DO YOU HAVE AN AVERSION TO CHANGE?

  Part Six – We Reap What We Sew or Buy

                I remember when I was a child how my paternal grandmother would not allow my sister or me to wear tight clothing to bed.  She always checked the elastic in the waistbands of our pajamas to be sure there was plenty of room.  Her reasoning:  tight clothing is unhealthy.  She was right.  Actually, she was right about a lot of things, but this is one of her cautions I have never forgotten, even though in later years I no longer paid attention to her words.  However, as I have grown older and hopefully wiser, I have reconsidered the wisdom in her warnings.

                Although I didn’t come from a “religious” home, we had moral rules, but those were not always obeyed.  Wearing certain types of clothing and excessive make-up were definitely forbidden, but there were times when these “laws” were ignored.  However, in thinking back to my childhood, I realize just where the influence came from that pushed me toward disobedience.  It is one thing to tell a child not to do something, but then turn right around and allow them to watch or listen to things that teach to the contrary.  Or, parents sometimes forget that children learn from their example.

                It appears that today’s fashions, mostly designed and implanted into our minds by Hollywood and other worldly media, have taken the greatest toll with men, women and children alike.  Most of us are listening to these people instead of our God when it comes to being properly attired.  The use of the word feminine is also being abused.  To be feminine now has the direct link to the word feminist.  Most of this group of women are far from being feminine; and, their clothing and demeanor generally proves this.  Here are some examples I see all the time showing how we are being reprogrammed. 

    Women seem to think that having their derrières exposed in tight fitting pants or jeans is a lovely, attractive sight.  As I tell my daughters, even though we wear dresses and skirts, “Look at your behind in the mirror before going out of the house.”  You can’t imagine how many times one of my girls has noticed a woman in a store and said, “Mama, she obviously didn’t look in the mirror before she left her house.”  Most skirts or dresses definitely cover a multitude of sins and chunks of excess flesh.  Some might say, “Well, it is cold where I live?  Not a problem, where tights or leggings under your skirt and I promise you will actually be warmer.  And, don’t forget to give yourself room to expand so your body is not squeezed to death in those under garments.

    Then there are those who love to titillate the opposite sex with the allurement of bare-breast exposure, at least so far it is the top half or maybe just a third.  When my girls and I walk through the stores or visit people who dress in this manner, it is difficult to not make eye contact with their boobies instead of the woman’s eyes.  I find this exposure or even slight exposure a bit frustrating.  I am wondering what it is doing to the men around them and most importantly, my husband and son.   

    Then there are those who wear their knitted-fabric tops so tightly that one can see their nipples and belly fat ripples.  Apparently they really think this is appealing and maybe it is to some.  Personally, I think it is distasteful.

    Here is another excuse used to entice the opposite sex.  Dresses with slits almost as high as other body slits.  When I see this, I have to pray the wind doesn’t blow or the woman doesn’t sit down.  Yikes!  These days, there just isn’t much left to the imagination. 

    The one that always gets me the most is the buttocks tattoo placed there specifically to catch one’s eye when the tight-fitting jeans wearer bends over exposing her hind cleavage and body art.  Now tell me—what was the tattoo artist thinking when he put his masterpiece in that spot?  What was the woman trying to prove by doing such a thing?   We have been warned:  Don't… tattoo yourselves; I am ADONAI.  (Leviticus 19:28)  
                Now I realize that most of you don’t do this type of “fishing,” but we really ought to consider what this is saying about us women, our daughters and society in general.  It is little wonder that there are other peoples who call us a “nation of prostitutes.”  They see us as cheap, vulgar and downright enemies to their culture.  Hmmm.  I wonder where they got that idea.

    Have we walked so far away from the Lord’s Word that we just sort of play a game with the world’s standards and forget about His?   I’m definitely not pointing fingers as most of the women I am personally in contact with do consider Biblical modesty.  But there are oodles of unconcerned women in “religious” situations who haven’t the foggiest idea about what they are doing to their testimony and others around them. 

    If you ever want to discover the meaning of a “serious” word in the Bible, take a few minutes to look up defraud.   That is what we are doing to men when we wear alluring clothing.  We are victimizing them.  We are stealing life from them.  And, the worst part of this is that we will be severely punished for doing so.  Here are two verses in the Scriptures:

    Leviticus 19:11  "‘Do not steal from, defraud or lie to each other."

    Proverbs 22:23  For ADONAI will plead their case for them and withhold life from those who defraud them.

   One meaning of defraud is to deprive of by deceit. 

              Here are a few synonyms:  con, rook, scam, victimize, swindle or shortchange.

