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As it happens each month since February first, our hard work on Growing in Grace Magazine has paid off. I am so thrilled to work with such a sweet Publisher who truly walks with the Lord. She does so much in her home, at the Sarah Home for Women and on her ministries online, and I don’t think I have ever heard her complain. She always tries to display a loving and sweet attitude, and SisterLisa is truly a joy to work with!

We started Growing in Grace in January, during a particularly difficult time in our lives (after Grandma had passed away), and SisterLisa emailed me out of the blue and asked if I would be interested in collaborating with her and her daughters to create an online Christian Magazine for Bible-Believing Girls and their Moms. Knowing how well my daughters write, and how they love to write for the Lord, I agreed after considering if this was the direction God had for us. He had just released us from another writing position and we were thrilled to see what SisterLisa had in mind. After researching girls Christian magazines online, SisterLisa had found none that were particularly Christian, and knew there was a need. There are so very few print magazines out there for Christian girls that aren’t just full of pop-culture. We are not interested in that for our girls, and we wanted to share our love of the Word and desire to train our daughters up in Him with other moms and daughters.

I think we got that first issue out in a couple of weeks, and it was so good to publish it! And to see where God has brought us in just six short months is amazing to me! We have each found our places in writing, designing, advertising, publishing, editing…. the list goes on and on! Besides all of that, I get to assign the girls research articles each month as a lesson for homeschool! I mean, you can’t beat that!

I truly am proud to announce the August 2008 Issue of Growing in Grace Magazine to you! With all the planning for school and moving and coming into this final month of summer, time is really on my mind. I know it is so important for us as mothers to create and walk in Seasons of Heritage for Our Daughters as we are home with them, teaching them to live as God’s People.

Hannah worked so very hard on her article about Cowboys, Ranches and Farms.  I am so very proud of all the information she gathered and put into her article. I can’t wait to get to do the study on Cowboys in our homeschool this year!

I love the site! SisterLisa is such a talented graphic designer. I thought I loved last month’s stars and stripes (which I did!), but this month is so fun and refreshing with the lemonade and the lemon twists. It is really pretty. Be sure to grab the Growing in Grace graphics for your site if you don’t already have them, and also the FREE Downloadable GGM August Desktop/Wallpaper!

So, enough of my going on about it all… go ahead… take a look at the wonderful articles that are sure to inform and inspire you. Of course, I am partial to my girls’ articles, but they are all wonderful.

Also, be sure to read A Mother’s Memo this week for details on several contests and other events. If you are a Christian Digi-Scrap Designer, see A Digi-Scrap Contest. Contest ends August 15th! Be sure to leave comments and share your thoughts with the authors! And, be sure to sign the guest book too!

blessings!

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There is an awesome video about Understanding God’s Love on Robin’s blog. My 8yo, Hannah, just accepted Christ as her Saviour! I am so excited! So, Robin’s video came at a really opportune time!

I have read this before, but I came across it again tonight. I know so many families who either are blessed with a large family or are hoping to be. Raising Godly Tomatoes answers the question, “Why Do You Have So Many Children?“.

Jocelyn has issued a challenge for all who care to participate: Feelin’ Feminine – What’s Your Story?.

My friend, De’Etta, asks some tough questions about Boasting. Ouch, and thanks for the verses!

At Heart at Home, I was so blessed to Read Robin’s post, Forgiveness Impacts Us Daily. “The root of bitterness can crush the Spirit’s root and stunt the fruit of the Spirit. The root sits just under the surface–easily overlooked–sucking the nourishment from the tree. The foundation of Christianity is a based on forgiveness.”

If you would like to participate in the Super Simple Spiritual Sunday Meme, simply make a list of your favorite finds this week. This meme was started by a dear friend and favorite blogger of mine, Robin Sampson.

blessings!

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*This post originally contained The Letter From A Christian Guy About Modesty. I posted the Letter separately, because it may not be appropriate for all eyes, ears or hearts. Guarding our children’s thought lives is important to me, so I wanted to make it one step harder for them to stumble upon it*

Ask my girls and you will find out that the topic of modesty is not just a fly-by-night issue with my heart, but it is near and dear. I was a very provocative teenager. I intended to be. Many girls -and women, for that matter, do intend to be – provocative.

Some young ladies who claim to be committed to the LORD intend to be noticed, and express it by their immodesty. The letter, Modesty: A letter from True Christian Guys is written with all of the reasons women need to understand about their indulgences in immodest clothing from a man’s point of view.
However, as very important as that is… we need to understand that, if this is so spiritually repulsive to men, then God ~ Jesus, well, need I say more? Do you want to have your Holy Saviour say the same words to you as this young man is? I don’t.

And, if I could add a few more thoughts, I would say to DADS – please do not say “I don’t care,” or “It’s none of my business what my daughter wears,” or “Oh, but isn’t she beautiful in that, though?” or “Well, she has to make those decisions herself now; she’s old enough.” OR-God forbid…”Her Mother will take care of that!”

Even if your daughter is old enough, she needs to know what you think – especially in the area of her Virtue. And, even if your wife doesn’t mind or even wants to take care of their modesty training, encourage them both anyway. Moms can talk all day about some things, and a lot of topics are well-received by daughters. I have found that, my daughters especially, as much as they try to receive the clothing issue in love from Mom, Dad has a grip on their hearts in this area that they want to be held by. I believe it is a man’s God-given authority and responsibility to help his daughter in this area, if it is an issue.

