Modest Is Hottest

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I have found the quote mentioned in the title of my post on several blogs. Aside from it's mild humor, the statement speaks great truth. Modesty in any person, but especially in young ladies is most pleasant. When a young lady is covered up, wearing a modest length skirt (below the knee, in my opinion) and a modest top (one that doesn't expose herself) she is sending a message to others that she respects God and herself. She portrays a person who has strong convictions and isn't a loosey-goosey (a word Ali and I use) 

After a bit of research, I found many verses in the Bible that back up the need for modesty. Here is a great one:

And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes.

1 Timothy 2:9

*In other translations it says, "braided hair." These descriptions refer to the attire of a harlot in biblical days.

Modesty is beautiful. Modesty is the outward manifestation of the inward beauty of the soul, glowing with holiness, humility and purity. When we know Jesus and love Him, we are willing to find out what pleases Him. As young ladies, modesty is a gift that we can each attain. But how? 

In a world of "skinny" jeans, tight tank tops, and mini skirts, girls are bombarded with ideas on how to dress. We see so many bare bellies and some even think it looks cool - instead of cheap. Nowadays, "you don't even have to buy the whole outfit; the matching scarf pasted to your body is enough."from the girls devotional, "For Such A Time As This." Fashion has become a tool of seduction. These dress options are not modest and do not meet the biblical dress code mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:9.

Modesty is not only about wearing an ankle length skirt and a turtle neck sweater. Even if a woman is wearing the attire previously mentioned, she can still convey an immodest, seductive spirit by her demeanor. Her body language says a lot.

A scoundrel and villain...who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up dissension. 

Proverbs 6:12-13

We are children of God and need to dress like it. Modest clothing doesn't have to be ugly and frumpy. 

Modesty Challenge: Go through your closet and consider each article of clothing. Try on a few things and make sure that they still fit you appropriately. If you are unsure about a specific item, ask your dad to approve or disapprove it. He can tell you whether or not it's appropriate. Remember, If you doubt it, you can do with out it.

Enjoy this great video on modesty... from a man's point of view.

For The Love of Friends

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Valentines Day. Today, Guys usually give their sweet hearts chocolates, red roses because any other flower choice would be silly, and some even propose marriage. As you walk along the city streets, it seems like love is truly in the air.

When we hear the word love, our minds usually lead us to biblical characters such as Ruth and Boaz or Jacob and Rachel. Theses are all examples of human love. The world's love is temporary, usually based on emotions and comes with conditions.

Where can we find an everlasting love? Where can we find an unconditional love?

"I have loved you with an everlasting love." 

Jeremiah 31:3

We find that love in God. There is no love greater than the love of God. There is no love as selfless as the love of God. God's love is beyond what we expect or deserve.

In the Bible, we read of a love so deep that it lead to death.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

Instead of my mind being occupied with chocolate bon-bons and sweets, I want to remember the love Jesus has for me. I want to remember the sacrifice He made in giving His life for a sinner, like me. He loved me just the way I am. I also want to remember that:

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times...

I know that I am not perfect. I don't always "love my enemies". I don't always love others unconditionally, but I know someone who does and He is willing to teach me.

Book Review: Beyond Molasses Creek

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Three lives are bound by a single book...and the cleansing waters of Molasses Creek.

Having traveled to the ends of the earth as a flight attendant, Ally Green has finally returned to the Lowcountry to bury her father as well as the past. But Vessey Washington is still living across the creek, and theirs is a complicated relationship- he was once her best friend... and also part of the reason she stayed away so long. When Ally discovers a message her father left behind asking her to quit running, it seems her past isn't through with her yet. 

 As Ally's wandering spirit wrestles with a deep longing to flee again, a young woman on the other side of the world escapes her life of slavery in the rock quarries of Nepal. A mysterious sketchbook leads Sunila Kunari to believe there's more to her story than she's ever been told, and she's determined to follow the truth wherever it leads her.

A deep current intertwines the lives of these three souls, and a destiny of freedom, faith, and friendship awaits them all on the banks of Molasses Creek.

I want to preface this review by stating that I really enjoyed this book. The novel grabbed me at the first chapter and I couldn't put it down until I finished. Nicole Seitz is a wonderful author and lovely artist. I feel that her writing style is poetic and eloquent, which is a trait that I admire in a book. She wittingly intertwines the lives of two women, making it nearly impossible for  a reader to figure out the connection between the two, if there is one.

Judging this book by the cover, even though your not supposed to do that, a reader would assume that Ally Green is a young woman. After reading a few pages, I discovered that she was a sixty something who was retired. I don't read many books on older characters and this novel was a bit out of my reading zone, but I enjoyed the flash backs Ally and Vessey shared.

I laughed and cried in this book, which is a plus for any of my reading experiences. Nicole did mention a few things that I am not in complete agreement with. Also, the blurb mentions a destiny of... faith. I did not read anywhere that Ally accepted the Lord or had a change of heart. Instead, she lied to patch up one of her faults and the fault of another character.

Apart from that minor fault, I did enjoy Sunila's portion of the book. She spoke of the caste system in Nepal and the struggles of a woman who is outcaste.

There was almost no romance in this book, aside from a crush Ally had on Vessey as a child.

I would reccomend this book to those who enjoy a mild mystery or a good read. I would give Nicole's novel 4 out of 5 stars. You can purchase Beyond Molasses Creek at Amazon and CBD

I received this book from the publisher though Book Sneeze in exchange for my honest review. I was not obligated to offer a positive review.

