Beautiful Modesty

When the topic of clothes (skirt length, sleeve length, size too small) comes up in our church, I immediatly think uh ohhhh. While sitting down I unconsciously pull down on my skirt to cover any showing knees and reach to my neckline to tug up on that too. Wow, I think. These folks REALLY care about how we women dress! And in essence our church leaders really DO care about how we ladies dress (as well as our parents). With all do respect, they are doing us ladies a huge favor believe me!!!

God has made us women (and all people in general) for a purpose: to glorify the Lord in our bodies and souls just like the bible teaches. We are a unique creation beautiful and feminine. We ARE girly, giggling, emotional creatures! We do need that respect, love, and appreciation from those around us. We as women have that certain charm and way of dressing ourselves that really attract those around us.

But sadly, most of the young women today have the mistaken belief that "undressing" themselves will earn them that attention that they deserve.

We see a degrading society where women are just objects to look at and discard. In our brains we think that that's really what can catch a guy's attention, I mean after all, that's what our glossy fashion magazines portray! They portray a woman's outer beauty and overexposed body as the most essential part of a woman. But heyyy... who cares about the inner beauty!! We want to show what can be seen!


Hey ladies?


...Trash that belief!!!

Today we will be talkin about what REALLY attracts a guy... and I WILL cite my sources!!!

I came upon a really handy resource for all young women who are interested in checking it out. This is a modesty survey in which men were asked many questions such as what men think is modest (like jeans, length of skirt, jewelry...etc.) on a young lady. Keep in mind that men of all ages were asked these questions and many said one thing... they are more attracted to a modest woman than a woman who undresses to impress. (survey URL: http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/browse) Also, there is a blog by Christy Taylor who invited a male guestblogger to give women a man's perspective on how men view modest women. http://www.empoweredtraditionalist.com/2008/08/27/what-guys-love-about-modest-girls/.

So often (me included) we forget to ask the question...who am I dressing for? When I walk out of that, door, will I be a stumbling block to other men (married or unmarried)? I have heard from other men, (several actually) that openly admit that it is a temptation when a young lady is overly exposed and especially in a church setting. People come to church to praise the Lord and give Him all the attention, but instead, the attention is on certain young ladies who do not realize that other men around them are being led into temptation and even more led into the sin of lust. We know perfectly well that God does not tolerate these sins. And we aren't even talking about our world outside of church yet ladies!!!

One gentlemen from Christy Taylor's blog writes. “If I could say anything to the women in the church, it would be this. First, there is not a man I know that doesn’t in some way struggle with lust. If they had any idea what went through guys minds it would probably vastly change the way they dress. Secondly, and I think most importantly, God has created his church to be a resting place for Christians, to be a place where people can encounter God with out all the distractions. It is disappointing when I walk into the church or an event with the church and have deal with the same temptations I that face in the world. But I rejoice whenever I see a girl or women who is attempting to serve the lord and guys by dressing modestly. You have no idea how sweet and challenging it is when I see a women who has decided not to flaunt her body like the culture shouts for her to do but rather she has decided that serving the lord and her brothers is more important. Glory to God for women like that! " (What Guys Love About Modest Women, by Christa Taylor)

Another young man says: “You have no idea how much it means to me as a guy when I see girls who are doing their best to be modest. These are girls that I feel completely comfortable being friends with, and by their actions they demand my respect. Modesty will win you the friendship of guys who will care about you as a person and will see you as a sister in Christ before they see you as anything else…” (What Guys Love About Modest Women by Christa Taylor)

And so in my conclusion I would like to say that we as women owe it to the men around us to spare them from temptaion and sinful lust. They have enough to deal with in our sinful society with its provocative fashion.

Also check out this URL about what men love about girls: http://www.empoweredtraditionalist.com/2009/02/24/10-things-guys-love-about-girls-part1/

...do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

12-year old stands up for precious LIFE!!!

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1318/Preteen-pro-life-speech-goes-viral
Take a look at this amazing 12-year-olds passionate speech against abortion. Lets all learn to speak out to preserve the life of the unborn and teach our children (no matter how young to do the same)."Even though you can't see them or hear them at all, a person's a person no matter how small".

