Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Skirt Challenge Victories!

Halleluiah! He is risen! Easter is here at last. I don’t know about you all, but I love Easter – celebrating Christ’s resurrection and no more fasting (at least for a while). As you know, I participated in the skirt challenge this Lent, and it has been quite an experience. Before starting the challenge I had mixed feelings about it. I was worried about having enough skirts to wear the whole 40 days (so I bought some at Goodwill during the first week); I was worried that I would never want to wear pants again at the end (I really like wearing pants); and I just wasn’t sure if I had enough discipline to do the challenge.
  
            I’d like to just start off by addressing the issues I listed above. First of all, I now have plenty of skirts that I can wear skirts for at least a week to 2 weeks without re-wearing one. Second, I still love pants (more on that later), and I am actually wearing jeans today. Third, while I did wear pants a few days during Lent, it was mainly during times when I was running late to something, and for the most part, I managed to wear a skirt almost every day for the whole day.
            As I was reflecting on what I learned, I had a few thoughts. First of all, wearing skirts made me put more effort into my appearance each day. Rather than waking up and throwing on a jeans and a t-shirt (not that those are bad), I took a little extra time to do my hair and chose a nicer shirt. This was great because it made me appreciate beauty more and since we are all daughters of the King, I think that dressing up can be a good way to reflect that. It also reminded me (and hopefully others) of my dignity.

            The second thing I learned/noticed was how tight girls and women wear their pants. Even on a campus like Franciscan, it never ceases to shock me how many women wear skin tight pants or even just leggings with a shirt. Ladies, painted-on jeans and leggings are simply not modest. They leave nothing to the imagination, particularly men’s imagination, and they are not godly. Because I refrained from wearing pants for 40 days, I was more aware of what types of pants people wear. Granted, I am already fairly conscious of how my jeans fit, but this made me even more aware.

            One last thought that I have is that now that I have worn skirts so much, I feel more comfortable wearing them more often. I don’t feel like I have to have a particular reason or event in order to dress up – I can just do it because I’m a woman J
            So as you continue to celebrate Easter and spring cleaning, think about your wardrobe, particularly your pants – are they modest? Or, as my R.A. says, “are they brother-conscious”? As women we have a lot of power in society. We want godly men, so let’s dress in a way that encourages men to be chaste and upright. Happy Easter!

                                                                           
                                                                                                           -Bernadette

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