You have until Monday to sign up for the Annual IDD Chocolate Swap. I loved getting my chocolate in the mail! Definitely a highlight from last Valentine's Day! Monday is the deadline for entering and we still have spots available so sign up now! Go HERE for the information and don't forget to email us your address.
Read more...Why is there such a lack of fashionable, feminine, MODEST clothing?
Ever felt the frustration? I think all of us have asked this question at one time or another. Meet someone who has actually DONE something about it.
Christa-Taylor is an online company devoted to providing cute, fashionable clothes for the modesty-conscious crowd. :) In her own words "...Feminine and beautiful without compromising self respect and dignity." You can read more about how the company started and all about Christa Taylor HERE.
To start with I want to say that Christa-Taylor is not paying me to talk about her company. She didn't send me any free products. Everything I've ordered from Christa-Taylor has been purchased with my own money. I happen to think that they have a great mission and I think their clothes are cute so I don't mind supporting them one bit! By the way Christa-Taylor donates 5% of every purchase to Warm Blankets Orphan Care International. which is pretty cool.
I've ordered from them several times and every time I've been very pleased with my purchases. I bought my winter coat from Christa-Taylor, and I wear it EVERYWHERE and get compliments on it all the time. In fact, just today a random lady I walked by stopped me to tell she loved my coat.
Their shipping is super fast, I always receive my order in two to three days. Look at these sweet dresses I just bought!
Choosing to not date doesn't ensure that you can give your future husband a perfectly intact, non-bruised heart. (See: Hello Mr Wrong). Face it, we live in a world where sensuality is prevalent and encouraged. Where you supposedly learn by giving your heart to person after person only to have it held, loved, and then returned to you broken, bruised and worse for wear. If attraction is encouraged and cultivated what happens when you get married?? The attraction doesn't just automatically turn off or transfer to only your husband. It's still there.
So, how do you protect your heart? Some time ago a thought popped into my head and it's been a big help to me. The thought was to practice being faithful to my husband even before I know who he is. I am destined for one man, saving myself, keeping my heart for him. But, allowing myself to be attracted to other men is not being faithful. It's running around on him. Behave as a married woman. Practice faithfulness now! So that when God blesses you with, as Peter Marshall said, "The highest halls of human happiness". It won't be hard to protect your heart from outside attraction and you will be able to give your husband a fuller, less bruised or unbruised complete heart. A heart that belongs to him, that is beating out a tune for him and him alone. Just think about it. "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."
Read more...
Every high school student knows those dreaded words “So, what are you doing after high school?”
*balk*
*gulp*
*scream*
Choosing a career path can be a daunting, scary and in all honesty, (let’s face it) an IMPOSSIBLE thing to do. At age eighteen my chosen career path was “Wife and Mother.” I was raring and ready to go. One teeny-tiny problem: “Wife and Mother” is one of those joint-partnership occupations, it goes hand-in-hand with “Husband and Father” and the “Husband and Father” division of the corporation was conspicuously absent.
So, maybe, I decided I should look at some alternate career options. Something just to pass the time, you know?
I’ll just be honest and come totally clean here. That was me ten years ago, and it’s basically still me. Passing the time…
Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t been completely idle. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been idle at all. I’ve worshipped while I’m waiting done everything I could think to do while I’m waiting, and I’ve been happy and fulfilled.
But, my future is still out there, Gigantic and Unknown and getting closer and closer. I’m still looking at career options. Of course, my first choice is still my first choice, and if it becomes available I’ll jump in with both feet. Meanwhile I continue to search and pray and be led.
There are a lot of well meaning people that have tried to help.
“You should be a teacher.”
“You should be a writer.”
“You should be a makeup artist.”
“You should be a chef.”
Oh, incidentally, I want to say that I LOVE getting these suggestions, so I’m not saying that people shouldn’t offer up ideas. Please, if you have an idea let me know! It’s fun to think of the possibilities and I have certainly given my share of career opinions to other people. 
At age eighteen, one person made a career suggestion to me that I am ashamed to say I rolled my eyes at.
“You should be a Virtuous Woman.”
Come on, really? That’s not a career!
(Almost) Ten years later I look back at my younger self and I have to disagree. Virtuous Woman is the ultimate career.
It’s the job that, if done properly and wholeheartedly will make any other path you walk successful. The Virtuous Woman radiates success, accomplishment, wisdom, education, self-confidence, beauty, happiness, kindness, love. All the things that we all want and need in our lives.
Ten years ago I had two opinions about the Virtuous Woman.
A) That she was abstract and unattainable.
and
B) That she was an overused stereotype. And I didn't want to be a stereotype. I wanted to be DIFFERENT.
Silly me. Of course I'm going to be different. God created only one me. I'm certainly not going to be like anyone else. What I failed to realize was that working to become a Virtuous Woman wouldn't interfere with developing my individuality. Rather, the opposite. Being a Virtuous Woman gives us the tools we need to become the best versions of ourselves. The career path of Virtuous Womanhood is created by God to bring us to our full potentials in Him.
The IDD Blog is going to publishing over the next few weeks an insightful, topic by topic look at the Virtuous Woman. We want to encourage every young lady to make Virtuous Womanhood her goal, and we hope to offer practical advice on how to apply these principles to you own life.