The Cure for Anxiety

Ok...so I'm not about to make up some fony-balony-cure thing...none of that...don't worry.

Just want to direct you to Matthew Chaper 6:25- 34.

Read it. ...
......then come back and read this post.

****************************************************************************

So a friend kinda stopped me in the middle of my cRaZy-HecKtIk-SuPpeR-BuIsy-ExTrA-sTreSsful-MoMent....(I'm trying to overwhelm you...so you get the point here...)
...told me to stop what I'm doing and go read Matthew 6:25-34.
The moment I oppened my Bible to that spot, all I could see was "The Cure for Anxiety"...( maybe your Bible has that as well, where there is a subheading before each new thought...)
N-E-Waiz...reading along, now supper eager to find out what this "cure" was...(geez...what was I expecting...lol..) and only to find out that it's not a new passage from the Bible, read it before, so what, big deal right...? NOT...
I read it, and re-read parts of it...and ZAPPP!!!...miracle "cure"...my anxiety gone!!!! (ok...not that kinda zapp...and not all gone just like that...hehe, messing with you guys here a little...give me a break. it's late.)

What I figured, (God's Word showed me I should say) ...was that I was worrying too much about the tomorrow that may never come.
Verse 34 stood out the most.
"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (NASB )

Often times we overwhelm ourselves with worries; gotta do this, and that, and make this appointment next week and not miss that one, call this person and e-mail another one, homework, college, church, friends, family, blah blah blah blah...it goes on and on and on....AND ON...un-ending cycle at times, and all we really need is to be reminded of Matthew 6:34.

"Do not worry about tomorrow"
"Tomorrow will care for itself"
"Each day had enough trouble of its own"...

I am not by any means trying to take this verse out of context. at all. just applying it to my life, and hope you do too...think about it this way...
Just take it one day at a time. If you read the passage, you see how the example of the birds and the lilies relates. Amazing. God is Amazing!

We just have to bring our worries/troubles/problems/etc. to HIM. and Trust HIM to take care of us.

If I left something out...fill it in in the comments area. God Bless you guys. and seriously....can we just stop the worrying already?! lol..

*Also, I am not calling you to live your life like a bum, or couch potatoe..No no...making plans and having goals in your life that you strive to achieve is a good thing...worrying about little things toooo much on the other hand is not.

*To that person who remined me what the cure for anxiety is...thank you. May God Bless.

SINNER

A sinner's head bow:
when the chin, digging into the sternum
is too heavy to be lifted-
nor does it attempt to be raised.
It is pointing, focusing on thou self
eyes dropped so low
I can only see my tears
ashamed to face my fears-
reflecting sins

I. am. A sinner.
Weaker than a broken branch,
Dark like the deepest corner in the sea...
Guilty
I am guilty.

The antidote of "forgive me"
is marinating in my mind,
Camps on the tip of my tongue
It is held hostage, behind my teeth--
It is held hostage, by me

Throbbing in my temples,
searching a way out,
Fails
To escape my grip,
But it grows within me
Every minute, with every breath I take


Every version of reason and excuse
Is gently melted by it...
And deep inside,
The story of my righteousness,
an unsuccessful rough draft,
Abandoned.

I begin to search-
Find the sword within me,
Rid myself from guilt,
and be freed
From the chains that bind me!

..I search through my mind
my conscience, my pride,
I. Find. Nothing.
I go into my heart
where letters I find:
Scattered, Beaten, and Forgotten.

Unable to shield myself from the world,
I play word scrabble with myself-
Only to find....the Truth that sets me free:
"For God so loved the world...He gave His
One and Only Son..." for me.

Love is...

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13 ESV)

Further, the passage goes on to describe real love and ends by saying how REAL love never ends. I'm sorry for being so behind on this topic of love since we just had our wonderful Valentines Day several days ago, BUT just like the passage says, REAL love keeps on luvin because it NEVER ends, so in essence, Valentines Day should be everyday.

