Cute is Cute and Sexy is Sexy

Thought I'd share a real life example of a Girl Gone Wild as described in my current bible study. It is exactly the message I have been reflecting on over recents months regarding purity.

I watched as my husband encountered a temptress last night at the gym. He was stretching before his workout on 1 of the 3 benches when a woman, barely dressed came up to the same bench, and put her leg up next to his. Startled, he looked up at her only to be met with her chest bulging out of a lace halter top as she bent over in a stretch over her leg, extending from her short shorts. He could not help but see what was being tossed right infront of him. He quickly put his leg down and turned around and sat on the floor to continue stretching. Praise God he had the self-control to turn away. 

What was she thinking?!? What was he now thinking?!? 

It breaks my heart and makes my stomach sick thinking that women, of any age-our young children, teens and adults- have a desire to flaunt out what should be guarded as precious in an attempt to what...get attention?!? To Feel special or pretty? You would hope this woman wasn't thinking in her head "I want to seduce that man and ruin his mind and family." She probably was selfishly wanting affirmation and fulfillment in her desire as a beautiful woman as the woman in Proverbs 7 in our study.

I have 2 dear friends whose families have been recently devastated by pornography. It's a HUGE and destructive industry. We can blame the man for looking but shouldn't the sensuous woman be held accountable too?!? Sometimes it's thrown right in your face. He wasn't at a nude beach or a men's club. This was at our family gym and it happens everywhere, even on our phones now a days.

Women, we must be careful how we dress walking out the door and be aware of the looks we give men being friendly. I don't know about you but I can sense the flirt, and if you are near someone giving you a little flirt, flee! While we cannot control others, we are accountable to ourself. 
Cute can be cute, but sexy is sexy. And sexy belongs behind closed doors!! 

Ladies, we must PRAY PRAY PRAY for the men in our lives! Be it our spouses, Dad's, brothers, husbands, sons, nephews, friends, co-workers, we must stand for their purity and pray for their eyes to be blinded to all the Wild Things available to them. It's a HUGE war!! 

It took one look at the girls at the school drop off line at the middle school and high schools to see what the girls were wearing for me as a Mom to begin petitioning harder for the purity of not only my own boys, but for the girls in our community too. I prayed for value and affirmations to be found within them, not from outward confirmations. For them to choose to respect themselves and those around them enough to not want attention that draws themselves or others to sin. 
Would my teens be strong enough to quickly turn away from the beautiful, good smelling, flesh revealing girls? Since I could not dress the girls myself, it was then I began praying first for the girls to become aware of their value and see themselves as valued and treasured, not something to be promoted for approval of the opposite sex. I became diligent praying for my boys to be blinded and shielded from the alluring flesh in front of them. I have seen this happen in my husband and in me so I know God can do that. He blinds us from things He knows we won't be able to not see. Other times, He helps our spirits to not see. I began pleading with God to help them be quick to turn their eyes and attention if it was laid obvious before them across the bench.
As for my husband, he is bombarded all day in this sex-driven culture and doors are always open for him. Sexual temptation is a serious war that must be fought for people of all ages and status, married or single. As his wife, it is imperative I stand in this battlefield with him. As his wife, I must war with him on his behalf that temptation would be quickly fled from and avoided. I am so proud of his strength and conviction to bounce his eyes (term from Every Man's Battle, book). There are always women on the other side of a bench looking for attention, so we must continue to intercede on behalf of our men, guarding ourselves too.

For the record, it's not just the woman who are the tempters. Boys/Men do it too wearing tight fitting jeans and shirts, giving off alluring signals, dawning their manly colognes, flaunting their body like Fabio. Men, just like women, have a need to feel wanted and noticed.

Thanks for letting me share this with you. This is a Gospel issue more than a purity issue and one people don't talk about frequently enough. 
"But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:17-20

May it start with us coming humbly before our God asking Him to bring to heart anything within us that does not honor True Womanhood in Christ's name by which we were created. There may be some things in our own lives we need to purge, or begin to value as precious once again. May we stand firm and courageous fighting on this huge battlefield for the sake of Christ. May we fervently petition on behalf of our men and boys to be blinded and disgusted by flesh that devours and treasure up the beauty that God intends to be the delight of their souls. Let it begin with us. Let us pray for our loved ones' purity and strength to cling to what is good and holy and flee quickly from temptation that leads to gratifying selfish and sinful desires.  

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Praying Blessings and Purity of Body, Mind and Heart for each of us! May the Lord be the apple of our eye just as we are to His. To God be all the Glory, body, mind and spirit.

All about Pink & Blue

Sugar & Spice and everything nice!

Oh the blessings of being a GIRL! Once a month it's not so "fun" but the rest of the time it's pretty great I think! I'm a NOT a super Girly-Girl, but neither am I a Tom-boy. I enjoy dressing up but I can dig down in the dirt and get my nails dirty!

It's the very first question when someone announces they are expecting..."Is it a Girl or a Boy?" And of course after the birth, they always ask, "When's the next one?!" Good Grief!

