Constantly Swinging

copyright Simply Natural Photography

Long story short, I wasn't able to put my signature on the photo, please excuse the weird title and do not copy the picture. :) 

One day, I'll be sitting on a bench (preferably a swinging bench like the one above-I love swings) with my besheret (soul mate, the one G-D has chosen for me), laughing and loving and being happy. But for now, my job is to save myself-emotions, thoughts, body, and love, for him. 

It's no coincidence that there are thousands of teen pregnancies, and that when people hit the teen years they begin to be interested in the opposite sex. This is a time of physical and mental development, and a time of hormones and what not, really. :p It becomes critical to have physical and emotional boundaries, because though we are becoming adults, we are not fully matured mentally or physically. (Of course there are exceptions now and then-but I'm speaking generally, and as usual, from my experience and opinion :p)

It is important as young ladies to know what we want in a husband, and have an idea of what G-D wants for us to have in a husband. Anyone who doesn't "fit the bill", if I'm saying that correctly, shouldn't be given a second thought as an eligible mate. And those who we think are or might be eligible, we need to be very careful with ourselves that we don't start making our own plans or giving our hearts away, because unless we're absolutely sure that G-D's pointed out the one, we never know. Mr.Darcy, or should I say, Jane Austen, was perfectly right-

"A lady's imagination jumps from admiration to love, and from love to matrimony in a moment."

We need to guard our thoughts. I cannot emphasize this enough. In all my purity posts, I always place the greatest importance on thoughts. That's where everything begins. Remember, its natural to feel attraction and etc, but that doesn't mean we should run with it. 

And with all the advertising and influences out there to date and go with your physical attractions and emotions, its hard to stay focused. Focused on saving ourselves, on worshiping HaShem with all our hearts, soul, and might, and on preparing ourselves for our futures.

What is a besheret? Its your soul mate! Yes, there is such a thing! You cannot just marry anyone-G-D has set apart a person for you and you for a person. A match made in heaven, a divine match, meant to be, perfect for each other-all those expressions are true and possible. We have to wait for the person that makes them actual.

There's a person who's personality, calling in life, likes and dislikes, passions and dare I say it, looks, compliment and match ours. Yes, there will be differences, but they are to be worked out, not given up on. No two people are exactly alike. In my family, it is our belief that in a marriage, there must be complete agreement in politics,parenting, religion, and all those important fundamental principals and issues. Now whether he likes broccoli and you don't really doesn't matter. :p

Don't give up-in marriage, before marriage- it will sometimes be as hard in a relationship as it is waiting for one. There is no savior or salvation from natural life problems. No escape-we are constantly being molded and changed-developed and matured. We are and always will be constantly becoming.

Pure in Heart....

Oh my goodness! Lizzy from her Library, has awarded me, because she thinks I seem pure in heart. I am so honored, and definitely feel like I definitely don't deserve this, but, with only G-D can be the judge of that, obviously. ;) Anyway, I have to post this, and put my awards on the sidebar or something! I think I have 3...
Thanks so much, Lizzy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are tagged:
1. Post about the tag
2. Pick 10 bloggers who deserve this award
3. Leave a comment on the blogs of the people you tagged letting them know they were awarded
4. Answer the questions along with your post

1: Apples, Oranges or Bananas? 
Oranges have always been my favorite fruit......
2: How many siblings do you have?
1. Yup. 1.
3: How old are you?
This question seems to keep popping up! Look in my archives...
4: Do you live on a woodland, swamp, city, or other?
Suburb. That is a weird word.
5: Scissors or glue? 
Scissors. I can DESTROY THINGS with them. Ok Ok, I like them because they're sharp and shiny. Ok Ok I just like them. : D
6: Describe your dream house. 
Anything homey that I like. Yup. Oooh... lots of window seats, an attic, wrap around veranda...
7: Is your room clean? 
Pretty much...everyone has a different definition.
8: If you could be a movie character for a day, who would you be? 
I really don't know...
9: Italy, Greece, France, Spain or England? 
Spain, then England.
10: What denomination are you? 
Technically, Messianic Judiasm is my "denomination".
11: Do you sleep with a stuffed toy (BE HONEST!!!!) 
Nope. They sleep at the bottom of  my bed. Sounds freaky, I know.
12: Gum, chocolate, or jelly beans?
Chocolate.
13: What is your favorite book?
I don't have one...
14: Favorite ice cream flavor? 
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
15: If you had to eat one type of food for two weeks, what would that food be? 
Puerto Rican fried chicken and mashed potatoes. This is a fantasy meal...
16: What is your favorite Olympic sport? 
I have no clue about the Olympics- its much ado about nothing (covers head preparing for volley of violent comments)
17: If you woke up and discovered that you had turned into Miley Cyrus for the day, what would you do?
Agh!Wish I was myself again, buy everything my family and I need and want, and stop singing and acting...
: D
18: Describe yourself in three words.
Weird. Nice. .......
19: What do you hate?
A lot of things- heat and humidity are most prevalent at present.
20: If Elmo came into your room with a gun, what would you do?
Say to myself, "WHY AM I HAVING THESE FREAKY DREAMS!!!!" then scream and throw things... ;)

