Lesson 5 in our review of A Woman After God’s Own Heart, by Elizabeth George.
I remember as a young girl, looking at myself in the mirror and thinking, “Why am I here? What is my purpose?” I think most of us have pondered that question at some time or other. But as a follower of Christ, it’s narrowed that question to, “What does God want from me as a Christian?” God doesn’t snatch us up out of this world and take us to heaven (as wonderful as that would be!) the moment we get saved. Why not? What purpose does He have for leaving us here?
What is your favorite season? Winter? Spring?Summer?, Fall? Or is it Strawberry season?! Strawberries are my favorite fruit! My husband happily sent a text to me last weekend –
“Scott Berries are in and I got two quarts! Happy days are here again!”
This is an exciting day! At the end of this post I’m going to be telling you the four winners of the $25 gift certificates to Elizabeth Dean Boutique! But first let’s talk about how easy and how fun it is to put an outfit together!
How many times have you looked in your closet and declared, I don’t know what to wear?! We have all been there! I want to share a few tips with you today that will help you to make an outfit choice much easier!
This is the first in a series which I’m calling,
Dress with Grace
In each of these posts, I will use my model form, whom I have named Grace, to show outfits that I have put together to give you some inspiration for daily dressing and also selection in wardrobe purchases.
First, it’s important to start with some basics. I would strongly encourage you to make sure you have pants or skirts in colors like black, navy blue, and white. This is like the canvas or the building block for your outfit. Let me show you some examples of this.
Here’s an outfit I purchased at Elizabeth Dean Consignment Boutique – navy pants and a silky blouse. I love consignment shops because I don’t like to spend a lot of money on clothing, but I want good quality. I wait and keep looking until I find the pieces I need. These navy pants can be dressed up or down. They’re light weight and don’t wrinkle.
J Crew Pants and Talbots top purchased at Elizabeth Dean consignment for under $25 total. .
My second tip is, know what you need, then keep looking until you find just that and at the price point you can afford! This spring I was looking for a neutral colored jacket. I found a cream colored Talbots jacket for $1 at the Dollar Days at Elizabeth Dean! It’s worth the wait and also fun to hunt for it!
If Grace wanted to make a more casual outfit with the navy pants,she could simply change the top and accessories. She will be ready for a beach vacation now!
Pants and top purchased at Elizabeth Dean Boutique. The top is Anne Klein and I only paid one dollar for it at the dollar day sale!
It gives it a whole new look, doesn’t it? Now Grace will dress up a little by changing the accessories. Heels, a dressier necklace and orange purse change the whole look.
If Grace was going to a casual event, she could use that same top, but change to white jeans, a cross body purse and tennis shoes.
I guess I need to remove the size sticker from my sneakers!
The pants in this next picture are so comfy! I knew they would be great to either dress up or dress down. First, let’s dress Grace up a bit.
I purchased the White House Black Market blouse and Banana Repu7blic pants at Elizabeth Dean Boutique for under $25
With a black T-shirt, sandals and orange bag, Grace now has a casual look.
Bear trap sandals purchase for $3 at Elizabeth Dean Boutique!.
Here’s one more way to style these pants, using a white blouse and pearls. What a versatile pair of pants for only $10.99!
Here’s yet another way to style these pants with a black blouse.
My last tip is to take a picture of your outfit after you’veput it together. I make an album on my phone of outfits, then when I need to get dressed and I can’t think of what to wear, I can pull up the album and know I have a complete outfit all ready thought through!
Dressing with Grace is more than the clothes. It’s how we present ourselves to the world. Being put together and looking your best is a lovely testimony. Christians don’t have to be drab and stuck in a time warp. If you’re married, dressing with grace is t’s also a blessing to your husband, who was made to be visual. Give him your best to look at! “Mommy clothes” are okay for the gym or your morning walk, but put yourself together for the man you married. I just bet he’ll appreciate it! Lastly, remember that the hidden man of the heart must be beautiful. To walk in fellowship with God, love Him and serve Him gives a radiance no outfit will ever give. I hope the recent series has strengthened you!
It’s been fun to host this little give away, featuring Elizabeth Dean Boutique. Thank you to the store owner, Tricia Mosier, for generously sponsoring it, and also to each of you who entered!
The winners were chosen by RaffleCopter at random.
The winners are:
Tosha Hatley
Lindsay McAuliffe
Tammy Tyms
Jennifer Collins
Congratulations to each of you! You will each receive an email announcing that your name has been drawn. You need to respond within 24 hours to the email so I can mail the gift certificate to you, otherwise you will forfeit your certificate to another winner. I’m excited for each of you!
Who struggles with choosing an outfit to wear? What other info would you like me to address in future “Dressing with Grace” posts?
We continue our series of the review of A Woman After God’s Own Heart.