It is easy to love an incredibly adorable, drooling baby. It is a piece of cake to love your girl friends. It is absolutely wonderful to love your husband or wife! Nevertheless, through my "small" experience (I say small because I still have lots to learn!) I find my love waning for a misbehaving 10-year-old in my Sunday school classroom who just won't stop yelling across the room and disrupting my class. Or I find myself looking around my college campus and meeting people who clearly need Jesus in their life and are chin deep in their sins and I don't see why I should love them regardless. Then there's that young woman, who all she needs is someone to listen to her and acknowledge her presence. All that 10-year-old boy, a sinner, and the young woman have in common is that they all need to be surrounded by love (to clarify: it is love to tell a sinner that they need the Lord and show them through the bible that they are sinning). How come in these and other circumstances, it is such a drag to show love to your neighbor, enemy, and wrongdoer?

Lets learn from Jesus who loved REGARDLESS, with an agape love (an unconditional love).

Even if we do charity work to help the homeless, volunteer at a children's orphanage, or we give away our prized possessions (money, car, etc...) to help someone, and we have all the faith in the world, BUT we don't have love...then like the bible says, WE have gained NOTHING.

Urgent Prayer Request!

Everyone reading this right now please take a moment to pray for this need:

A friend of mine has a brother who is a non-christian, he is going through serious problems right now in his life. He also has a family of his own and they are all in need of prayer. We know that GOD is able to turn their hearts to HIM, and lead them out of whatever situation they are in now. They need Jesus. PLEASE PRAY!!!

God Answers Prayers.

Thank you.

Inspirational posts...

I just want to say thank you ladies for all the inspirational and encouraging posts on this blog so far...or rather I thank God that through your posts I am inspired...

Often times, stories or lessons shared by people have a greater impact on me than just listening to a lecture. Real life examples of how God uses ordinary people to reveal HIS will and show HIS Glory are so touching and inspirational that I am filled with tears inside.
I think these are visible "fruits" of the fact that we are LIVING Christians, and God is working in us or through us.

To those of you who visit our blog and have something encouraging/ inspiring to say but can't because you are not a "contributor" on this blog...use this post as a way to share your inspirational stories...just simply click to leave a comment, and share your story.

You can be an annonymous author if you'd like, or leave your name, ...up to you..I just want to read more about how GOD works through his poeple
today.

Thank you in advance!
May God Bless.

Nice To Meet You

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)

So I met this great person randomly on valentine's day. hahaha no this aint a love story!

Nonetheless, God has shown me what it means to love someone as a person, and for that reason alone, share: the Truth, God's Marvelous unconditional Love for us and His gift of forgiveness/salvation!

One great moment in our conversation that will forever stay with is when he shared his personal thoughts/new experiences with me..one of them, for example:

If there is a situation in your life where things get out of hand, or not by the plan, or just go downhill...let's say the husband takes the wife's car to get smogged, and the car doesn't have the necessary paperwork in it when the husband specifically noted to the wife that he is taking the car...how would you react in his shoes? It wouldn't surprise me if you would feel annoyed that the wife didn't prepare the vehicle...or that she is disorganized, or if you feel upset/outraged even, that you need to drive ALL the way back home to get those papers--only to drive back and find out they close in 20 minutes and it cannot be done that day. Generally, if you are either annoyed, mad, upset, outraged...you would be understood.

But wait! my new friend tells me,
instead of finding blame in a situation like that...just ANALYZE IT! Yes, the situation may have gone bad...INSTEAD think to yourself: what could I HAVE DONE to make this better or to prevent this? maybe I could have reminded my wife an hour before going...maybe I could have checked for the paperwork to be in the care before driving off...maybe I could have called to know the hours they are open before making my trip back!!

WHAT A POSITIVE OUTLOOK!!!!!! i thought to myself.

This was a great tool I learned today and I hope I will utilize it in all my upside down moments in life. Its great because in ANY circumstance, this can be applied because, as long as you are a part of it, YOU could have influenced it, and since it didnt go perfect....just analyze.

and Again,in basic english: And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.
(Romans 12:2)

TRUST

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

—Psalm 37:3-6

It's amazing, looking back at my life, I see how God's hand has led me, He has prepared the circumstances for me before I even realized that is what I needed. As I reflect on my past...the feelings I get are so overwhelming...and the song "Who Am I" accompanies my memories, humbling me to a grain of sand.