We want to stress that even though The Virtuous Woman is described as a Wife and Mother that we believe that a single female supporting herself has just as much chance of achieving Virtuous Woman status as a married woman. It's never too early or late to start!
It's time for the annual IDD...........
Here's the details:Dear girls,
I know that many of you have seen pictures or heard about the devastation in Haiti. It's truly heart-rending to hear what has happened there. We want to take this opportunity to encourage you all to do three things.
Pray. Pray for strength for all those suffering in the wake of this tragedy. Pray for those who are on their way to help them, that they can endure the struggles and terrible sights they will find.
Donate $5. If you can give more, that's wonderful, of course, but even five dollars can do so much. You can find a list of agencies to donate to here (if anyone knows of another one, feel free to leave their name in the comments). The Red Cross is always a helping hand, or there are other agencies, like the Baptist Haiti Mission which "is operating an 82-bed hospital that is 'overflowing with injured.' "
Love. Love the people of Haiti, who have suffered poverty and neglect for years. Love those around you, because if there's one thing we should learn from this tragedy it's that life is precious. Love God, in spite of this horror.
Today we have a special guest post by Susie!
You know that analogy about the person or persons in a raft riding the rapids of a river twisting through a deep canyon? They can't see where they're going and what's around the next bend, but fortunately they have somebody looking out for them.
A helicopter hovers above the canyon looking down on them with a clear view of where the raft is, where it's been and what's ahead.
Now comes the most important part of the analogy: A two-way radio.
The helicopter can communicate with the raft. Warning them and giving directions so they can navigate safely, when the river splits ahead of them telling them which direction to go. The raft has to trust the helicopter, disobeying or disregarding the helicopter's instructions can get them hurt, lost or even killed.
Here's another analogy. A small town girl moves to a big city. She isn't used to the traffic much less navigating her way around in a city 30 times bigger than back home. Six lanes of traffic, exit ramps, entrance ramps, signs, lights every moment feels like you're heading around a blind corner.
Fortunately She has somebody looking out for her. A GPS satellite orbits this planet up in the atmosphere broadcasting signals to GPS receivers all over the world.
The most important part of this analogy is Grandpa and Grandma's GPS receiver attached to the girl's car window. (We would like to interrupt this paragraph with a special "Thank You!" to Grandpa and Grandma) This specific GPS we will now refer to as "Ginger"; Ginger Penelope Siggy. Ginger gives specific turn by turn directions, advises lane changes and alerts you to exits and entrances, with mile by point mile accuracy giving her exact location all the way through the big city.
Ginger has three ways to communicate with this misplaced girl.
1. An audible voice speaks to give instructions and warnings.
2. An animated digital map complete with color coded streets and a cute little blue care to give visual aid.
3. Written instructions are easily read on her bright screen.
Also if the small town girl misses an exit or takes a wrong turn she won't be lost for long because Ginger can get her back on track as fast as you can say "Recalculating".
Both of these analogies correlate with our spiritual journey, walking the Christian path of Faith. We are pilgrims, in this world but not of it. We have a destination a goal but the immediate future is as uncertain as the bend of a river or the exit ramp three lanes over. Every day, every moment we have decisions to make, ruff rapids to struggle through, people all around us, signs pointing every direction, a wrong move can get you hurt, lost or even killed. We can't navigate through life by ourselves.
Read more...
Typically when I think of good stewardship, money handling comes to mind very quickly. One of my most bothersome monetary puzzles was "The Thing".
It stares at you everytime you enter your room. Mostly pennies are inside of it, but you have a few nickels too. Maybe a few dimes. A quarter or two.
Tonight all around the world Old Calendar Orthodox Christians, like myself and my family, will be going to church to celebrate Christ's birth. Ineffably (one of Orthodoxy's favorite words) the church becomes the cave where Christ was born; we become the shepherds and wise men come to glorify Him. The service says "Heaven and earth are united today, for Christ is born. Today has God come upon earth, and man gone up to heaven. Today for man's sake is seen in the flesh He who by nature is invisible" (Festal Menaion 263). We have been given the greatest gift possible: the gift of God's love for and mercy toward us. The paradoxical beauty of this feast, that He who is without time became part of time, points to the mystery of our faith.
Throughout the night we will refer to the prophets of the Old Testament, those who foretold the birth of Christ and the redemption of mankind. The patriarchs and righteous women of old are the lineage through which Christ was born to save us all, so we honor them as well. We sing the rich and ancient words that the Church gives us: "A strange and most wonderful mystery do I see: the cave is heaven; the Virgin the throne of the cherubim; the manger a room in which Christ, the God whom nothing can contain is laid. Him do we praise and glorify" (Festal Menaion 282).
In this great mystery of Christ's birth, we see His love for us. So let us say together:
Christ is Born!
Glorify Him!
I am inspired by Nichole Nordeman's song "Live."
I don't want to "just survive." And I don't think I was ever meant to just survive. There's so much more to life than that.
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'
And he replied,
'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'
by Minnie Louise Harkins 1875-1957
The IDD Blog | Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial License | Dandy Dandilion Designed by Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates
