Hanging Out...Literally

Ok, you knew this was coming at some point. This blog is directed at the ladies. Now, being a woman, I can fully relate to how difficult it is to buy modest clothes for teenagers that don't resemble a sack or other bag-like containers. But God calls us to help our brothers in Christ by not dressing in a manner that could cause them to fall into sin. I know, you're thinking "Have you SEEN the clothes that are being sold at any women's clothing store?!" They are not what I would call modest, by any stretch of the definition. So what is the definition you ask? The dictionary defines modesty as "Not extravant; Having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior, speech, and dress; Humble." Ouch. I always thought that dressing in a modest manner meant no "hanging out" or no spandex (and other tight articles of clothing, of course). According to this definition, things that call attention to myself, in general, are considered to be immodest. Would that include clothes with lots of sequins, super bright colors, words written on the parts of clothing that are supposed to cover my tush, or anything else that calls attention to what I'm wearing? I don't know about you, but I never thought of that. I may be wrong, but I've really begun to think that wearing modest clothes means not exalting myself by wearing clothes that make me stand out, like really flashy clothes (in every sense of the word, ladies. No flashing.) You definitely don't have to agree with me and you are free to think that I finally fell off the rocker. It's just that when I think of a humble person, I think of someone doing what the Lord wants them to, but not in a way that everyone else can see. The same goes for clothes, in my humble opinion. I'll leave it at that.

I hear alot of girls say, and I quote, "Um, like its not my problem if some guy can't keep his mind out of the gutter. I can wear like whatever I want to and it is his problem if he thinks bad stuff about my body." Or worse, I have even heard "Um God GAVE it to me, so I am going to flaunt it, duh." There are definitely some exceptions, but there aren't many things that frustrate more than hearing these arguments. Girls, imagine if one of your teachers came in one day with this huge bag of hershey kisses. (or whatever your favorite candy is.) Suppose he or she put some of that candy right on your desk, directly in front of your face. Then she told you not to look at it, touch it, think about it, think about looking at it, think about touching it, or think about thinking about it. Can you honestly tell me you would not even glance at or think about it? I mean, honestly? I don't think I need to explain this example much further, because you get my point. As for the second argument, yeah He gave it to you. For the man you will someday marry, NOT every man who has two eyeballs! (or one, for that matter...) The Bible compares an immodest woman with a ring in a ping's NOSE. Gross. Why would you want guys giving you the wrong kind of attention? Don't you want a guy to show interest in you for your personality and not for you body? I rest my case.

Now, I understand how difficult it is to find clothing that glorifies God. It is so difficult. But if you make an effort by to obey Him, by searching through all those short shorts and low-cut shirts, He will bless you. You will be able to find stuff, I promise! You will be showing respect for yourself and guys will respect you for that too. I have one word for you: Camisole. They will be your best friend. Ladies, cover yourselves up for God. There's my two cents...

Proverb's 22:11
Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

Smelling the Roses...

The coolest thing happened at work tonight. I work at Chick-fil-a, for those of you who don't know that already, and I was working at the window. This meant a redundant, repetitive, cheerful but fake greeting, the exchange of their money for our food, a cheerful but fake good bye, over and over. You know how the drive thru routine goes.

This one particular man drove up and paid for his meal just like any other customer. Then, however, he asked how much the meal of the man behind him cost. (It was $7.77 by the way, I thought that was cool...) He silently paid for that meal too, smiled to himself, and asked me to tell the man behind him to "Have a blessed day and a blessed meal, because the Lord will always provide." Then he drove away. No exalting himself, or acting like he was all that and a bag of chips, or trying to get attention, or watching the reaction of the man behind him, or anything. I got the pleasure of telling that next customer that his meal had been covered by the driver before him. I got to witness his reaction. The man was so taken aback by this random act of kindness, that he offered to pay for the person behind him. This little chain lasted for 4 cars. It was so incredible to watch these people be wowed, surprised, and just loved on! That first man was such a great example of storing up treasures in heaven and being a humble servant of God. Not only did he bless other people, but I think that I benefited from him too, because I saw firsthand how uncommon it is nowadays to just bless someone with nothing in it for the giver. We get so caught up in life, in general, and our busy schedules. I'm alive and a child of God! How can I not be jumping up and down? Now, I am SO determined to do this at the next drive thru restaurant or sit down restaurant I go to, because I want to show God's love to someone too, just like that mystery man.

This really got me thinking about the little things in life mean that do mean so little to us. We take so many things for granted in our busy lives and we never stop to "smell the roses" or just enjoy the little things that God allows in our lives that are meant to just bless us. We eat food because we need it to live. We don't always sit down to taste and appreciate the different flavors, textures, colors, health benefits. (or lack thereof) This may seem odd, but take blood as another example. To us, it can be such a nuisance, getting all over the place when we scrape ourselves. Do we ever stop to think that if we didn't have blood we would DIE? Blood does so much to keep our bodies going, and all we do is gripe when we have to go scrummage in the cabinet for a band-aid.

All I'm saying is stop and smell the roses, remembering that these "smells" come from God. There's tons of different "smells" and plenty more where they came from! Anyway, there's my two cents...

Ephesians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Why Blog?

I am going to go ahead and tell you I'll probably be bad at this. I am really bad about being consistent and I am very spur of the moment. So while the purpose of this blog will be to share powerful moments, random thoughts, and just try to be a good influence on people, with anyone who even cares to read, I cannot guarantee organization. I created this blog because I recently read a couple friends' blogs and it really hit me. A blog that is used for good (as opposed to an evil blog of course, haha) can really make a difference in someone's life. Let me explain. I was surfing facebook, which should definitely be one of the 7 deadly sins by now because of the time it consumes, when I saw a friend had posted the link to his blog. I was bored and I decided to check it out. He was really honest and he posted a question for thought. It completely affected the rest of my day. I immediately wanted to do that for other people! The thought of possibly encouraging someone if they weren't feeling so hot, or planting a little seed of inspiration in someone's heart to try and live their life for God's glory really made me excited! So, this little blog was born.

Before I go, I guess I will explain the title of this entire blog. I named it "The Ninth Hour" because the Bible says that it was the hour when Jesus gave His life for us. We mean the world to Him and He went through indescribable pain so that we can be made clean every time we sin. I don't know about you, but I sin a HECK of alot. It's mind blowing to me and I know that I can't even begin to comprehend His love. My youth pastor, Will, actually came up with that title for our youth group and I love it! Anyways, I know I don't always word my thoughts in the most graceful manner, but there's my two cents.

Mark 15:34
And at The Ninth Hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"