Pure Fashion

I'm off this morning to go visit my good friend, Brenda Sharman, as she directs a Pure Fashion show in Houston, Texas. Brenda & I met at Miss USA years ago. (she was Miss Georgia & I was Miss Texas) We formed a lasting friendship & I'm so proud to share with you this wonderful organization she founded. Take a look at the video on YouTube to learn more about Pure Fashion. She has dedicated herself to traveling the country helping girls claim their dignity and purity and to see themselves as virtuous children of God.

Here's a bit of info about the program from their website: "Pure Fashion is a faith-based program that encourages teen girls to live, act, and dress in accordance with their dignity as children of God. Pure Fashion focuses on guiding young women ages 14 to 18 to become confident, competent leaders who live the virtues of modesty and purity in their schools and communities. Through an eight month Model Training Program that covers public speaking, manners and social graces, hair and make up artistry, personal presentation, and much more, Pure Fashion models learn the importance of living a life in accordance with God’s will and fostering a life of grace through purity of heart, mind, and body. The Pure Fashion program culminates in a city-wide fashion show!"

Check it out and share with your friends who have daughters! I'm sure there's a Pure Fashion team in a city near them!

Click here: YouTube - ENG Pure Fashion - A Celebration of Style and Virtue

Mission Trippin'!

Can You Belize It??!

My daughter just returned from a mission trip in Orange Walk, Belize! She went with a local youth group & had an amazing time.  I love to expose her to new experiences as much as possible~especially experiences which will force her to step out of her little bubble of a world and learn how rewarding it can be to serve others. 

While she was there, her group laid tile in an entire church (that previously only had a dirt floor) during the mornings & spent the afternoons with children at a local school.  When I asked her if it was rewarding to see how grateful the parishioners of the church were, on the last night of their stay when they gathered in the church for a service, she said, "Well, Mom, the tile floor wasn't from us...it was a gift from God."  Wow.  Her statement blew me away.  She's right!  It was a gift from God~~He was merely using my daughter's youth group as the tool to get it done! How often do we do hard things for others & not expect gratitude in return?  Rather to just do something for someone less fortunate and view your work as a gift for them, from God.  That really was a beautiful statement. 
The place she staying at while she was there is called La Estima. 
http://www.laestima.com/  The photos look beautiful and it certainly exceeded the expectations of where they thought they'd be staying.  Although while she was there, the air conditioning broke in her room.  All the girls had to share 1 tiny fan to stay cool.  How perfect!  It reminds me of when I traveled to Poland years ago as Miss Texas & the airlines lost my luggage on the way!  I had one outfit the entire trip because it was still a time in Poland where there weren't stores to just go buy clothes if need be!  I had to wash my clothes in the bathroom sink and live just like all the people of Gdansk & Warsaw at the time~~with very little comforts & I thought it was a blessing. It was a blessing that helped me to understand a way of life other than the life I had always come to expect & certainly took for granted.  So how perfect that her air conditioning went out!!  When in Rome!!

~Prayer Board~

I woke up this morning and turned on the computer to the devastating news of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  News such as this always is so upsetting to me because I immediately think of all the sweet souls who perished in such a traumatic way.  I feel a special connection with the people of Japan because at 15 I spent several months modeling in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. I was lucky to live among the kind hearted , soft spoken people of Japan~~I especially loved the children of Japan. They always looked like little porcelain dolls to me...SO angelic & pure.  So as I see the devastating hardship that's fallen on them, my heart aches for them.  It's days like this that I get out my chalk and write down the more prevalent prayers weighing on my heart.  It's something we started doing years ago when I thought up a new way to use a chalkboard that we had hanging by our back door.  I decided to put it to good use by jotting down the prayers that I wanted our family to focus on for the week or month.  So we now have a  prayer board in our kitchen where we write down the names of people we want to remember throughout the day as we go about our hectic lives.  We often need a reminder to stop and pray for a moment for our friends & family members fighting illness or going through a tough time. 

We've placed it in our kitchen as a visual reminder for our family to pray. We notice often that when guests come over they ask about the board and we explain it's purpose. We would love it if prayer boards caught on.  We all need prayers to help us along our paths in life.  They can come in any shape or form.  Ours is just a chalkboard I found in a store years ago, but I've seen them on corkboards & dry erase boards as well.  You could use photos, sticky notes, drawings, magazine cutouts of quotes, you can jot down a favorite scripture for the week~~whatever you feel inspires you to think of others and count your blessings!  If you ever need someone to pray for you, feel free to drop me a line and I'll add you to our board! And remember to take time each day to pray as a family!!  Today we are sending up prayers for all the people of Japan~~
Wareware wa Nippon o aishi, watashi-tachi wa anata no tame ni inotte iru! (WE LOVE YOU, JAPAN, AND WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU!)