Now, my mom said I cannot tag her anymore! SO I have to come up with ten bloggers, which might be hard, since a lot of them have already received this award, so I might end up with less than ten, hehe.

Ok, I have 6 blogger's whom I interact with enough to have a feeling they have pure hearts. ;)


Lady Scribble
Katherine Sophia
Jo March
Lizzy
Lexi
Loca Chica 

Choosing to Wait Purity Challenge- April 14-19

So Lexi is at it again. Taking a stand for purity and encouraging others to join and do the same.  Here's what she said....

So, along with this weeks topic, there will again be a purity give-away…so you won’t want to miss it! Start advertising and encourage more teens to join the challenge! You never know the lives you could impact by what you share during this weeks challenge!
There are actually going to be TWO topics this week, but you can pick one or the other or both! Its up to you.
Topics of this week’s Purity Challenge are:

- How does being “real” reflect your purity?
- What is your opinion on courtship?

How does being "real" reflect your purity?
 Being real affects my purity in a big way. You see, to be real, I'd have to admit that I have not kept in purity my whole life- indeed, not until 3-4 years ago. I'd have to admit that I do not have it altogether, and that I'm  not perfect.I'd have to admit that purity has been a journey, for me. If I weren't real, or didn't try to be, I would try to hide all these things, and that would foster shame in my heart.The truth is that my experiences, though mistakes, I can now take, thanks to G-D's forgiveness, I can now take them and use them to help and encourage others, and to remind myself of where I've been, and how far I've come. Being real, enables me to give the glory to G-D, and show how He has worked through my testimony, concerning purity.

What is your opinion on courtship?
My family and I have no exact definition on courtship, but we do have a few guidelines:

• Courtship is a time to get to know each other,with the intention of marriage, if G-D wills and each others families.
• Physical contact is off limits (not like, "Your skirt touched his shoe! *scream*"), but I think you get it. It can get too far, and we're not even engaged! Questions, anyone?
• TALK TALK TALK!!! Discuss the important issues. Religion, marital issues, politics ;), child raising, and etc.etc.
• And of course, G-D's will be done!

I feel like I've barely written anything, but I've written to the point, and I hope it has blessed you!
Shabbat Shalom!

Purity Challenge Week 4 : Final Week

The final week of February's 2010 Choosing to Wait Purity Challenge. I did not put an exclamation mark because it is sad for me. But, luckily, Lexi has decided to keep it going , though in a less frequent more freestyle way. I have really enjoyed this challenge, especially because once I have a purpose for writing, it is so much easier to write.This week's theme is:

How are you going to take a stand and share the truth about purity in your school, youth group, or with your friends? What will you do to keep purity going in this generation and the ones after?

1st Question : I am going to take a stand by sharing what I believe without hesitation, live a life of purity, because actions speak louder than words. I am going to do this with whomever I can- family, friends, and acquaintances, b'ezrat HaShem (with G-D's help!) . I have succeeded in this thus far, but not to a large extent. I think I am yet to be tested in this area, if I am weak.

2nd Question : I will spread the word, set a standard in my future family, write letters to my daughters, granddaughters, and great granddaughters, and keep a testimony.

