I haven't had my hair done since October, so my hair was looking atrocious! I decided to dye it my natural color so I don't have to color it anymore until after the baby is born. I'm still in shock, but I think I like it! I've been blonde for over 4 years, so it's going to take a while to get used to.
I had such a great Christmas with my family here in Florida, I've been so busy, sorry for the lack of posts! Here's my outfit I wore to church today!
Did you get the title? Haha…Ok..maybe it was just cute to me?…I'm 12 weeks today, and still fitting into all my pre-pregnancy clothes thus far! Hallelujah! I know, I know, they won't last me much longer!
Today, we took our whole Jr. High & High schoolers to go Christmas caroling, hence my silly Santa hat! We sang at a nursing home, a few fire stations, and a couple of elderly church member's homes. It's so fun to spread Christmas cheer, and watch people's faces light up! :)
Almost weekly, people ask me if I only wear skirts and why. I wish it was a cut and dry answer, but it really isn't…I mean it's a decision I made when I was 15 years old, so I'll try to the best of my ability, to explain why I PERSONALLY made the decision to only wear skirts. The reason I stress the word PERSONALLY is because, my reason is not going to be the same as anyone else's reason that they wear skirts. God speaks to everyone's heart in a different way. Some people may not think the same way I do…But everyone should have modesty standards. The standard I use is to look in a mirror and ask myself, "Would I wear this in front of Jesus?" We may have different personal preferences, but that does't make you wrong, and it doesn't make me wrong. We will all have to answer to God for our actions, and I want to glorify God in EVERYthing I do, even my dress…So here it goes...
When I was 15 years old, I doubted my salvation, so one night, by my bed side on June 23, 2005, I nailed it down. It was so refreshing to actually know 100% I was going to Heaven. I can honestly say ever since that day I have NEVER been the same. Soon after that, my youth pastor gave me a book on dating and purity, and there was a section on modesty in it. I read that book, and when I read it, modesty clicked in my brain and heart. God had been working on my heart in the area of dress for a while, and I finally surrendered my wants to His. I was a public school cheerleader up until my Sophomore year, so you can imagine how IMMODEST I was… (yes, I wore those short skirts, shorts, and tight everything!) I wore tight pants, mini-skirts, revealing tops, etc…Pretty much anything that drew attention to ME and MY body. When I started researching what the Bible said about modesty, it was the COMPLETE opposite of how I was dressing. Modesty means to be free of vanity or conceit. But, I was dressing to impress guys and to get attention. Another definition for the word modesty in the Webster's Dictionary is, That lowly temper which accompanies a moderate estimate of one's own worth and importance." My favorite Bible verse is 1 Corinthians 6:20,"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." When I read that verse, I see that Jesus paid the price of sin for me, and the least thing I can do to repay Him is to glorify Him in my body and in my spirit, which are His anyways! If every Christian lady really knew her worth and that her body is the temple of God, I don't think there would be such a negative connotation of the word modesty.
John MacArthur says, "How does a woman discern the sometimes fine line between proper dress and dressing to be the center of attention? The answer starts in the intent of the heart. A woman should examine her motives and goals for the way she dresses. Is her intent to show the grace and beauty of womanhood? Is it to reveal a humble heart devoted to worshipping God? Or, is it to call attention to herself and flaunt her beauty, or worse to attempt to lure men sexually? A woman who focuses on worshipping God will consider carefully how she is dressed, because her heart will dictate her wardrobe and her appearance.”
When I decided to live for God, everything just made sense to me. It's extremely hard to explain why God laid on my heart to wear skirts, but all I can say is, I personally feel convicted if I wear pants. Now, that doesn't mean that all women who wear pants are sinning…unless they know in their heart God has told them to dress otherwise. For me, I love femininity, I love being a lady, I love dressing up, I love dressing fashionably, yet modest.
I believe you can dress modestly (and cute) for ALL situations and activities. For example, even running or working out, you can be modest. No, wearing a normal skirt to workout in is NOT modest, showing your undergarments is highly frowned upon in my book! :) But, they do make running skirts with leggings underneath them! I actually just got a new pair in the mail from Kosher Casual! You can get the same running skirt I'm wearing by clicking the link below. I am coaching cheerleading, and these are great to move and jump around in!
Please don't look at my hair or face, this was taken after school & cheerleading practice!
This picture really shows my personality…haha, but I just had to show you how cool the leggings are underneath!
Today, three years ago, I married the man of my dreams. When I say that, I'm not being facetious…he truly is the man of my dreams. When I was 15, I started a journal to my future husband. I wrote to him about my dreams, my hard times, my commitment to purity, and how much I couldn't wait to serve God with him. When I was a freshman in Bible college, I met Stephen on my bus route in Chicago. Boy, was I head over heels for this 6'4" blond haired, green eyed, Spanish speaking cutie pie! But, he was very shy, didn't really talk much to me…So, I just kept my secret crush to myself! Finally, after two years of working on the bus route together, he FINALLY asked me on a date! From that date, we both knew we were going to get married. It was so right, and so easy! That is exactly how God intended dating to be! We dated for two years, and got married December 4, 2010! It was truly the best day of my life, after my salvation! I can't wait to raise kids with him, grow old with him, and just love him for the rest of my life! Sorry, for the mushiness, I just love my husband a lot!! :)
We looked like kids!
Here's a couple of pictures we got done in Florida over Thanksgiving, and some of my outfit that day, too!
