Encouragement in Modesty

So, if you have not been reading the girltalk blog lately, they have been talking about modesty. This is such a helpful topic for two reasons. First, women rarely realize the effect they can have by dressing modestly, or vice versa. Secondly, it can be somewhat awkward for men to address the topic. In any case, my friend Sam Hill (yes that s really his name) forwarded a wonderful and powerful testimony that was written by a good friend of his. I asked if it would be okay to post it, and he said yes so here it is. The reason it begins "Dear ladies" is because I think she sent this same note over to the girltalk blog girls. Here we go (be encouraged and challenged):

Dear ladies,

My name is Christen - I'm a junior in college outside of Philadelphia. I am so grateful that y'all have focused on modesty the past week or so - and the timing of it is wise!! The spring is an important time for women to be thinking biblically about our dress!!

I wanted to share with y'all my testimony, because I have come to see that modesty was huge in the Lord's work of saving me. I hope that it encourages anybody that reads it - I want to shed light on the glory of Christ Jesus in His mercy and grace in saving an enemy!!

Until a little while ago, I was living in the deception that I was a Christian. My family had always been involved in ministry and the church - I assumed that somewhere along the way I had been saved, too. However, if anyone were to honestly look at my life, it was clear that my heart was void of any love for or delight in Christ. I knew the charade well, but I was miserable. My teenage years are a blur of corruption to me, with a few memories of tiny seeds the Lord was planting in me of desire for Himself, for a greater joy than what the world was offering me. Among other things, one of the areas that I struggled greatly with was immodesty. My pride would feed itself on the pleasure of attention and the ability to tempt guys. It became a constant goal of mine, a habit even - consciously or not - to get as much attention for my looks as I could. Looking back on it, I am just floored by the bondage I was in - I was so unhappy and unsatisfied!!

As I got older, I tried to find the middle ground - I was looking for some sort of "nobility" in the middle of my immodesty, but to no avail. My wardrobe consisted of clothes that may not have been scandalous by the world's measures, but immodest nonetheless. This continued through my freshman year of college and the summer afterwards. The Lord was working in my heart, though. I knew my dissatisfaction with the world, and knew, to an extent, that the Lord was the answer to my desire for real satisfaction and joy. I just lacked the ability or desire within myself to forsake it all for Christ; I didn't know how to get out of my slavery to sin. I recognized these desires for greatness, though, for God. I began to hear the Gospel in a new way - the Lord was not only revealing my heart's dissatisfaction with the world, but was placing people in my life who would preach the Gospel to me! I began to hear about modesty, for the first time in my life, as a way to honor Christ.

At the beginning of my sophomore year of college (fall of 2004), I began to dress less immodestly (not quite modestly, though!). I was looking for hope in the practice of it, but still lacked the heart for Jesus. Therefore, my dress was still only halfway modest, because my heart was only halfway in it. A lot of times, it was just annoying to me!

Then one day, in the fall of 2004, after I had gotten dressed and ready for the day, I looked in the mirror at my "halfway" modest outfit. I looked "acceptable", not ostentatious. Yet I was somehow dissatisfied - I realized I had been dressing so that I could feel modest, yet in my heart I still sought the attention and glory for myself. But that day was different. As I scrutinized my halfway modest outfit, I was tired of it. (Specifically, I felt my clothes were too tight, and my stomach showed if I moved around at all!) I was tired of dressing modestly half-heartedly. In fact, I realized that I was tired of living my entire life half-heartedly. I was worn out by trying to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. There's no joy in that - it's just exhausting! I believe that on that day, God gave me genuine desires for Himself - I believe He changed my heart that day, credited Christ's righteousness to me, and welcomed me into His kingdom!

My point in all this is that I whole-heartedly second the fact that modesty represents our hearts. I don't believe that I was saved because I started dressing modestly. I believe that the change in my desire to dress modestly was representative of my change of heart. The Lord used modesty as a symbol of a heart redeemed by the death of Jesus Christ.

