The month of August, we are going to discuss A Mayden is…Trustworthy. Any articles containing the word trust, or trustworthy, or any sudonym, would be appreciated. Anyone of you, who wishes to write, please let me know, send me your email, and I will put it as one of the authors. I hope that we will get more articles this month, as I enjoyed the last month, the Month of July. And this being our second month of writing in this, I hope that we will get some more responce, and be an encouragement to those who are in need of it!

Before the Throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea,
A great high priest who’s name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me,
My name is written on his hand,
My name is graven on his heart,
I know that while in Heav’n He stands,
No tongue can bid me hence depart,
No tongue can bid me hence depart!!!

Selah

In Christ Alone,
Laura H.

This is something I wrote some time ago; I wanted to share this with you, as I think modesty and respect are tightly interlinked.

***

It is common knowledge that almost every little girl spends years dreaming about her wedding day, planning it long before she actually meets the man who will win her hand in marriage. She can vividly picture the guests, the ceremony, the cake and flowers and invitations and gifts; but here I would like to address the centerpiece of this girlish dream – the wedding dress.

Every woman is a princess on her wedding day, radiant and glorious. Her dress reflects the way she feels – long and white, flowing and feminine, the symbol of innocence, purity and virtue. She wears it on a holy, sacred moment when her hand and her heart are given to a man who promises to cherish and love and respect her – for the rest of their lives.

Ladies, how many of you attended weddings lately? Or perhaps went to find a wedding gown for you, or your sisters, friends, daughters? Did you, perhaps, notice something unexpected?

My best friend’s wedding is looming closer and closer; I still have a long period of engagement ahead of me, but since we needed to find a dress for my friend, I decided I can as well seize the opportunity and try something on – perhaps just to get ideas about which style suits me best, and make up my mind well in advance.

“Here, this fashion is our most popular lately,” – said the nice saleswoman, showing us one of the gowns. It had a long, full skirt, a flattering, not-too-tight top. But there was no trace of a sleeve. The shoulders were completely bare.

Surely she can’t be supposed to wear it like this, I thought. Something should be worn on top of it; I glanced around, but all I found was a picture of a cheerful bride, who was undoubtedly wearing something similar – white clouds of skirts and a veil, combined with her bare shoulders and almost bare chest. She looked absolutely confident, as if nothing was amiss.

The other gowns we saw were little better. Those with sleeves were extremely tight or low-cut; others left the back naked; one dress had a slash right in the middle, so the bride’s belly could be seen. This won’t do, we decided exasperatedly. We make our best efforts to dress modestly every day. Why would we want to wear something like this at our weddings? Noticing our disappointment, the saleswoman told us that if we aren’t happy with the available styles, an individual design can be made for us.

So, what’s the big deal? Many women want something more special and have their wedding dress sewn exclusively for them. No doubt my friend still has enough time to obtain beautiful wedding dresses which suit her standards of looking respectful on her wedding day. Right?

But ladies, this isn’t just a trivial problem we’re facing. The fact is that brides are offered such provocative, immodest styles. The fact is that such styles are becoming normal and popular. Wedding dresses, which for many centuries symbolized the purity and innocence of a bride, nowadays are often anything but innocent. A couple of weeks after the previously described incident, I attended a wedding reception. The bride wore a hip-hugging dress, and everybody could see her naked back and shoulders. The dress was so tight it looked as though it’s about to burst. I felt extremely uncomfortable seeing this, and I knew I’m not the only one.

Some may say I shouldn’t be surprised, considering the fashion we usually see these days. And of course, it’s always important to dress modestly – not only on one’s wedding day. However, even if it sounds like an exaggeration, I think inappropriate and provocative wedding dresses are an extraordinarily striking example of lost respect for the woman, her chastity, the holiness of a wedding ceremony and even marriage itself.

Hello pilgrims,

It was never my intention to be the last to jump aboard and introduce myself, but, alas, here I am, chiming in very late indeed!

I am Danielle Carey, a soon-to-turn-27-year-old living at home with my family–my parents Wayne and Catherine, my sister Lauren (22), and little brother Tain (9). My other precious sister, Andrea (24), married Sam last year and this year turned us into grandparents, aunts, and uncles, adding darling Amelia Kate to the family. My big little bro Nick lives and works in Western Australia, where we lived before we moved here to Queensland in April this year.

Although we’re still settling in after our big move interstate (we’re getting used to this, as it becomes increasingly obvious that Dad is a gypsy at heart), I keep busy editing my publication for women of faith, Whatsoever Magazine, and my newsletter for Christian young writers, Words from the Heart. I’m passionate about encouraging young women to find their purpose in Him and am so excited that through these publications I’ve met some amazing and sold-out women of God.