Bible Memory Verses: 1 & 2

For this year, I have purposed in my heart to memorize a Scripture verse every month.

For the month of January, I memorized,

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Exodus 14:14

For the month of February, I will be memorizing,

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, 

always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Are you memorizing any scripture this month? I would love to read about it?

Speaking of love, Ali over at Surrendering All of Me is hosting a Love Is challenge. I have been edified in reading her posts on love and have learned from them as well.

Book Review: The Sound of Red Returning

About the book:

After losing everyone she loves, concert pianist Liesl Bower has nowhere to go but to escape into her music. Searching for the peace she usually finds in her concertos and sonatas, Liesl can’t shake the feeling that she is being haunted by her past . . . and by someone following her. When she spots a familiar and eerie face in the audience of a concert she’s giving for the president in Washington, DC, the scariest day of her life comes back to her with a flash. It has been fifteen years since Liesl watched her beloved Harvard music mentor assaulted on a dark night in Moscow and just as long since the CIA disclosed to her that he’d been spying for Russia. She had seen that man--that eerie face--the night Professor Devoe was attacked. And now he’s back--and coming for her.

On the run and struggling to rely on the protection of CIA agent Ava Mullins and handsome newspaper reporter Cade O’Brien, Liesl learns she is the prey of an underground cell of Russian KGB agents determined to restore their country to its former Soviet might. But what she doesn’t know is that she is in possession of something--a piece of sheet music--that Russian intelligence is now frantic to find. Inside that music is a secret code, the hidden transcriptions of her deceased mentor, that clearly identify a Russian mole operating inside Israel’s Department of Defense, a mole with enough power and access to execute a daring assassination that no one would see coming.

Caught in a deadly conflict between American and Russian undercover agents, this innocent young pianist is just trying to survive her own personal trauma. Through it all, Liesl must learn that no matter how dark her world grows or how fiercely her enemies pursue her, God is still in control--if only she can yield herself to His grace.

About the Author:

Sue Duffy is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Moody Magazine, The Presbyterian Journal, Sunday Digest, and The Christian Reader. She is the author of Mortal Wounds (Barbour, 2001) and Fatal Loyalty (Kregel, 2010). Sue has also contributed to Stories for a Woman’s Heart (Multnomah). She and her husband, Mike, have three grown children.

My review:

Sue Duffy is a phenomenal author. I made a sundry of predictions, but some how Sue managed to twist the plot. I enjoyed the pace of the mystery and  was delightfully surprised at the turn of events toward the end of the book. I felt like a detective trying to piece together parts of Liesl's life, Devoe's treachery and many other dangerous events.

The only fault I find with this book is the romance. Sue began the romance too late in the book, forcing her to speed it up towards to end. This made several events in the book rather awkward. 

Liesl's spiritual journey was one that brought me to tears. I was crying when she finally let go and let God. She learned to let go of all of the anger, hatred, and fear she was storing up in her heart.

I laughed at several tid-bits of Ian's humor. I cried at a shocking turn of events. I was on the edge of my seat because of the mystery. This book incorporates every emotion you want in a story.

Sue writing is well- expressed and eloquent. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys and well-written mystery. With much pleasure I would rate The Sound of Red Returning 5 stars. 

You can purchase this book at Amazon

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Win a Kindle Fire from @SueDuffy2 and @KregelBooks in the "Red Returning" Giveaway!

Sue Duffy and her publisher, Kregel Publications, are celebrating the release of The Sound of Red Returning by giving away a Kindle Fire prize package worth over $200 to one lucky winner!!!! (1/23-2/11)

Enter the Sue Duffy’s Giveaway today and you could win:

* A brand new Kindle Fire with Wi-Fi

* The Sound of Red Returning (Book One in the Red Returning series) by Sue Duffy

To enter click one of the icons below. But, hurry! The giveway ends on 2/11. Sue will be announcing the winner of the “Red Returning” Giveaway on February 13th on the Litfuse website!

 

Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. 

Tame That Tounge

"A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends." {Proverbs 16:28}

Have you ever pinky promised your best friend that you wouldn't tell her secret, but eventually shared  juicy tid bits of information. I think we all have told a secret we shouldn't have shared or have been irresistibly tempted to do so. Have you ever overheard some one's conversation and told your friend EVERYTHING you found out? This is called gossiping.

What is gossiping?

Gossiping accuses people. It charges others with wrong. Some people love to talk about the alleged actions of others. Does the following sound familiar?  via

"Did you hear what he did?"

"No--- tell  me!"

"Well, just between me and you, he..." and on and on it goes.

Gossiping hurts other people. It also ruins the testimony of others, especially if what your spreading around is in fact, false information.

I can admit that I have been both a victim and perpetrator of gossip. When others pass on false, incomplete, or personal information about me, it has hurt. In my mind I say, "How can she/he say something like that.?" After a bit of time in prayer and Bible reading I come to the following conclusions:

 … For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. . .

Matthew 12:33-34

The evildoer is paying attention to the lip of hurtfulness. 

A falsifier is giving ear to the tongue causing adversities.

Proverbs 17:4

In my heart, I know what to do. I know that I must forgive the gossiper. I must also pray for her/him, asking the Lord to help her/him mend their ways.

If you are "addicted" to gossiping, ask the Lord to help you. Ask Him to help you keep your mouth under control and your heart pure. Ask Him to make you a trustworthy friend. Ask Him to make your mouth a well that pours forth sweet waters.

If you have been hurt by gossip, ask the Lord to help you forgive.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. 

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:13

Be encouraged. With God's help, you can tame that tongue.