Here are some closing links and music for my final purity post:

I Haven't Met You Yet by Stacy McDonald

His Love : Lexi's Mom's guest post for Week 4 of the Purity Challenge

Praise You by Out of Eden


Dear Future Husband,
Even though I have (supposedly) never met you, I love you. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't be trying , with G-D's help, to save myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for you. I know you are going to be an incredible man of G-D, and I pray you are saving yourself for me too. I have not always had this commitment to purity, put G-D is merciful and powerful, and greater than our mistakes. May G-D bless you and I, keep you and I , and make His face to shine upon you and I, everyday that we walk close and closer to Him, and to each other.
yours truly,
Your future Bride

Purity Challenge Week 3 : My Climb to Purity & 200th Post

You lost your courage, you gave it away
Trading you virtue for the lies that bring shame
Feel so alone now, secrets keep you from me
Trying to hide it all but know that I see, it
Because I was there when those thoughts began
I was there when you changed within
I was there as guilty tears you cried
I'm still here, please understand that I

CHORUS
I am the one who restores your soul
I am the one who makes you whole again
No matter what you've done, how far you've run
Just turn around cause I'm waiting to hold you

Don't be misled now, don't remain in that space
Secrets they hate the light so come into my place
Its a painful thing to confess
That you lost your pureness
But know its not hopeless cause I

CHORUS

Realize that what you've done has distanced you from me
Determine in your heart, you'll do whatever to be free
Turn from your past and leave the old ways behind
Walk with me so closely, never doubt that you are mine
And if they try to judge you, and would turn you away
Know that I have saved you, theres no need to be ashamed
You turned from your past and left your old ways behind
Your walking with me so you tell the world that you are mine
The one..

CHORUS (2x)

Realize that what you've done has distanced you from me
(You made a separation)
Determine in your heart, you'll do whatever to be free
(I'm here to offer you salvation)
Turn from your past and leave the old ways behind
(Let me be your destination)
Walk with me so closely, never doubt that you are mine
(Nobody can separate you from my love)

It is Week 3 of the 2010 Choosing to Wait Purity Challenge!  There have been incredible posts, and I am really excited. Especially about this week's theme ! ;)

This weeks theme: Talk about why you committed to purity. Tell your story…when did you first hear about the term and why did you decide to take a stand? What has God been doing in your life since you committed?

Well, I'll begin from before the beginning.

Before the Beginning
My parents have always believed in purity for us (their children), but we didn't call it specifically purity until about 3 years ago. Dating wasn't and isn't allowed, I am not allowed to be with boys alone, etc. etc. Unfortunately, I was not pure physically and emotionally , or mentally, and most of it my own decisions- my parents did what they could, but my heart was not committed. So, about 3 to 4 years ago, I began a relationship with a boy I knew  and it was behind my parents back. But those, you can imagine, were bad months ;) My family was going through a lot of negative changes, but that is no excuse. Anyway, when I had ended the relationship , I felt such joy and peace, and began to make leaps back to HaShem. But, I still had a problem.
Six months after I ended the relationship (it was too silly to even deserve that name), I received the book , Before you Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally. (click to read review and check out an awesome site on purity)

This.book.CHANGED.my.LIFE. I recommend it to every girl and any parent. Phenomenal doesn't begin to describe it.Thank you Abba! Thank you Sarah Mally!
I read and enjoyed (can you tell?) this book. But, she was constantly mentioning to not keep secrets from your parents. Can you see my problem? I was still hiding what I did. While reading this book, and listening to Joyce Meyer teachings, the above album and song, which, Baruch HaShem (praise G-d) were also changing me, my conscience began to speak louder and LOUDER. I still hadn't confessed my secret to my parents. One night, which I will always remember, I was listening to Joyce Meyer, and thinking about my "secret". I made a decision after some tears and prayer, to write a letter of confession to my Mom. I did, but my courage began to fail. My hand was on the doorknob, and I was sobbing. I heard so distinctly, " I am with you, I am with you".
I wan to fast forward, because this post is already late, so all I will say is that I cannot begin to describe how understanding, forgiving, loving and kind my parents were. That night they gave me so much wise advice. And, imagine the joy, happiness, and how humble I felt. I had already committed to purity before I confessed, but now I could truly do it from a right place.Let me take a moment to say that you can read my previous posts on purity (click on sidebar label) to know what I mean by it.
So, since then. It has not been easy to keep my thoughts and my emotions pure, but because I understand that it begins with the thoughts, not the actions, I am able to catch myself "falling" quickly. I don't want to go back to where I was, so I try to stay where I am at- moving forward, b'ezrat HaShem (with G-d's help) . ;)