Towards the end of nursing school, all students had the opportunity to combine the last two semesters (5 &6th) and finish early, as was my plan also. after 4th semester, we had the summer chunk of free time before the rigorous semester ahead. As many of you know, classes and info is often online: "Blackboard" was used at CSUS.

One happy summer day, after sleeping what felt like 50 hours (compared to the 4-5hours on average)...I woke up and routinely checked my Blackboard, even though we were on vacation! I probably did it cuz I was zombified from school. Anyway, seriously though, I know God did that. There I, along with our whole class, gets letter about an open space for one of our students to join the accelerated class and finish by the end of the summer. One limitation though: you dont get to choose where you want to do your rotation that last semester. The Placement was going to be at Shriner's, A kid's Hospital caring for Burns, Spinal Cord Injuries and Orthopedics. whoever was interested needed to reply, not work anywhere else, and be done with required courses and able to start in 2 days.

so I replied.

on my way to work that day (I interned at Kaiser ICU) I was talking to God. I felt soooooo confident that I was going to get picked (they drew from a hat to be fair)...that it almost scared me. you know the saying goes "prepare for worst and hope for best" or s/t like that. At work I already told my managers I will be finishing even earlier and might need to cut down on hours. On the way back from work I thought to myself "all this confidence can't possibly be from just hoping. I KNOW God wants me to fill in that spot". Well, I come home, check my email, and guess what. NOT PICKED!!!

nope I didnt cry...I felt like well, then that's what God wanted. I stayed up late, relaxed...2am I fall asleep. 5am my phone wakes me up. The instructor calls me and says: The person who was selected cannot begin right away, so we drew names again and you are picked. are you still interested? first I said "huh?" then I cleared my croaking throat and said "YESS!" hahahah. yupp, God has some humor too ;)

So, fast forward to after passing my boards: Everyone tells me "have you applied? where? how are you gonna do it? You haven't applied yet?! it's hard to get a job right now! what are you waiting for??" on and on. Aside from the fact that I'm not married and no kids who need dineros asap...I generally didnt worry much about getting a job. I knew I would-eventually.

But then! I applied online to like 9 positions! and almost immediately got a reply saying: "we are sorry...blah blah blah" did I panic you ask? OF COURSE I PANICKED! I wanted to be an ICU nurse...and at that point with the economy (lets blame it for everything =) , I felt lucky to get a job washing pt's assets for 12 hours a day.

It was wednesday, the third day of my application galore, and I saw the opening at UCD Med Center, Burn ICU. I have already applied to the Cardiology Unit and Med Surge ICU...as I was applying for the Burn Unit position, the darn website didnt attach my letter of rec, and didnt want to get my cover letter. A lil frustrated, I decided I'll wait to see what happens.

The following week, the status of my application said "interviews" which means the manager has picked his people to interview. I didnt get called! =( but God gave me this urge to turn in my other papers that didn't attach. I get dressed and call Human Resources on my way to the Hospital...well they said "uhhh, No, we don't accept any paperwork at all, everything is done online". But I was already at the hospital. so I kinda looked up at the sky and went "well, why the urge then??????" I park my car, and walk up to the burn unit....knees shaking. thinking "what am i gonna say? what if the manager isn't here, what if he already hired someone?". As I'm waiting...a man, with a big smile stands next to me and asks "who are you here for?" and I answer "oh, just for the Nurse Manager". to which he replies "That's me, come follow me!"

He tells me he did his interviews that day and was thinking he would go home early! I told him my paper situation, he asks IF I HAVE BURN EXPERIENCE, and i say yuppppp, he leaves to make a phone call, comes back and says "your resume was probably lost among others, do you mind if I interview you now?" in my head:
" "OMYGOOODNESSGRACIOUS AM I REALLY HEARING THIS????????" I embrace myself, nervously smile like heck and answer "sure, that would be great".

driving home I was talking to God, "God, I dunno if I do get the position or not, but what I saw today, and what you do in my life is so amazing, and I thank you for that."

