What are you trying to say?

If I were to tell you that the way you dress communicates to others what's in your heart, would you agree or disagree? Think about it for a few minutes. The way you dress...a form of communication? Really...what do you think?



Think about it this way: when you see a bride walking down the aisle brilliantly dressed in her best attire for her future husband. When you see her in all of her dazzling beauty, doesn't the way she is dressed make a statement? Doesn't it speak to others of the love that is in her heart for the man she is about to marry? Or, think about it this way: if you see someone dressed in a thick wool hat, wool mittens, a scarf around the neck and a heavy coat on, wouldn't it be safe to say this person is cold and is not headed to a picnic?



Clothing can communicate to others whether we are from a poor or a wealthy family. Have you ever seen someone on the street and thought they must live in a bad section of town, or seen someone else and thought about how nice it would be to have the kind of money they do in order to shop for clothes? Clothing sends out a message about our values, our character and our attitudes. For example, you can look at some people and tell that neatness is not a concern to them. You can look at others and tell by the way they are dressed whether they are having a good day or not. The way we dress and the way that we present ourselves is a reflection of what is in our heart.

In First Timothy 2:9, women are exhorted to dress modestly. Modest? What does modest mean to you? The most fitting definition of the word modest that I could find, that spoke the most to me, was from Webster's Dictionary, definition # 3: "observing the proprieties of dress and behavior". In simple terms, this means to dress decently.

The main reason I am writing this is that we, as Christians, have an obligation to set ourselves apart from those that are in the world. Part of setting ourselves apart from those in the world is to dress differently from those in the world. Ladies, are you doing YOUR part to set yourself apart from the world and dress in a decent manner (I speak especially to teens and young adults!)? If not, you need to take a serious look in the mirror and change your appearance so that you might not be conformed to this world!

I want to leave you with a few examples I have seen recently of immodest dress and ask all of you teens and young women to take some time out to think about and pray about the way that you dress and ask yourselves if you are doing all you can to glorify God in your manner of dressing. Here are some of the examples of immodest dress:

• Tight and form fitting shirts [what good is a shirt that covers private body parts if the size of the shirt enhances that which is covered?]
• Shirts that are too short and expose the belly/hip area
• Shirts that are too low cut or too loose at the top so that every move you make exposes private body parts [you can always find sleeveless shirts to wear under low cut shirts, or button up the shirts, or better yet, if the shirt is too low cut or too short, don't buy it and don't wear it!]
• Shirts that have writing across the chest are NOT decent at all because this only draws the eye to private parts of the body
• Pants or shorts that have writing across the bottom do the same thing - draws the eye to private body parts
• Pants that are too low waisted paired with a shirt that is too short [hey, I know low rise pants, jeans and shorts are the trend nowadays. I am not necessarily against them. It is when your shirt is not long enough to cover what the bottoms leave behind that causes indecent dress]
• Skirts that have slits in the sides and up the back need to be checked. You should sit down in front of a mirror and check all angles of your dress with this type of skirt on. What happens when you cross your legs? How big does the slit open up when you sit, stand and walk?
• See through material is just that! If you want to wear something with thin material, please invest in a nice full body or half body slip in order to more fully clothe yourself.

These are just a few things that I have seen lately. Remember, these things I am seeing from our fellow sisters in Christ! We have a responsibility to uphold one another, exhort one another, and rebuke one another in love when necessary.

I am not the most eloquent of writers or speakers. I really am a mild mannered, down to earth kind of person [at least I think I am!]. My intention here is not to offend anyone or point fingers at anyone other than our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that all who read this take to heart what I have written. Please examine yourselves and your lives and truly ask yourself whether or not you have set yourself apart from those that are in the world.

I welcome any and every comment, whether private or public, and would be happy to discuss this subject more in length with anyone who has the desire!

I've been out of the loop

Hello all! I returned just yesterday afternoon from a trip to GA to be with my family. I had such a great time! Great sleep? No, but a great time, yes! We have planned this trip since before Bethany was born and now I can't believe it is over. We had so many plans and things to do on this trip and I feel like I hardly ever stopped to take time to smell the roses, so to speak.

We left around 2pm one afternoon to make our trip. It was a nice trip except for maybe the last two hours where both Josiah and Bethany screamed and screamed. Bethany was miserable and was scrunched up in the back seat of the rental car. We stopped and decided to switch the places where both car seats were and this seemed to greatly help. Danny has such long legs that he had to put the car seat back a lot further on Bethany than we would have wanted. This seemed to calm both of the kids down and we soon arrived in Conyers, GA around 10:30pm or so. It was a long trip, but well worth it!

We met up with my little brother, his wife and their little girl who were also visiting at my parents for a week or so. The Wednesday after we arrived we decided to take the kids to the Yellow River Game Ranch where you can feed live animals. This was great! Deer came up to you out of nowhere, eating carrots and apples right out of your hands. There were also foxes, chickens, roosters, rabbits, bears, squirrels, pigs, goats, sheep and so many more animals. I am sure I am leaving some out, but you get the point! The kids had a blast. Josiah has a rooster's crow down to an art now, as the roosters followed us around making all sorts of noises. Josiah lost interest a lot sooner than his cousin did, and he just wanted to "Run, run, run!" all over the place.