What is the one action that proves our love for God?
If you’ve ever wondered why God made commands for us to obey, or why He put the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the Garden, and then told Adam and Eve not to eat it, think about this truth –
God did not make us to be robots; He made us people with a heart to choose to love Him.
Ever since the first man and woman were created, God has been after our hearts. He wants us to love Him. John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Our obedience is the proof of our love.
But it is a struggle, isn’t it? Paul said, For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. Romans 7:19
Even David, the one called, A man after God’s own heart, struggled with doing the evil that he didn’t want to do, yet chose to do. It’s comforting to us who struggle to know that David was still a man after God’s own heart. We can be women who follow God, who love and obey God, even though we still disobey.
When David is living and serving God, there is another man who is on the throne – it’s King Saul. Saul Said he loved God, but his actions – his disobedience proved otherwise.
Let’s look again into E. George’s book….A Woman After God’s Own Heart to learn how we can obey.
How can we grow so that we are consistently obedient? I want us to remember that God is always after our heart. He doesn’t want our lip service, but he wants our heart.
Proverbs 4 reminds us to ponder the path of our feet and look straight ahead, not side to side. Rather than turning to the right or to the left, we are to follow God’s ways. Living a life of obedience will happen when we diligently guard our heart.
Concentrate on doing what is right. If we really love God, we are going to look into his Word and we are going to pray and be ready to do everything he says to do. This is a teachable heart that will focus on doing what is right. What about those times when you’re not sure what the right thing is? Elizabeth says first of all don’t do anything until you know what is right. Next ask God for guidance. Pray about it. Think through the Scriptures and ask advice from a godly, seasoned Christian. If you’re still unsure, do nothing until you know what the right thing is.
Cease doing what is wrong. The moment that you realize that you have done something to disobey the Lord, stop it immediately! When you are in the middle of an activity that you know is wrong, God will give you strength to get out of the temptation. Saul was not supposed to offer the sacrifice, but was told to said for Samuel to come and do that. He got impatient. If at any moment while he was preparing the sacrifice, he would have realized he was sinning, and stopped, he could have saved himself a lot of heartache.
Confess any wrong. Keep short accounts of your sin. Name the sin. Elizabeth says that we need to train our heart to be responsive to God’s convicting Spirit. Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sin will not Prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes will have mercy. I remember recently being convicted over an unloving statement that I said to someone about another person. I could not get any rest until I made it right with the Lord. Immediately, I had peace, knowing that He had forgiven me.
Clear things with others after you’ve made it right with God, if you’ve hurt another person clear it up with them too. As I just said a moment ago, I confessed to God my sin of saying something unloving, then had to reach out to the person that I had said it to and make it right with them. That also helps when you’re tempted to sin the next time!!
Continue on as soon as possible – . Satan would love for us to feel so discouraged in our disobedience that we quit following God. He wants us to say, “Why even bother?” But we know that we are forgiven and our sins are removed from us as far as the East is from the West. Think the truth. Philippians 3:13 and 14 remind us that we are to forget those things which are behind and reach forward under the things that are before us and press toward the goal for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Do we have a desire to have a heart that follows after God and obedience? Psalm 63:8 says, My soul follows hard after thee; Thy right hand upholds me. We need to acknowledge any disobedience in our life, confess the sin, and choose to forsake it. Then we can realize that we are on the path of being a woman after God’s heart.
All along, let us remember we are not asked to understand, but simply to obey. ~Amy Carmichael
We are not robots, we are people – women who must choose obedience. It proves our love for our Savior.
Most times if I ask guests that are coming to my home for a meal if they have any foods they don’t enjoy eating, they will often say fish. I get that because some recipes for fish are just stinky and bland.
But the recipe I’m sharing today is so good that it would make a great restaurant menu item. The ingredients are simple, but add incredible flavor and texture to the fish. It is above ordinary for something that’s fixed at home. Like most fish recipes, this is super fast to pull together because it doesn’t require long in the oven, making this a great weeknight menu.
I served this with oven-roasted potatoes and a seven layer salad. It was a delicious meal! If you are a nominal fish fan, I hope you will try this great recipe from taste of home.
Dijon Crusted Fish
Ingredients
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish – (I didn’t add this)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
4 tilapia fillets (5 ounces each)
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°. Mix the first 4 ingredients and 1 tablespoon cheese. Place tilapia on a baling sheet coated with cooking spray; spread evenly with mayonnaise mixture.
Toss bread crumbs with melted butter and remaining cheese; sprinkle over fillets. Bake until fish just begins to flake easily with a fork, 12-15 minutes.
Easy, fast and delicious!! I should also add, “healthy!” Its only 214 calories per filet! You might just being having fish mire often after trying this recipe!
RefreshHer 