With a housefull of yahoos--3 of them female--we're all getting excited about the warm sunshine and activities that Summer brings...hiking, camping, pedicures for fun sandals, swimming, getting a great tan--
where we're going and what we're doing!
We have great summers in Colorado--nothing like the brutal Arizona summers we endured with oven mits on the steering wheel, the huge sun sheild on the dashboard, freaking hot pavement--our days may get warm, but by three o'clock the afternoon showers roll in over the Rockies, and cools everything down.
Still, we have the issue of summer clothing.
You've been shopping, right?
You see what's out there.
Last week, I took the Caboose to Target to spend some of her birthday money. She looked at summer clothing...and after finding rack after rack of spaghetti strapped tops, she said, "I don't wanna wear two shirts every day" and headed over to the toy aisle.
Sometimes I envy the Amish...there is probably little distinction between what they wear in June to what they were in December....long dark dress and bonnet OR long dark dress and bonnet. They seem to save all of their colorful fabric for their marvelous quilts.
Raising four daughters to choose to be modest is easy. Finding modest clothing off the rack is the challenge sometimes. Thankfully the trends this year seem to be more modest than they have been in a decade...more feminine styles with ruffles and ribbons and soft fabrics. But still, there are choices to be made, right?
Especially challenging is PROM Season.
In the past, I have sewn sleeves on formals, made matching wraps, stitched up too-high slits in the back or side or front--all in an effort to protect the modesty of my young women AND their dates.
I have found that my efforts in this area are worthwhile.
It DOES make a difference down the road,
say, if I bend ONCE,
the careless BEND is marked and remembered, like a fold in a paper,
and I have to start all over again
with renewed efforts --
whereas if I just obey the MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF PARENTHOOD:
Be Consistent
I would not have half the battles I have had.
So there's a lesson for you.
We want our young women to be modest.
And yes, I have been known to toss out
too-short-shorts
too-low-tops
a few denim skirts that had as much fabric as a placemat...
and yes,
there may have been some weeping and wailing
and
gnashing of teeth.
But there was growth and understanding too.
So summer is shining,
and what I wanna know is
What do YOU think about Modesty--
how were you taught it
and how did you teach it to your yahoos?
Elder Bednar speaks volumes about the correlation between our body being a temple.
Ye Are the Temple of God by Elder David A. Bednar
************
To find out more about LDS Temples, go here
I tried to teach modesty by both word and example. However, once my daughter left home, she went through a period where she ignored everything I had taught her and wore tank tops and short tops that drove me crazy.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, she now has garments and is back to covering up.
=)
PS. She also got tattoos during the rebellious phase. What can I say?
One of the things that I love most about my son's fiancee is that she is modest. And he loves it too. Being a good example is probably #1 and being consistent---so that's my two and one-half cents worth! P.S. Gee thanks for reminding me about our nasty summers here.....but I guess it's your turn to gloat...
ReplyDeleteMy parents have 6 daughters, of which I'm the oldest. I was expected to be modest. As my younger sisters got older, my parents decided that was one fight they weren't willing to fight. Now they regret it and realize the mistake they made. My two youngest sisters have really struggled, and one is very far off the path right now. I won't blame it all on immodesty, but I believe it has a lot to do with some of her struggles now.
ReplyDeleteI now have three girls, and I have just always dressed them modestly from the time they were infants. It's not even an issue in our house. I dress modestly, I teach them about modestly, and they know that if a shirt isn't modest, we layer. I only buy capris (it is impossible to find shorts that are longer than their underwear!), and they have even come to me and said, "Mom, my dress/skirt is getting too short, it's time to pack it away." I know it will still be an issue when they get older, but I hope that laying the foundation now will help prepare them for when they're older.
When I was 19, the General Young Women's President spoke during the Young Women's Broadcast and said something to the effect of; Parents will be tempted to not fight the battle of modesty because it will seem a small battle in comparison to the other challenges our youth face today, but fight it. It is more important than you realize." That really stuck with me, and I will continue to teach and enforce modesty until I leave this world.
We both taught modesty by example to our 4 boys and 1 girl. Boys are just easier to me and you don't normally have to fight with them over what they wear except that it is appropriate for a certain setting or occasion, is clean, pressed and had no holes in it !
ReplyDeleteWhen our daughter was getting ready to go away to Ricks College and then BYU, it was wonderful not to have to buy her an all new wardrobe to conform to the standards at college because it already was in place...saved us a bundle of $$$ too! ( we did have our fights with her from 11-15, but by 16, we trusted her enough to give her a credit card and let her go school shopping by herself )
Her brothers were not happy about it, but my Hubs continued to shop with them. We would have a fashion show sometimes after the shopping trips, which was really fun !
Great post. That is a lot of good stuff there. I am really coming to conclude that modesty is as indicative of a godly person outside as charity is inside.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is at an age this year where immodest dress will bring on the looks of the boys. But if I waited until now to insist on modesty, it would be too late.
ReplyDeleteI like your lessons of late about being careful about not bending or it become the expectation. I need to make sure I take that to heart when buying her wardrobe this summer.
(I have already tried to teach her that all boys will look when she dresses immodestly, but the good guys will look away. And then the pool of boys paying her attention will be down the the not so good boys)