That evening, Danny went to the Atlanta Tea Party with some of the local church family, while I gladly stayed at home and looked after the kids. Truth be told, you would not have found me dead on the streets of Atlanta in all of that mess!

The next day, I went to a huge kid's consignment sale with my sister in law and got a good bit of things, spending less than $20 - that is always a great feeling! We spent most of the rest of the day letting the kids nap and catching up ourselves, then we went to Shoal Creek PBC for their dinner and prayer meeting. It was nice to see friends and family and spend time with them in the Lord.

Friday my older brother, his wife and their three girls came up to my parents for a couple of days. The first order of business for us all was a trip to Stone Mountain State Park. It had been a long time since I went to Stone Mtn, and I had a great time! We took a picnic and had a great time eating, some walked down to the mill, and some threw the football around and had a few laughs. Mom and dad went back home for the afternoon to get some rest, while the rest of us split up for just a little while. Me, Danny, my younger brother and his family and the kiddos went and rode the train around the mountain. It was nice, but the seats were less than uncomfortable! We then went to the barnyard for the kids to play...it wasn't quite meant for their age, so we stayed for a minutes, then moved on. At that point we decided to ride the airlift to the top of the mountain. It had been forever since I was up there and it was nice to see again. I am so glad I didn't have to hike the mountain to get there! We met up with the rest of the family, then headed home for dinner with all of the family and togetherness...playing some Wii. Yes, as you guessed, it was a sight to behold!

Saturday we all had plans to head to the church for the Strevel Family Reunion. I looked forward to spending time together with family from near and far. We all gathered at the church and prepared to have a nice potluck dinner when we saw the commotion outside and noticed that one of the little cousins was hurt. Our 10 year old little cousin fell off of about a 10 foot platform and broke both of his arms and scraped his chin. He was rushed to the nearest ER while we prayed and waited for news on him. They returned a couple of hours later, indeed with 2 broken bones in one arm and 1 in another. He had temporary slings put on and would have to get casts on both arms a couple of days later. Poor guy! Since the accident, I heard he is well, although in pain, but he does have his casts on and is on the mend.

A lot more went on while I was in GA, I have only hit the highlights, but I must say that we had a great time and I can't wait to make it back...although I have no idea when! I miss my family and can't wait to hear about the new arrivals of my niece in May and my nephew in August.

I hope to catch up here around the house and to write more soon. I have a subject that I have so strongly on my mind that I am currently writing about and praying about and I hope to share it with you all really soon, so don't be a stranger to my blog!

Unwanted Phone Calls

This really annoying debt consolidation company got our phone number and will not stop calling me! I have had at least 3-5 calls a day for the past 6 days [except for Sunday...]. They start promptly at around 7:30am and call all throughout the day. I have done all of the following:

• I have requested that they take me off of their call list
• I have asked to speak to a manager - which got me nowhere
• I have even become sarcastic with them when they ask for me by name. "May I speak to Melanie please?" To which I reply: "I'm sorry, I'm not available right now, can I leave myself a message?" To which the person on the other end says yes, so I say: "Please leave your message at the sound of the beep. BEEP!"
• I have even not answered or hung up on them

Even though I have done all of these things, they STILL will not quit calling me. I have been able to find some humor in this situation though. The humor came when every time they called today, I answered, put them on speakerphone, and let my two year old Josiah do all the talking for me! He loves to talk on the phone to anyone who will talk back. The conversation went somewhat like this: "Hi, can I speak to Melanie?" To which Josiah replied: "Sljufkmws sdkfjsdkjf fksmneom sljfosemv sldlsdmp slmjsldfmk s;dkflsm,bsa;vm bgkfbbafalsdjf asdfkjdksfskl dlmfksdjfkdj fkdjfkv apepmvaopdmm wpasoefsdf." This must have tickled the caller on the other end almost as much as it tickled me because the caller put Josiah on speakerphone so all of his fellow workers could hear him. Then this is what I heard: "Is your mommy home?" To which Josiah replied with A LOT more babble. The workers listening on speakerphone began to laugh at what they were hearing, then Josiah let out a big fake laugh himself and says: "You so funny!". I know this may seem weird or odd to a lot of you, but I despise it when people call my house over and over again, especially if I have requested that they not. I am VERY MUCH not a phone person. I can go days without answering the phone. I can ignore a phone ringing like no one's business. I guess this comes from working in a lot of call centers at various times in my life. At my last job, some days I would answer as many as 160 calls a day. So, this was one of the highlights of my day, and I WILL use my son's love for the phone to my advantage again, whenever the opportunity arises!

Another funny...

As naptime comes to a near end, I hear my son on the baby monitor starting to babble a little to himself. Then all of a sudden, I hear this: "Momma! Whell all oo?" Which, coming from Josiah means where are you. I hear this over and over again, then I hear: "Momma not coming!". Precious...t-totally!~

Weighting for nothing

I have created a new blog, separate from this one, that will be more about losing weight, WW, and my effort to help others and myself lead a better lifestyle through healthy eating. If you want to follow or chime in, please go to: weightingfornothing.blogspot.com. Anyone at anytime please feel free to send me your tips, recipes or articles that you think might be helpful to me or others!