I have also found that clothing is an outward expression of the spirit. Is it an undeniable issue in today’s culture? yes. Is it a touchy issue? it can be. Is it a telling sign of rebellion or submission? I believe so. In boys or girls. This is why we must train our children from birth.
We must speak and act in a holy manner. Christians sometimes take liberties, because we do not look at them in a holy manner. We look at them through our own experiences and desires. Everything is a matter of worldliness and holiness. Everything.

Daughters… you should be willing to receive Dad’s and Mom’s instruction in every area of your life, whether it pertains to something personal or not. Just as the LORD’s ways are higher than ours, they have a larger understanding of the world and its insatiable desire to get you in its grips than you do.

Trust them; believe them; love God through them. Even if – or especially if- you think they are wrong. You need to make yourself do as they say, and do it with a love for God. The only way you can deny this rule is if they are causing you to sin. Having you wear clothing you don’t like (if you don’t like it) is not causing you to sin. Your reaction may be sinful, but that is your choice. Like I said: Trust them; believe them; love God through them.

You will be a better young lady for it, and you will thank them when you are married. You will rejoice and praise them when you stand before the throne of God.

Actually, the swimsuit question was rhetorical. I guessed that, after the Committed Christian Guy made several references to the effects of bare flesh on a male mind, it would mean that swimsuits, by nature, are immodest. And, I, personally, cannot understand the bare flesh leading to other thoughts to keep under subjection, because I have never really thought past the bare legs and chest associated with swimtrunks (though they leave little to wonder about!).

I do believe that modesty is not just being concerned with what someone else thinks. I believe God built each soul with a spirit that wants to be holy and flesh that wants to be, well, hellish. So, that is our decision… holy or hellish.

It’s funny that I just saw a program about this on PBS History Detectives last night after I had posted that entry. It spoke of how these little itty, bitty eyeglasses, with pictures on them, called stanhopes,coming out of Europe in the 1800’s with pictures of scantily-clad or nude women were banned in some countries. It brought up the subject of modesty and the question of why some nude pictures were immodest – or pornographic- and some were considered art. So, almost a century later, with the “free-to-be-me hippy era”, we had to make legislation for those who couldn’t discern it for themselves.

I think when morality and what is modest and what is not was actually legislated in the ’60’s or 70’s (which is not included in the program transcript for some reason), that was the point at which our (we, as a culture) idea of modesty changed. Even if it had changed before, we then had someone who had defined modesty for us, so, even if we felt that something was immodest, we had a law that said otherwise. The definition of modesty was, at that point, being legislated by men, instead of by convictions (from God or the Holy Spirit).

That is where the modest moral Christian today loses sight of what morality is – we let someone else define what modesty is or is not – usually culture, or Hollywood or our children’s friends… and we would rather go along for the ride, instead of thinking about it and seeking the Truth for ourselves (forget about taking a stand and establishing morality and holiness).

So, by definition of modesty… in the holy sense of the word, can a swimsuit, which bares all but… can it be modest? I don’t mean a comparatively modest swimsuit (one compared to the -I heard a description recently from a comic- 2 potato chips and a band-aid – swimsuits). After all, why compare an ideal like Holy Modesty with something of such a low standard on the modesty scale?

Matt loves to go to waterparks. I hate it. He loves the fun of the rides. I hate seeing it all. I hate my children seeing it all. My 14 year old daughter. My 11 year old son. My 8 year old daughter. Amanda, at 18, and Jocelyn, at 17, already have their minds set on the matter, and the thought of going to a flesh-fest just makes them cringe. Me too. In addition to the fact that I don’t want the Littles to grow up insensitive to it.

It is a balancing act in this world. We rarely take our children to the grocery store anymore in the summer for this very reason. Eric constantly averts his eyes to mine whenever someone with it all hanging out walks towards us. It is just the way it is, but do we have to partake of it? The balancing: we cannot step away from the world and people who need the Lord either. We cannot be prejudiced against them. We cannot feel superior to them. I am talking about protecting our children from sin. I am also talking about Mrs. So-n-so who wears a mini-skirt and low-cut blouse and sits in the front pew at church or teaches our children’s Sunday school class…

Lots to think about. Lots to consider. Lots to pray about. Tomorrow is June 1st!

blessings!

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This article originally Posted HERE. Read the comments.

This is upsetting on so many levels. One is because school interim principal Florence Bricker refuses to discuss the decision. The rule was made, no discussion. Another is because the girls have been instructed not to talk about it with the media. They can’t even discuss how they feel about it.

The parents interviewed on the video think it is not the principal’s choice. So do I. What do you think? Additionally, the mandate is only for Juniors, but not for Seniors. Besides the fact that it should be the parents’ instruction, what about the girls themselves? One mother on the video said, “I don’t think it’s right because what if they don’t have a boyfriend?” “They got to be forced to go bring somebody off the street, or a cousin? That’s embarrassing … or your brother?”.

Forced dating is not a good idea at all. I find it ironic that this is a Catholic all-girls school, where parents obviously want the girls in an environment where it is not mandated mixed company. I know “having a date for prom” is a big deal, but I do not understand the motivation. Why put all this pressure on these girls? And why for the younger ones, but not the older ones? One article speculated that it may be to boost the appearance of the attendance numbers.

What would you do if it were your daughter? What if it were a get-together at your church? What would you do? Would you keep your child from participating on principle or do you think it is no biggie?
Read the full story.

blessings~