“There is nothing in all the influences and surroundings of the home of tender childhood so small that it does not leave its touch of beauty or of marring upon the life. . . . Wherever a child grows up it carries in its character the subtle impressions of the home in which it lives.”

- J.R. Miller, in Home Making

-Beatrix Potter’s Journal, 17 November 1896

Thank you all for your encouragement yesterday. Mom and Em are doing much better, and I got quite a bit of work done. So far today I’ve finished those emails, and will get to work on art and bake bread!

.:.

If you’d like to see what else is going on at our house today, visit my Mom’s blog, and my sister’s blog.

Okay girls,

1:15pm - Mom and Emily have a stomach bug. I’ve got one afternoon - a kitchen to clean, a house to straighten up, emails to write and send (Mom’s too weak to preview them, so they haven’t bee sent), art to work on, an iPod to load, and a family to nurse back to health. Edit: (6:00pm) I hope this belly ache is just from the cold pizza…

Think I can do it?

…I am thankful for:

1. Jesus! He loves me! He loves me! He loves me!

2. my faithful father

3. my loving mother

4. my fun sister

5. my darling aunt and cousin

6. the Bible, especially my new ESV Journaling Bible

7. all of my family and friends

8. hot chocolate and knitting in winter

9. our warm, dry home

10. Bently Scribbles

11. oranges

12. violets and English roses

13. hot, running water

14. wives and mothers to learn from

15. encouraging blogs

16. beautiful art

17. watercolors and graphite pencils

18. paper

19. blank note books and journals

20. our computers - HP and Dell, and high speed internet

22. books - I love books! Books on everything from homemaking to physics, encyclopedias to dictionaries, children’s stories to great novels - ahhhh! I just love learning!

23. great leaders; past, present and future

24. coats, scarves, mittens and hats

25. our scanner/printer

26. lots of memories

27. a dishwasher

28. calendars

29. music

30. our wooden floors

31. aprons

32. camping

33. old gardens and cottages

34. the kitchen

35. chap stick

36. the Creation Museum

37. Vision Forum

38. Beatrix Potter

39. doughnuts

40. history

41. fireplaces and wood-burning stoves

42. newborn babies

43. contacts

44. cardigans

45. bookshelves

46. bottles of ink and dip pens

47. email

48. redemption, justification and sanctification

49. photo albums and scrapbooks

40. our NikonD60

51. English breakfast tea

52. maps and globes

53. PhotoShop

54. my Etsy shop

55. telephones

56. studying physics and optics!

57. Emily’s antique book collection

58. Dad’s ability to make almost anything, from car interiors to picture frames

59. the grocery store

60. organic foods

61. our homestead

62. a new roof

63. the heat radiators

64. walking through fields and forests

65. my curls

66. 4-H

67. Bently’s nap times

68. “Stepping Heavenward” by Elizabeth Prentiss

69. The Botkin family

70. wisdom

71. grace

72. four acres of field

73. my birthday

74. rocks around the garden

75. butterflies and (most of) the other insects

76. air conditioning

77. concerts

78. Baroque music

79. peaches

80. pears

81. yogurt and granola

82. chunky sweaters, skirts and turtle necks

83. bookmarks

84. cinnamon toast

85. a new package of ink pens

86. the camera bag and all the peraphernelia

87. the hope of heaven

88. uplifting movies

89. audiobooks and conferences on iPods

90. candles at the dinner table

91. family worship (devotions)

92. curtains and blinds

93. church family

94. friday night pizza

95. birds singing after a long winter

96. a functioning bathroom

97. trees

98. autumn leaves

99. rolling hills

100. sunshine

…her eighteenth birthday with childish anticipation.”

My real birthday isn’t till later in the month, but it’s the same day as Grandpa’s knee surgery, and we usually get an ice storm right about then. So last Saturday my Grandpa and Grandma hosted a family birthday party for me - it was a lovely evening spent with family on both sides, eating “ice cream and chicken salad”.

Thank you all for your love and generosity! I love you bunches!

Despite the stereotypes, the point of modesty is not to distastefully cover every inch of flesh and look like a sack of potatoes. God is The Artist, Creator of the Universe, and dictates true Loveliness. We have to pick what clothes we wear every day, so let’s look at where it all starts - the heart.

If our hearts truly belong to the Lord, we will be living to please Him and actively showing love to others. Including the guys. I mean true, genuine love that sees past the outside, caring for their souls and edifying them in their walk with Christ. As daughters of the King, we are  called to this life of service called true love.

God created woman to complement and complete man. Our position as a man’s help-meet is not inferior, but essential to the man’s role as leader. So as encouragers, blessings and life-givers, that includes the way we dress. Men that are pursuing a deep relationship with Jesus don’t appreciate stumbling blocks, meaning immodesty. Have we considered that this can cause our brothers to have impure and corruptive thoughts? Men are visually assaulted on a daily basis, and in our culture it is increasingly difficult to keep one’s thoughts pure. We women aspiring to godliness need to reevaluate our hearts and our wardrobes.

Beauty of heart is a struggle we all face. None of us will ever get it perfectly down pat, but that’s the adventure God has called us to, learning to trust and obey Him who freely gives grace for it all. When the world looks at us, what will they see? An unsatisfied woman’s body? Or the forgiven soul of a woman filled with God’s grace and love?

As their sisters, we should be helping to protect the eyes and thoughts of the men around us, and it is our duty to refrain from echoing Hollywood’s constant trends of exposing what God ordained to be covered. Setting our eyes to holiness and truth, let goodness and grace be our first beauty, radiating humility, warmth and loveliness. Biblical femininity will embolden our men to become the strong godly leaders God has called them to be.

“…Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land…. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” - Proverbs 31:22b-23, 30-31

Sarah Mae is hosting a Modesty Fashion show at her blog Like A Warm Cup of Coffee.

This jean skirt has been the sturdy yet feminine base for nearly every outfit I’ve owned for the past two years. Today it’s paired with a patterned blue shirt and a taupe cardigan.

Don’t forget to check out all the other entries on Sarah Mae’s blog!

(BTW, my sister Emily just redesigned Sarah Mae’s blog!)

Lord, for keeping us warm and cozy in winter.