Why commit to purity? What have I gained from it? Sometimes girls don't understand - you feel as if you have lost something, or are trying to keep something, you just can't pinpoint what it is. When you don't have it, you feel the value of keeping it. I can't fully explain it, but it is important, and though I have not experienced it myself, I know that it will be so special to have firsts with my husband, and I wish I could have more firsts, but truly, it is what it is, and I have gone through enough shame, guilt, and living in the past to know that you have to move forward. So I want my testimony, my post, to be for the girls that have (its not and is never too late)  / have not gone all the way in giving away peices of their heart and purity, and for the girls that are pure physically, and emotionally, mentally- but are wondering, "What's the point?", or " It's too hard to wait!". Its worth it, it will be, and NEVER never compromise for experience. That's  not worth it. Trust me- that's what I did, and the regret can only get deeper as you grow and mature.
Commit to purity, dear daughter, sisters, and future wives! G-d loves you more than you can imagine, and there has to be a sacrifice for a high priced jewel, in this case, whether you are rich or not. ;)
May HaShem keep you close to Him, and may your future husband have to seek G-d to find you (photo on sidebar). You have to love yourself and G-d enough to make a commitment to purity, but remember, little steps  for those who feel far, and steady strides for those who must stay close!

My 200th Post!!!!!!!

Purity Challenge Week 2 : Modesty

Lexi's post as Choosing to Wait beginning the second week of the purity challenge was so encouraging and edifying. It talked "about more of a pure heart issue…because we really can’t be 100% pure without one." She tells us -

This week I want you all to link up and post about things that make us not have a pure heart and talk about ways teens can encourage one another to stand up for the gift God has given us. Purity.

I want to do this by discussing the effects of immodesty in behavior and clothing. First , I will begin with a verse, that is key to a pure heart.

If you make a tree good, its fruit will be good; and if you make a tree bad, its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit...How can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart. Matt. 12 : 33-34

Now, this verse would be sufficient in itself ;) But let's go a little further.

Modest Appearance

I have written on this topic several times before, but it could always use a re-touching. ;)
Many times women, especially young women that want to be popular,attractive,and "normal", cringe from the thought off what they may call "covering up". Depending on what it may look like in your head, it seems unattractive and perhaps even wrong (or weird ;) . But think about this - a woman who wants to draw attention to her body dresses in a way that will. As daughters of HaShem (G-D) should we desire to draw that kind of attention to ourselves? I think that as a daughter of the King, we should dress differently from what the world thinks as acceptable. If you dislike the concept of modesty, you might say , "But I don't want attention, that is why I don't want to stick out by dressing differently". This is completely understandable.
But I will tell you something that many dear women do not know- you can dress modestly and attractively, beautifully, and with your own style. You don't have to wear skirts to your ankles to be modest, unless you feel that that is your personal conviction. Modesty is not so much about "covering up" as it is about not drawing attention, especially that which may be negative, to our physical selves. I believe that walking in purity involves every aspect of ourselves- appearance, physical contact, thoughts, emotions, mindsets, speech, and behavior.

Modest Behavior

Dressing modestly will not make a difference if we do not behave modestly. What I mean by "behave" is this. Imagine a young girl dressed in pretty,stylish, and modest (not revealing) clothing. And yet, you notice she is flirting with a boy, or group of boys. You see her disrespect her parents , and sit in an inappropriate manner. Behave inappropriately altogether ;) Now, at first you thought, "What a lovely, modest young lady!" Now you are thinking, "What is the point of her dressing like that when she's acting like that? " And you would be right. Dear sister's, just as we would dress like a daughter of the King, let us act like a daughter of the King, at all times, in all places, and no matter what we are wearing.

Here is a lovely song that is - well, listen to the words ;)



I don't want to sound redundant, and I am not saying that there is only one way. Of course, I am writing my view, my opinion, and my convictions. Everyone is different, and called to a different and unique path. But as Lexi said, let's "encourage one another to stand up for the gift G-D has given us. Purity." Let's stand up, stand out, and not be afraid to be different.

I hope you have been keeping up with her purity posts, they are located on the sidebar above the Purity Challenge button.

Sincerely,

2010 Choosing to Wait Purity Challenge

Lexi from Choosing to Wait has begun the 2010 Purity Challenge.

"Hey everybody and welcome to the first week of the 2o10 Purity Challenge! I am so excited to see where God takes this movement and I hope to see lots of the guys out there joining in!