Man, do I wish I had these Deborah & Co. Fleece Lined Leggings when I was in college in Chicago where it was freezing 8 months out of the year! These are the warmest leggings I've ever worn! For skirt wearers in the winter, these will be a life saver! There's nothing worse than having goosebumps on your legs every time you walk outside! These are seriously SUPER warm and comfortable!
My favorite thing about leggings/tights is that if you have a dress that's a tad too short, leggings hide your knees, so it gives an illusion that it's long enough. I don't wear skirts/dresses above the knee, and I found this darling dress at Maurice's for $13.99, and it was about an inch shorter than I feel comfortable wearing, but with these leggings underneath it, I felt perfectly comfortable in it!
Another awesome feature about these leggings is that they are able to be pulled over your foot (to give the look of tights), so I did that today and paired my leggings with some black booties.
These leggings come in 3 different colors and are currently on sale for Cyber Monday! If you are in need of some fleece lined leggings, be sure to head over to Deborah & Co. to get some on sale!
Deborah & Co. is owned by a sweet mother of 5, who also runs The Modest Mom Blog as well. I love to support Christian Modest stores!
Yay!! The secret is finally out! It has been so hard for me to keep this baby a secret! I felt Thanksgiving was the perfect day to announce that we're expecting! We are so thankful that God has entrusted us to be parents. We are so thankful for the past three wonderful years of marriage we've had to learn and love each other. We are so thankful for our health, jobs, place to live, and now, this new chapter in our lives! Please keep us in your prayers!
So, if you've wondered why I've been MIA lately…now you know why! :) Thank God my mom passed down the wonderful gene of not getting sick for morning sickness, but there's no way around the sleepy side effect of growing a new life! So, I've been resting and trying to take care of me and the baby! In a couple of weeks, things should start getting back to normal…
We're so blessed, and I can't wait to hold our precious baby in about 30 weeks!
It's no secret that I have a lot of people that don't like what I stand for…but for some reason, up until about two weeks ago, I was keeping these people in my life. Why?? I have no idea. They constantly criticized me publicly, mocked me, so on and so forth. (When I say me, I mean my blog, Facebook group, etc.) Every time I read a critical word about my page, I cringed and would get so mad! Why did I keep allowing myself to read these negative words!!? Finally, two weeks ago, I deleted and blocked all of these people that have been "bullying" me for the past 7 months. I can't even explain how free I felt to get those negative people out of my life. I still love all of them, but I can't allow them to continue to hurt me with their words. The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21a, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue.." I pray that the Holy Spirit helps me use my tongue to lift up others, to edify others, to bring happiness and joy to others… I never want to be that person who belittles people, who trolls the internet looking to start drama, and never has anything good to say.
God has given us the ability to speak, he chose US, to spread His gospel. He doesn't use angels, animals, or trees, he uses sinners. May we use our tongues to spread the good news, not gossip! May we use our tongues to edify, not criticize! May we use our tongues to make someone smile, not frown! God has given us the ability to make someone feel happy or sad… It's your choice, how you use your words…so make someone smile! :)
Now onto the clothes! :) One color combo you can never go wrong with, is black and white! I love the chicness and classiness of black and white! I love that you can wear it all year and just change your color of pop each season! Today I chose to pair it with mustard, my favorite fall color!
It's Sunday again! Does anyone else feel like once Friday ends, Sunday comes so soon?! I love Sundays and all, I just don't like what comes next, Mondays!! ;) I wish weekends went as slow as the rest of the week goes! P.S. I love my job, I'm just super lazy and love relaxing in my house all day! :)
Here's my church outfit for this Sunday morning! (Excuse my puffy hair, it was like 300% humidity out this morning ;)
Shirt: Forever 21
Skirt: Van Heusen Outlet
Scarf: Charlotte Russe
Shoe: Payless
My brand new & most favorite cardigan is my lace brown cardigan from Sierra Brooke. It is SO cute! I was so happy when I got my package in the mail!
Sierra Brooke is one of my favorite on-line stores, not only because of their stylish, modest clothes, but also because of what the owner stands for. This is the "About Us" section from the Sierra Brooke website:
The idea of Sierra Brooke came to mind several times before, as I laid in bed with sleepless nights. I pondered the idea of a modest, yet trendy women's on-line clothing store. I enjoyed going shopping immensely, but didn't really like what I found at many of the shops and the malls. It was the all to common battle of shopping; it was like buried hidden treasure to find stylish modest skirts, cute modest tops ,and modest dresses out there. I was determine to stick with my desire to dress modestly. Since having 2 children, my casual shopping days were over. I could no longer spend countless hours weaving through racks, searching for that special modest dress or modest outfit. My desire that I once had of starting a modest clothing boutique, came alive once again. I felt a desire to help other women overcome the obstacle of shopping and make it a place were you can come and feel at home. The moment I decided to fulfill my dreams, I vowed to provide only the very best in modest apparel. At Sierra Brooke ,we want to provide you with affordable modest clothing, fashionable modest dresses, modest prom dresses, modest bridesmaid dresses, casual modest dresses and trendy yet modest tops and skirts. Modesty and femininity is our motto. We hope your shopping experience with us is enjoyable. If there is anything that you would like to see us carry, feel free to let us know. We want to hear from our customers, because we highly value your feedback.
I love to support fellow Christian store owners, especially Baptists (like me!) Take a look on her website and support fellow Christians as well! ;)
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