That was a little over a year ago. Since then, the Lord has only grown me in my understanding and desires to dress modestly. I listened to CJ's sermon on "The Soul of Modesty" and think of it almost everyday. What especially hit me was the statement y'all recently put on the blog: "The woman who loves the Savior avoids immodesty because she doesn't want to distract from or reflect poorly upon the gospel." I think of my own longings to know and love the Lord, and consider my brothers in Christ - they have those same longings. I want to love and serve my brothers - the thought of being a "distraction" from the gospel is a terrifying thought to me.

Dressing modestly is not always easy - it is a challenge! But by the grace of God, it is by no means annoying to me anymore. It is such a joy to know that I am abiding in the love of Christ by how I dress and helping my brothers to do the same!! I don't get the same type of attention from guys as I used to - and what a blessing that is!! When I walk around campus or sit in class or worship in church, I am freer to dwell on the Lord and to know that I am helping others do the same. There is so much joy in dressing modestly. I have a final thought: I would encourage Christian guys to seek to encourage modesty in your sisters. Tell them how valuable it is to you! It only spurs us on to modesty and the glory of God even more! Let's delight in the Lord for His mercy to allow us to know purity - to know Him!!

I hope this is at least encouraging to anyone who reads this, to see the goodness and power of God in a backwards heart. Thank y'all again for teaching us about modesty - it is priceless!!

in Christ,

Christen Rausch

Oh man that's sick!

I mean...I'm sick...again. Bah on sickness, I wanna go to heaven. My kids are sick...allergies? What is that about. I have lived in Georgia all my stinkin life and I have prided myself on NEVER NO NOT ONE SINGLE TIME EVER having allergies. I think the pine trees want revenge. Because last year we cut down about 30 of them between our yard and our next door neighbors. We left one. And if you have read my blog, you recently saw that last pine tree's untimely demise courtesy of my husband and a chain saw. MUAHHAHAHAHA! I laughed that day with vicious joy...at last! no more pokey pine cones and no more raking up pine straw in order to remind myself of the color of grass. You know, before I had that last tree cut down, I actually used to talk smack to it from my kitchen window. In hindsight, this may not have been the best idea. Good thing I am not a pantheist. But seriously, I used to tell the tree that it's days were numbered and that it better not get too comfortable housing nasty lawn-furniture-destroying squirrels and blocking the sun's view of my pitiable garden. Oh no, the day was coming when that tree would be mulch and firewood. Little did I know...that tree cursed me back. Not that I plan on being firewood. But I suppose I have learned the hard way not to talk smack to trees. There is, however, an azalea bush in the front garden...

New Week, New Grace

Last night I went to a ladies' meeting. The topic? Kindness. The result of the time well spent there. Zing! I have been convicted (that's what Zing means) and the verse that did it? Here:

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Luke 6:32-35

The speaker (my good friend Ruth) went on to explain how often, our own family can qualify as "enemies" when their needs or desires are in opposition to our own. Zing! And I would add that it's not my children or husband intentionally being my enemy; rather, the sinfulness of my heart makes me become their enemy. So...God is obviously after something here in my heart. I would guess it's probably sanctifying my big, fat, selfish heart. :-) To end, Ruth shared some ways to combat unkindness, and of course the one that struck me was prayer. She read two different prayers in Ephesians (1:16-23 & 3:14-19) and encouraged us to pray for faith in the power of God, and a greater understanding of the attributes of God, in particular of His love for us. Yeah, I'd say that could be helpful. Lord, HELP ME!!! (This is a common prayer of mine, while it is appropriately desperate for God, it is generally unspecific and lazy. Seeking the face of God, the knowledge of Him, asking for reminders of His faithfulness in order to create more faith in His future grace...these things would do my heart more good than clamoring like a newborn for unspecified help).

Provoked by Spurgeon

I was reading Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon just now, and was so provoked by the passage, I had to share it.


“On him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.”