The idea of the challenge is to get teens across the country to join in and share our hearts waiting on God to bring our spouses. We want to encourage our teen generation to go beyond the expectations of the world around us and lift each other up in prayer to live by God's standards - to be holy, pure and perfect. None of us can do it alone - but together we can help keep each other accountable and remind each other how blessed it will be on our wedding day to stand before God, our family and friends having our hearts pure being given to our spouses. We can each be that unopened gift on our wedding days and experience our first kiss right there knowing it was saved for a moment such as this.

Each week I will post on purity and give you ideas on how to encourage your friends to remain pure with you. I will share some of my favorite books on purity too. Each week my parents and I will read the posts and select one winner. The winner will receive either a purity t-shirt, necklace or ring (this is open for BOYS too). We want to see godly men rise up and say no to encourage all the girls out there reading to wait because God is preparing your godly knight just for you!

Rules are as follows:

#1 Share a link to each week's purity challenge post and add the purity challenge button to your sidebar/post.

#2 You write your own purity post and encourage others to join the challenge and then link it back to my weekly post.

#3 Your post must include your personal commitment to remaining pure and tell us why it is important to you to wait.

#4 Please include bible verses to encourage others that read your blog - we want to hear what God is speaking to your hearts and share His truths about purity, living a sanctified life and waiting on Him to deliver what is good in your life. Share what it means to live by faith.

#5 Share videos of songs that encourage you to remain pure. Share your photos, poems, etc - let's see your talents that glorify God and His awesome love for us!

Feel free to use the purity challenge graphic in your posts too.

Most importantly let us give this month to God and watch Him work in and through our commitment to drawing closer to Him - shining His light into the world and rising up others for His glory!

Join the Purity Challenge!!

Lexi

P.S. To win a prize for each week’s challenge you must have your post up by Thursday night at 9pm and linked to Monday’s post. Tomorrow I will share an article I read over 2 yrs ago that set me on fire to wait on God and Him alone to bring my spouse!"

You can find that first post on the sidebar under "Lovely Posts" at the top right. I am short in time, so I will just give the links to my previous posts on Purity, just for this week.

Keeping Your Heart Pure:Introduction

Keeping Your Mind Pure

Going Against the Current

Purity Conclusion

Join the challenge!!!!!!!

Purity Conclusion

Some of you may have read or read me mention my purity post series. And you may notice that I never continued or finished them . Well, here is my conclusion and wrap up.

Purpose of Purity
First of all, for the sake of re-establishment, and for those who are unfamiliar with the concept of purity, I will write a quick introduction. Throughout this thing I will grab from my previous post.(look under the Purity label in the tag cloud on the sidebar)

I made a decision to keep my thoughts,speech,emotions,actions,and heart pure,to glorify Hashem, and to make my relationship with my future husband even more special. I must make a confession, and say that I decided to do this only after, most unfortunately, I had already given away parts of my heart and some of the arguably more minor firsts. But G-d is more powerful than our failings. And He redeemed and purified me. And though this does not diminish fact, He looks at our hearts and our future, and does not hold our past against us if we do teshuvah (repent and turn away).
You have probably heard of the concept, or idea, of a girl keeping herself emotionally and/or physically pure for her future husband.Indeed, this is not a new idea. In fact, it was the normal or proper thing before dating was introduced.
What exactly does purity mean(in this case)? Well, I'll give you my own personal definition/guidline to purity. It may seem strict, but it is vital to me, to emotional and physical purity.

1- Abstaining from thinking obsessively about boys or young men you might be attracted to (preferably not at all).
2-Abstaining from speaking about boys you might be attracted to, inappropriately or obsessively.
3-Surrendering to Hashem any emotions or thoughts you might have (this is the most important one).
4-Keeping yourself chaste,sober, and shamefaced, yet with the joy and love of Abba flowing through you,when around boys you might be attracted to.Even when you are not around them :)There must be balance.
5-Keeping your heart pure by not giving away any pieces of it. you give away pieces by doing the things listed above, or not doing them. But the biggest thing with this is your imagination and thoughts. Those lead to feelings, and so forth. here is a little visual I made of this.
6- Abstaining from physical contact.A good book on that is The Magic Touch by Gila Manolson.