I love: writing, hunting out the best children’s books, keeping a journal, checking the mail, squishing my baby niece, eating chocolate, laughing with my sister, exploring used bookstores, movie nights with my family, and music that points me to the heart of God.

I look forward to getting to know you each better, and cherishing this upward journey with you!

{Lauren and I at a cousin’s wedding, 09/06}

Our culture devalues the virtue of submission and tells us in direct and indirect ways that it’s all about ‘freedom’ and self-gratificaton. But a virtuous maiden doesn’t believe this dangerous lie; she seeks a figure of authority in her life and honors her authority with thoughts, attitude, words and actions.

If you are an unmarried daughter, your father is your authority figure, and you should respect him and submit to him. This is how you are expressing your respect to God’s design of family and our role as women. On the joyous day when a fortunate man wins your hand in marriage, he will become the one you submit to. And if currently you have no husband or father to guide you and protect you, have no fear – God, our Father, loves you and wants to guard you and give you direction. Turn to Him, and you will not be forsaken! Let Him inside your heart, and in your life, with every step you take.

I’m not going to write a long list of ‘do’s and ‘don’t's here; rather, I would like to encourage you to think about the course your life is taking at this season, and about any important decision you will make as an unmarried daughter. This includes decisions about college, work, where you are going to live until you are married, and how you are going to prepare for your inspiring future career as a wife.

You might say, ‘this is my life!’ – but it’s not as simple as that. Are your actions expressing respect for God and your parents? Pray and have a conversation with your authority whenever in doubt about something. If you feel your decision makes you squirm and you aren’t entirely comfortable discussing it with your father, maybe it’s not something you should be doing after all.

As we are looking through the character trait of respect, one way I really believe we are called to cultivate this is to dress in a way that is respectful – that is, to dress modestly. Why should we do this? Well, I think that there are five groups of people we can show love, honour and respect to by dressing modestly: the Lord, ourselves, the headship we’re under/will be under (i.e. father and future husband in this case, as we are maidens), other men, and other women. Over on my blog I have been doing a five-part series on this, taking each group of people for each post and looking at why and how we show respect to these people by dressing modestly. I hope you will check it out! And let us all dress in a way that is respectful to God, our own bodies, and people around us .

(Image from Jupiterimages.)

I wonder how many of you have seen the ‘Ladette to Lady’ TV show. I enjoyed both the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The show is basically about taking a group of the raunchiest, loudest, least lady-like women you can possibly think of, and shipping them off to a fine ladies’ finishing school, Egglestone Hall.

For those of you who are not sure what a ladette is, it’s defined as ‘a foul-mouthed, uncultured and unpleasant woman, who likes to drink and smoke and is often sexually promiscuous.’

During their five-weeks course in the finishing school, the ladettes are taught proper manners, speech, way of dress and womanly arts, such as needlework, flower arranging, cookery (including how to set a table in a beautiful way and select fine wine to go with dinner). Every week, someone was expelled and in the end, only three ladettes (oops! I mean ladies) stayed, and one winner was ultimately elected.

Watching the show was fun, and left me thinking about how many women today could benefit from such a finishing school, even if it is in the area of manners and speech alone. I know too many to count – and I’m not perfect myself, of course, especially in the department of cooking and fine, womanly arts!

You can watch some videos from the show on Sundance Channel.

As per Anna S, I would also like to introduce myself. I have just joined this blog (thank you Laura for this privilege) and look forward to contributing! Well, my name is Emily and I am a 21 year-old Christian from the UK, having been saved by grace since the age of about 5. I am currently single and have just finished my 3-year BA Hons degree in French Language Studies & Linguistics. I moved out of home by God’s calling at age 18 to my university town, and have lived here ever since, visiting my family and friends back in London from time to time. I currently run my own bridal accessories (tiaras and jewellery) online business from home, which is a huge blessing from the Lord!

My own blog is called Unfurling Flower, and on there I am passionate about writing on all subjects to do with Christian living. In particular, I have a real heart for posting about biblical womanhood and marriage & singleness, as these are topics God has particularly burdened me with and has graciously taught me much about. My wisdom is nothing! In and on myself I have nothing to offer. But the Lord is merciful and He has really been sharing His wisdom and knowledge with me over these past few years. And this is what I hope to bring to this blog!

So, it is a pleasure to be writing here and thank you for reading this. Blessings to you, and I hope to “meet” many of you through this place!

This next year, we are going to study the Mayden’s character list. They are: