirts can be inappropriate also. Remember in my last post where I quoted Matthew 5:28 where it says that any man who looks at a woman lustfully has already comitted adultery.... well, skirts and shirts that are too tight, shirts that are low cut or see through/thin are also out because they give a man ample opportunity to look at you in that lustful way (and only my husband should EVER be privy to those seeing those parts of my body exposed by inappropriate clothing).

My opinion about skirts is that they should be at least knee length and here's why:

2- Take the millstones, and grind meal; uncover thy locks,
make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3-Thy nakedness
shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I
will not meet thee as a man. Isaiah 47:2-3 KJV

The thigh being uncovered is likened to nakedness.

Here's the actual definition of the term 'thigh' from http://www.dictionary.com/:
1. the part of the lower limb in humans between the hip and the knee.

To me that explains pretty simply that the thigh extends all the way to the knee and all of it should be covered.

Here's my one dilemma in all of this...

I am currently VERY pregnant and expecting #3 in just over 3 weeks. I own a grand total of 4 skirts that I can wear at this point. One of them is completely casual and mid-calf length and I love it, however, I cannot wear it every day - it does need to be washed occasionally! The other skirts I own are a lot more dressy and come just below my knee cap - still appropriate, only I don't feel comfortable 'dressing up' every day to play around the house with my kids. I would really hate for one of them to get torn or a stain and then be unwearable. And there is absolutely no point in buying any more maternity clothing this late in the game - that would be unwise use of our money because I may never wear them again after this pregnancy (because we do not know yet if it is God's will for us to have any more children).

I have spent much time in prayer over this and feel like God is directing me (at least until I can get back into my regular clothes - of which I have plenty of knee length or longer skirts to choose from) that no matter what, I am NOT to expose anything above the knee and the more 'flowy' (ie. not fitted or exposing countours) the better. I have a couple of pairs of capris and 2 pairs of very skirt-like gaucho pants that I've been wearing until this baby arrives.

Whew...

Ok, I'm going to leave you now with some other resources that I've found - please note that I may not agree with everything in each of these articles/posts but have found them very informative and they have lots of great research in them.

* The Bible's Dress Code

* Modest Dress of Christian Females

* Modesty, A Matter of Heart (there is a box on this page with the links to the actual articles)

* Biblical Modesty

* Jewelry, does the Bible say it's a sin?

* The Christian's Dress and Adornment

A call to modesty - Part 1

When you hear the word 'modest' what immediately comes to mind? I imagine most people (certainly not everyone) think of women and clothing. You probably think of clothing that doesn't show too much of this or that. Most people probably wouldn't go much further in their thinking.

God has been really dealing with me in this area lately. If you know me personally, you might be thinking there's nothing wrong with the way I dress and you are correct, in a sense, from a worldy standard, at least.

Let us examine the basic definition of the word modest from dictionary.com:

1. having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, importance,
etc.; free from vanity, egotism, boastfulness, or great pretensions.
2. free from ostentation or showy extravagance: a modest house.
3. having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior, speech, dress, etc.; decent: a modest neckline on a dress.
4. limited or moderate in amount, extent, etc.: a modest increase in salary.

So, am I to take from this worldy definition that there are more areas to modesty, other than just our outward 'clothing' appearance?

Absolutely!

Today, however, I am going to focus only on the physical appearance factor.

The Bible teaches us the following about our appearance:

A woman must not wear men's clothing, and a man must not wear women's clothing. The Lord your God detests people who do this. Deuteronomy 22:5 NLT

9- And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10- For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 NLT

These are just a couple of the many references to how we should be concerned about our outward appearance. God gives us more confirmation of these standards when teaching us that we are to be covered or modest in our appearance because of the man's wandering eye.

The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband also gives authority over his body to his wife. 1 Corinthians 7:4 NLT

This to me means that there is NO ONE else intended to see certain parts of my body. There are many references in the body to what are acceptable parts to be shown, etc. Here is just one of my findings:

2- Take the millstones, and grind meal; uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3-Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. Isaiah 47:2-3 KJV

This happens during the fall of Babylon. The verses following that passage describe that God is sending judgment for the culture being pagan, self-centered and proud and for living in sensual pleasure and not trusting in God's wisdom. He is telling the daughter of Babylon to expose herself in the manner described and she will be naked. I take from this and other research I've read that God doesn't want us exposing our thigh. But, in Genesis 3:21 after Adam and Eve sinned and realized their nakedness, God made them "coats" of skins to cover themselves. Notice it doesn't say that he just covered the chest of the woman (bra) and genetalia of both (underwear), he gave them a coat to wear, meaning it covered from shoulder to probably past the knee (since in Isaiah it says even the thigh is considered unmodest and I personally believe the thigh to go all the way to the knee).

What are we doing (other than disobeying God and shaming ourselves) when we dress inappropriately? Are we allowing others to look at us in an unGodly way?

But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:28 NLT

Are we helping men to sin? And what is the sacrifice on our part for encouraging men to look at us in this way? Are we shaming our husbands by drawing this attention to ourselves? What husband do you know who wants someone lusting after his wife in that way? Isn't wearing a short skirt, tight or lowcut shirt just inviting a man to look at you in the wrong way?

But there is one thing I want you to know: A man is responsible to Christ, a woman is responsible to her husband, and Christ is responsible to God. 1 Corinthians 11:3 NLT

Is that to say it is dishonoring and disrespectful to my husband for me to expose something private to any other person? Absolutely.

Have you ever noticed that when there is a reference to a prostitute in the Bible, it usually comes along with a description of what she was wearing? Let me give you a few examples:

10- The woman approached him, dressed seductively and sly of heart. 11- She was the brash, rebellious type who never stays at home. 12- She is often seen in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner. Proverbs 7:10-12 NLT

16- Next the Lord will judge the women of Jerusalem, who walk around with their noses in the air, with tinkling ornaments on their ankles. Their eyes rove among the crowds, flirting with the men. 17- The Lord will send a plague of scabs to ornament their heads. Yes, the Lord will make them bald for all to see. 18- The Lord will strip away their artful beauty, their ornaments, headbands, and crescent necklaces; 19-
their earrings, bracelets and veils of shimmering gauze. 20- Gone will be their scarves, ankle chains, sashes, perfumes, and charms; 21- their rings, jewels, 22- party clothes, gowns, capes and purses; 23- their mirrors, linen garments, head ornaments and shawls. 24- Instead of smelling of sweet perfume, they will stink. They will wear ropes for sashes, and their well-set hair will fall out. They will wear rough sackcloth instead of rich robes. Their beauty will be gone. Only shame will be left to them. Isaiah 3:16-24 NLT

The Great Prostitute
The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. She held in her hand a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immoraility. Revelation 17:4 NLT

For me it is very easy to say that I definitely do not want to come close to being viewed by God (or the world) as a prostitute or someone desiring lustful things. Instead, I want to be pleasing to God in my appearance (and in the rest of my life).

Is it not true that God's followers should be set apart from the world and not blend in to the culture, society, etc. of what the world holds?

The word commands us:

1- And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind He will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is it too much to ask? 2- Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is. Romans 12:1-2 NLT

So, I leave you with those thoughts for today....
Future installments will cover the following:
* What we should wear (according to my own personal convictions and research I've done)
* Having a spirit/mind/attitude that is modest
* Modesty in our marriage relationship (leadership/headship issues)