I love my new Job!!

then, weeks into working, I find out that my manager was just as surprised at how he hired me as I was, and he mentioned he was talking to God tooo asking Him if this was the right decision!! I had a mask on when he was telling me this but my Jaw was so open I think you could fit the whole wide world into it!

that is my story. God is amazing...He has provision like no other. He has prepared the path for you. what have you to lose? He wants you to trust Him everything. And who would know better what you need than the One who Created you?

Be blessed. and thank you for hearing this out =) I hope it leaves you with a smile, at least.

Born For More

Ever wonder in your life if you were trully born for more? Besides the earnest effort of trying your best to stay afloat in this busy world, haven't you once thought God put you in this world and He had a plan, perhaps... for you to do more? More than sleep, eat, take care of your family, work, and repeat the cycle again.
Last year, the Lord opened my eyes and showed me that there is trully more that I am capable of doing to glorify His name and all I did was to pray if it was HIS will for me to go beyond my comfort zone. I WAS born for more!!!
This week I was blessed by a good friend of mine (Sveta B. this blog is all because of your awesome book you gave me!!!Thank you!!) who gave me a book by the name of "The Prayer of Jabez for Women" by Darlene Wilkinson. I sat reading the entire book almost till 4 o'clock in the morning because this was a book like no other. This book is based on the prayer of Jabez from the old testament (I posted the prayer in the little purple window next to this post... hint hint). There is not a whole lot of information about this man but a few sentences of his prayer was all that was needed in the bible to draw a picture of an honorable man who earnestly asked God what none of us ever think to ask. This is how I applied this man's prayer to my spiritual life.
1.)Oh that you would bless me...
A man once asked Napoleon for an incredible favor. The man knew that he deserved nothing from this great general, yet Napoleon immediately granted his request. When someone inquired as to the reason, Napoleon replied, "He honored me by the magnitude of his request."
God is also honored when you and I come boldly to ask for his blessing and favor. That's because we ask according to His greatness and not according to our worthiness. (Wilkinson 32, 33)
2.) ... that you would enlarge my territory.
When we plead with God to expand our borders, we're asking Him to remove the limits on what we can do and who we can become. We're begging Him to throw wide open the doors of opportunity and enlarge our place in this world. (Wilkinson 37)
"Let me do more for You. Expand my territory so that I can have a greater impact for You," is what we should be saying to God. (Wilkinson 38)
Part of God's plan for expanding your territory could include your raising children who will someday accomplish great things for God's kingdom. (Wilkinson 40)
The Proverbs 31 woman expanded her territory through a variety of avenues. We're told, "She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard" (v. 16,NASB) And, "She extends her hand to the poor, and she stretches out her hands to the needy" (v. 20 NASB) (Wilkinson 42)
You eagerly say yes to an exciting border-expanding opportunity-only to realize that you've gotten yourself in way over your head... As you are about to discover, the wonderful truth is that you're right where God wants you! (Wilkinson 50)
3.)...that Your hand would be with me...
Ask for God's hand to be on you! He can bring you favor with others and give you wisdom to know how to pray and what to say. (Wilkinson 57)
God isn't scanning the horizon looking for superwomen. He is actively looking for those who will believe and trust Him to do what is humanly impossible...just like Esther. (old testament book of Esther) (Wilkinson 61)
4.)Oh, that You would keep me from evil...
You see, those who are content to do a few things for God don't bother Satan. Those who remain in their comfort zone pose little or no threat to him. But when you begin to take terrritory for God, guess whose territory you're invading? (Wilkinson 66) "your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8)
"pray that you may not enter into tempation" (Luke 22:40)
"Therefor submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7)
5.)...that I might not cause pain.
Jabez had a reason quiet apart from his honorable character for asking God to keep him from evil. He included it right in his prayer-"that I may not cause pain."
All of us know from experience that the consequences of sin always include pain. When I sin, I hurt myself, others, and God. (Wilkinson 78)
So God granted him what he requested.
Let me encourage you to pray this prayer. Unselfishly let God expand your territory and bless you!! Let all glory be to Him!! I prayed this prayer, and God granted me my request. Why won't you?