My husband and I were blessed with 7 babies, four of which I care for here on Earth. The other three are in Good Hands.

In 1997, God blessed us with our first BOY.We spent the last 4 months of the pregnancy at High Risk visits watching the fluid build up in one of his tiny kidneys.Prayers were heard and there were no complications! Just one week early we met our big boy, weighing in at 8 lbs 4oz.  Everything "boy" and blue denim had filled our house. Blue blankets, burp rags, furniture, balls, toys, bottles, bags, pacifiers.

Then, in 1999, we lost our first little Angel baby only to unexpectantly find ourselves carrying our next bundle of energy! I LOVE being pregnant, such a gift, however, the pregnancy was not easy. My hormone levels had not returned back to normal ranges so when I became pregnant, my body responded as if I was already 4 months pregnant and I began to have contractions early, and I spent 6 months on bed rest hooked up to a monitor. After several trips to Labor and Delivery to settle the contractions, after 6 months of getting out twice a week in my wheelchair to go to church only, and arriving two weeks ahead of schedule, God slipped our blonde haired, blue-eyed baby boy in our hands, weighing 8lbs 1 oz.

Over the next several years, two more babies returned Home to their Heavenly Father and I cannot wait to meet them!!!

In 2005, a sea of PINK flooded our home, over powering all the denim. Lace and ruffles, bows and softness filled our home and life with all things GIRLY!! Such sweet clothes and blankets. This Tinkerbell of a Princess arrived three weeks early, weighing in at albs 5ozs. It definitely awoke the sleeping Princess within me! I found myself matching her colors and trading some of the jeans for some cute skirts!

And to our surprise, God gave us another blonde haired, blue-eyed bundle of joy, weighing in at 10lbs, 7ozs and this boy still surprises me to this day, taking his time arriving one week LATE and still continues to take his time.

When we got married, we attended marriage conferences as an enrichment to our marriage. We both have parents who are divorced and have committed to truly let God be at our center and reason! We just wanted to know HOW!  Once we entered Parenthood, we attended with the same fervor and desperation how to do it right and not to mess it up!! 20 years of marriage seminars, 15 years or parenting seminars, and today I sit in one about Womanhood. Week 1 not even completed and His Word and the insights fall fresh on me! I almost can't formulate the words to express it. Wow! Amazing God! I could go on and on with this and maybe I will blog some of this out but for now, let me tell you this: You most certainly DO have a purpose. You were created as a Masterpiece. You were created in Divine Design, in your specific role.

We were created male and female. We have a role and purpose. We are a reflection of Christ and the Church. If I understand my role as a Helpmate to Christ, it helps me understand how to be one to my Husband. If I understand my role as a woman, and I honor God through my Womanhood, won't I be a better Mommy? A Wife? A Church Member? A Friend? YES!!! He tells us "Seek FIRST His Kingdom." This is not just in how to live out day to day life, but with who we are...seek out who you are in Him first. Know the Hands that made you, then learn who He made you to be, then learn how to use the tools He gifted you with as you live the life He designed for you, as you live to honor God above all others. Your How To is The Word!!!

I tell my kids all the time, if you are living a life pleasing to The Lord, you know without a doubt that Dad and I will be pleased! If their focus is to please God above all others, all the "others" will be happy too. If they only focus on being a student and friend and Dickerson Child and yet never look towards fulfilling their role in the Kingdom which highlights the glory of God, how will they ever be satisfied? Our greatest joy is being in the center of God's Will for our life! Not having a happy marriage, earning several commas in the paycheck, being a popular and envied Parent or being a social-lite respected and known. Where does our heart's joy come from?? The Lord!! Our Peace. Our Comfort. Our Joy!

Are their roots digging deep into a sold foundation or are they spreading themselves out in shifting sand?

Maybe you have never gone all the way back to the very first question of and for yourself...Are you a Girl or a Boy in Christ? Beyond your special "parts", were you created for Manhood or Womanhood? Boy or Girl, there is a gifting only you can fulfill in all of creation. There is more to life than being the best at serving others (and ourselves if we are honest). How would our life change if our only desire was to bring honor and glory to God alone? Above all others. Understand there is a God. Beginning to End, He created everything, and in everything, with a purpose. The purpose is to reveal His beautiful Glory. To reveal Himself to us. To Love. Are you a man of God or a woman of God? Let's learn "how to" do that!!

SIDENOTE: Seminars are great, not saying we should not attend or that we won't gain practical advice, cuz we certainly have; what I am saying is that it is crucial that in order for us to understand "how to" do our our many roles we serve in this Earth right, we cannot skip pass what ought to be our first step...understand how and why we were created. Before we understand our spiritual giftedness, before we ask how to be a better "whatever" may we find out from The One Who created us, with what purpose in mind were we created, male or female.

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26

Day Four, Week One...here I come!! Only Week One!?!?! It's gonna be good!!! :)