Keeping your Thoughts Pure
As demonstrated in the visual above, thoughts begin the cycle. I recently came upon a new concept. If a thought comes to your head- you don't have to think it! Really, if you have enough self control, you can cast thoughts from you , and decide what you think.
1- Abstaining from thinking obsessively about boys or young men you might be attracted to (preferably not at all).
Thoughts are important, thoughts and imaginations (come on, you know we imagine the moonlight walks and the park proposals). Because, as previously stated (lol) , they lead to everything else. Do you think that if you don't think about a certain person, you will feel for them? I stress this because sometimes its hard to understand the connection. I personally believe that it doesn't make sense to not get physically involved with boys , if you are going to be mentally, emotionally, and/or verbally involved. It is equally important to keep yourself emotionally,mentally and verbally pure, and sometimes we don't understand that. The question to ask yourself is," Am I committed enough to living a pure life to keep a diligent watch in this area, however insignificant it may seem?"I am not saying it is wrong to think about getting married, or your future spouse, but thinking about it too much creates a problem.We must be balanced young ladies, in all areas.Confide in your parents, and you will live a happier life.Really , it is not overrated.In fact,it's underrated. I have found so many wonderful blessings in telling my mother everything, and being open with my father.It is inexpressible.I encourage you to take the path of purity, and it will be worth it. If when the thoughts begin, you confide in a parent or guardian, then it will most likely not go far. A good way to monitor your thoughts is this- would I be ashamed to say this out loud? To my parents? To HaShem? If He is always watching us and knows our thought, that should be enough to help us keep them pure.

Keeping your Emotions Pure
Emotions emotions emotions. These are sneaky , unstable things. Don't rely or follow them!!!! Treat them as dust ! We as young people do not know the power real love has, and these emotions are a facade, or artificial. With that said, now I must say, control them, confide them, and don't act by them. That is all I have to say about this. Ok, ok. Emotions do have a place , it is just not with crushes or in the foundation of life. Feelings are important to have, but we do need to exercise self control over them.

Keeping your Actions and words Pure
If you abstain from the above, dear sisters, you will not have to struggle or control your actions. But we are not as controlled, disciplined, are perfect as we would like sometimes. So,

6- Abstaining from physical contact.A good book on this is The Magic Touch by Gila Manolson.

Actions are like the consequence of thoughts and emotions. I personally am Shomer Negiah, except with family members such as my father, brother, grandfather, and uncles. Gila Manolson speaks about shomer negiah, and simply, it is having no physical contact whatsoever, such as playing, romantic, or casual. This doesn't mean you stay 10 ft away, but don't pat on the back (an unfeminine thing to do anyway) and don't hug , and if you can help it, don't shake hands. If we put up physical boundaries in the first place, and be steadfast with them, everything will be much easier.

I will leave you with this beautiful verse. All the scripture I use is from the Complete Jewish Bible, unless stated otherwise.

"In conclusion, brothers [sisters], focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy." Philippians 4:8

Remember , let us , as young ladies, keep ourselves pure,in and out, so that we may be like the Kings daughter in Psalms 45:11, all glorious within! Have a modest attitude, a meek and gentle spirit, and do all things to glorify Him!

Modesty and Going against the Current

Modesty is important. I believe it is important to be modest, and I also think it is helpful for young ladies saving themselves in purity for their future husbands. It is important to conserve romance, feelings, love and romantic physical affection(keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction) for your mate. The clothing you wear can help to protect you from being viewed in a dishonorable way. You aren't exactly what you wear, but your outside speaks of your inside.
How you and your family view modesty is personal, but I think the following two reasons should be in every one's list of reasons. :D

• First and foremost, to honor G-d and please Him above all.
• Second, to conserve yourself( see above definition) for your future husband and for the sake of your own testimony.

I have often struggled with modesty. I want to "fit in" sometimes. I don't want people to look at me and the first thing they think is that I dress weird. But it is up to them if they want to judge me by my outside before they get to know the inside. Aren't there alot of movies about that problem? :) It is sometimes a struggle when there are two roads to choose- honoring G-d (the narrow one) and pleasing the world (the too broad one). It is difficult to swim against the world's current in the things you do, and you can get frustrated, tired, and lonely. But I think it might be worth it, especially if we want to be able to apply the following verses to ourselves.

• "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." Acts 20:24 NIV

• "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. " 1 Corinthians 9:24

• "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. " 2 Timothy 4:7

• "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. " Hebrew 12:1
  

I sure want to be committed and able to say in the long run that I have run my race for Him well. So whether you swim against the world's current by dressing modestly or not dating, it is worth it. And when you get tired or lonely, you can receive motivation and strength from these verses.

My regards,
The Author