We see in Simon’s carrying the cross a picture of the work of the Church throughout all generations; he is the cross-bearer after Jesus. Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer.
But let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in Simon’s, it is not our cross, but Christ’s cross which we carry. When you are molested for your piety; when your religion brings the trial of cruel mockings upon you, then remember it is not your cross, it is Christ’s cross; and how delightful is it to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus!
You carry the cross after him. You have blessed company; your path is marked with the footprints of your Lord. The mark of his blood-red shoulder is upon that heavy burden. ‘Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. Take up your cross daily, and follow him.
Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. It is the opinion of some that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it. That is very possible; Christ may have carried the heavier part, against the transverse beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. Certainly it is so with you; you do but carry the light end of the cross, Christ bore the heavier end.
And remember, though Simon had to bear the cross for a very little while, it gave him lasting honour. Even so the cross we carry is only for a little while at most, and then we shall receive the crown, the glory. Surely we should love the cross, and, instead of shrinking from it, count it very dear, when it works out for us “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Caution: New Season Ahead

Well, I just returned from the Ladies' Retreat called Encounter 2006. It featured speakers Carolyn Mahaney (visit her blog here) and Carolyn McCulley (author of Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?). If you are interested, I had the privilege of "live-blogging" the event along with my friend Sherri (read her blog here). The messages are all posted on her website. Certainly the more disorganized notes are the sessions I worked on, so apologies. Now, the burning question on anyone's mind who has read this far is most likely, what is the new season ahead? But I do have to talk about a couple of things first, before I get to me. :-) One of the highlights of our retreat was this. Our dear pastor's wife, Darby, did an excellent job of preparing in advance to bless the ladies who went on the retreat. She divided the names of all attending from our church and had some of the ladies assigned to pray for each. In addition, she asked that we who prayed would also write a note of encouragement and give a small gift to secretly place on their pillows in the hotel when we arrived. Of course, Darby "forgot" to put her own name on the list of ladies, so some of us figured that out and decided to take matters into our own hands. It was so exciting to put together a gift basket for her and suprise her with it on the trip. As a testimony to how much she means to our ladies, there was so much money given towards the basket that we ran out of ideas for what to give her, and ended up using the money to buy her dinner out the night we gave the gift. She is a precious blessing to our church and I am amazed by God's Sovereign grace in place her among our church body. We love you Darby!!!

And ok. so I had this list of things to do. And really we were encouraged on the ladies' retreat not to try and apply everything that we heard, but rather to choose one thing and seek to change in that area. Well I do have my one thing. But I got home from the retreat and, as expected, my kids and husband were all very glad to see me (trust me the feeling was mutual). The house looked, well, it looked like people had been living in it for a few days without me around to clean up. Also, as expected. Plus, I had picked up something icky while away. My kids both have colds, and JM has some kind of throat thing. So, not only do I have mother-starved kids, they are also sick kids, which makes them extra EXTRA clingy. I also have a husband who is sick, and we know how men act when they get sick. A mountain of laundry, a dirty house, plus all of the regular duties of the week. So. Want to hear what my one thing was? Contentment in any situation. :-) So far, by God's grace, I haven't had a meltdown. The passage in Peter keeps coming to mind.


As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (1Pe 4:10-12)


I have been given a gift in the teachings of the weekend, and the break from the routine of daily life. Now I am to use this gift to serve my family...and serve by the strength God supplies. This is easier to claim on a day like today when I don't feel so well. And God can use this(?!), my dirty house and tired children, to glorify Himself. Wow! Finally, though I would not call this truly a "fiery trial" proper, I am so aware that 899 other women most likely came home to similar dirty houses, and I imagine a good number came home to sick kids. These are certainly common things, and again, the idea that the Lord could be glorified in the mundane hours of my Monday is astounding. And my agenda for the day? Well, the list has transformed from this:

1. Laundry
2. Grocery shopping
3. Bank
4. Meal Calendar for April
5. Plant out seedlings
6. Clean out leftovers
7. Bake Bread
8. Update Finances/Budget

to this:

1. Seek the Lord
2. Serve my kids
3. Leave the house fairly dirty