                I won’t even go into the problems of wearing a bathing suit.  This is definitely a Hollywood invention from way back.  From what I can find, women in our country started  wearing these things somewhere in the 20’s or 30’s with the cute, shorter-skirted sundress that was made specifically to help one catch a little of the sun’s rays and skip along the shoreline.  Then we went to the tight fitting, cover-the-most-important-parts bathing suit which was usually black or dark in color and went from a little below the neckline to the mid-thighs.  And now, well, when was the last time you donned a thong suit and headed for the open waters or the local pool?  When we lived in Miami, which is surrounded by water and lovely beaches, a thong was the in-thing.  What could possibly be next—nothing at all?  I have to say, I bet this is already going on.

    My daughters and I threw out mixed bathing and bathing suits years ago.  We just don’t do it.  We know it is immodest to the hilt.  Bathing suits of all types do little to enhance a woman’s body, much less cover it properly.  Actually for most of us, they only bring attention to imperfections.  And, adding a t-shirt as a cover does little as the when the shirt becomes wet, it clings to those imperfections.

    To the Lord, exposing our nakedness is a sin.  He told Israel that because of her sin of whoredom, He was going to expose her nakedness as punishment.  Why are we so willing to do it to ourselves?  Are we exposing our own sin?

Ezekiel 16:36-37 tells us:  Adonai ELOHIM [The Lord God] says: ‘Because your filth has been poured out and your privates exposed through your acts of fornication with your lovers, and because of all the idols of your disgusting practices, and because of the blood of your children, which you gave them, therefore, look! I am going to gather all your lovers, to whom you have been so very nice, all the ones you hate right along with all the ones you love - I will gather them against you from all over the place and expose your private parts to them, so that they will see you completely naked.

             I realize it is quite difficult to find clothing that is modest and tasteful.  When our girls and I shop in the local department stores, there is a limited supply of any type of clothing, much less modest apparel.  I haven’t really decided yet whether the stores are brainwashing women into buying their “wears,” or women are demanding this type of clothing, or could it be a combination of both?  Whatever the situation, when I shop I’m always dismayed at what they are selling.  It is hard enough to purchase clothing for four women in one family, but when there is no place to shop and nothing worth buying, this is a real headache.

            How do we get around this?  Well, for one thing, if the cloth is stretchy, we purchase sizes that are larger than we need.  Or, we shop in thrift stores that sell clothing donated by women of means.  The more expensive clothing many times is usually modestly cut.  Or, we sew our own. 

There are many patterns that lend themselves to modesty and simplicity of sewing.  Another good idea is if you purchase dresses in thrift shops that have nice skirts, yet the bust line might be a little too low, you can put a non-see-through lace insert in the top section.  Sometimes, we remove the top portion, add a waistband to the skirt section and hey, we have a lovely, long skirt. 

            Here is a helpful idea for little girls:  If you have basic sewing skills, you can purchase knit tops for your little girls, get a size larger than normally worn, and then add a skirt to match made from cotton or cotton/polyester fabric.  These are adorable. 

When my daughters were about 2, 4 and 7 years old, they came to me requesting long dresses.  I asked them why they desired this.  They stated that pants and shorts were not “appropriate” and they wanted to please the Lord.  They wanted “long” dresses.  To this day, they still feel the same way.

I made their dresses empire, regular or dropped waistline with accessories like headbands, bows, sock edges, etc.  I made so many that I could make a dress, floor or waltz-length, in about an hour.

Another way to get long skirts for little girls is to purchase skirts at thrift stores for ladies (generally size small or extra-small sizes) and cut them to fit.  Usually this means to take up the waistband.  I sew the band to fit the waist, but I don’t cut off excess fabric.  In this way, I can take the stitches out as they grow.  Also, many times we are able to pick up dresses with very nice fabric.  The style might not fit our desires, but the fabric is re-usable and can be made into all sorts of things.  I just cut away the skirts, wash and dry the material and put it away for my next sewing need.

And, if you don’t know how to sew, I’m sure there are those who would be more than willing to help you learn.  Because so many have lost this skill, it is becoming difficult to find fabric, but I have noticed that more stores are selling material online and will even send out samples. 

Basic sewing is easy.  I’ve been sewing since I was about seven or eight when my mother taught me how to make doll clothes.  I then realized I could save a lot of money and make my own clothing with my personal style.  This “art” of sewing can also be a great project for you and your children. 

Because we call ourselves Believers in the One True God, it is important that we consider how the rest of the world is viewing us.  Our testimony speaks volumes.  If you would like more information on this topic, please email me for the article “The Sin of Bathsheba.”  It was written from a man’s point of view. 

  Many blessings to all of you,

  Kathie Palladino
            www.kitchen2.com