Category: Made for More

On dressing like a hoochie mama

~ Laura ~ 8 Comments

Ladies, this post is for you. I’m going to be honest and frank, so just hear me out.

Leggings. What’s the deal here? Love ’em, hate ’em? Do you wear them?

I do. Leggings are rather comfy if you ask me, and are convenient for making a winter outfit more warm. I’ve been wearing them quite a bit, actually. The catch? I only wear them under other articles of clothing. Now don’t stop reading. I’m not a crazy modesty freak who wears floor length jumpers. Though I don’t have many recent pictures to share, I can tell you that I strive to dress modestly and cutely at the same time. My sense of fashion is most definitely debatable, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

I’m here to talk about something  I heard last night.

Last night I went to a girls night talk with Sarah Swafford (who is AWESOME!). She’s like a big sister and a young mom at the same time. She gets us ladies. And she meets us where we’re at.

Last night many girls had questions about modesty in general, and if specific articles of clothing were appropriate. Of course, the legging debate came up. Are they acceptable? I mean, what’s the big deal, right?

I’ll tell you what she told us.

Over the past few years she’s sat down different groups of guys to ask them what challenges they’re facing. When leggings came up, here’s what the guys said:

When girls just wear leggings (or any skin tight pants), what they see is her silhouette. Nothing is left to the imagination. What they see is pretty much you. Naked.

Now, you say, “It’s not my responsibility what other people think! If a guy sins because of seeing me in what I like to wear, it’s his problem. Not mine.”

Let me tell you. I see the point. I actually get annoyed sometimes when people say that they cover themselves so that guys don’t sin. Why? Because I think there’s a lot more to it. I dress the way I do because 1. I don’t want that kind of attention. And 2. This picture.

What are you advertising when you wear leggings as pants? Apparently it’s your booty. You may be comfortable. You may have dressed this way forever. But guess what? You just might look a little like a hoochie mama. And ladies, let’s be real. No one wants to be a hoochie mama.

If you want to date a respectable guy, then why are you wearing something that is advertising parts of you that should not be on display? Is that going to convey the right message? When the guy you like sees you dressing like that, do you think he’s going to be drawn to your beautiful eyes, your character, or your great laugh?

No. No, he won’t. Because you’re distracting him.

Like Sarah said, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m writing this because I believe women out there need to hear this. They need to know that what we wear sends a signal to the world of who we are. It’s time we live up to our calling to “Be the light” of the world. It’s time we chuck physically revealing pieces of clothes out the window because really . . .

I want ladies out there to know that dressing like something they are not (ie. hoochie mamas) is not going to get them anywhere. For the guys in your life, the young ladies you are a role model for, and anyone you come in contact with: Dress in a way that instead of your cleavage and booty, reveals your true beauty and femininity. You were made for more.

Same Love? More like the same call.

~ Laura ~ 9 Comments

One really popular song going around right now is Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Have you heard it?

I had heard of it, but had neglected to really listen to it. And since the radio is broken in the car I drive, I didn’t hear it from there. After being reminded of it recently, I decided to look it up and see what it was all about.

Oh boy.

I’m not one to sit down and over-analyze song lyrics, but after listening to this, I was disappointed in the Catholic people I know who are jamming to it and gushing over its message.

Why?

This song is basically saying that the love of a gay couple is the same love as all the other love in the world (by comparing it to a mother’s love) and how we just need to let them love each other. But it’s also quite the anti-Catholic and anti-conservative-people song by mocking many of our sentiments. It uses the standard “Catholics hate gay people” mantra to get that point across.

“The right wing conservatives think it’s a decision, And you can be cured with some treatment and religion”

“When I was at church they taught me something else, If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed, That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned”

“And a certificate on paper isn’t gonna solve it all, But it’s a d**n good place to start, No law is gonna change us, We have to change us”

“I might not be the same, but that’s not important, No freedom till we’re equal, d**n right I support it”

The problem?

A quote from Archbishop Fulton Sheen seemed rather appropriate here:

“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church….As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.”

You see, the Catholic Church doesn’t actually hate gay people. If it did, I would have a problem with it. Tons of people would. We’re told to love one another and so forth, so that just wouldn’t make sense to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.

But guess what?

Loving someone doesn’t mean you’re okay with them doing whatever they want.

Why do parents stop their kids from reaching into the cookie jar for a 5th time? Because it’s not good for them.

What the church teaches is that we were made to love and be loved. Vocations such as marriage are ways to love each other on earth, and to become closer to God. Giving in to human appetites does not help that. The church calls single to people to lives of chastity. The church calls homosexual people to chastity. And guess what? The church even calls married couples to chastity.

Discrimination 101.

You see, by truly loving homosexual people, the Church calls them to live their lives in an ordered approach to their attractions. But it isn’t any different than the call of single people to be abstinent until marriage. And it isn’t different than the call of married couples to remain faithful to their spouse.

It’s not the same love, but it’s all the same call.

On the frivolous nature of computers

~ Laura ~ 9 Comments

Recently, I’ve been thinking about how I spend my time. More specifically, how I spend my time on social media.

To start off, here’s a breakdown of what I might be checking on my computer on a daily basis:

One.more.email.to.check…
  • 3 email accounts (and responding, usually quickly)
  • Facebook (sometimes chatting or sending messages, or just hanging around my newsfeed)
  • Twitter (not necessarily every day)
  • Pinterest (not everyday, but when I go on it’s usally for a while)
  • My Blog (writing, editing, checking stats)
  • and many other blogs I follow

After thinking about all these things that occupy my time, it hit me how much MORE I could be doing with my life instead of these things. Take this article as an example, which talks about the seriously awesome things we could be focusing on instead of Facebook.

Sure, I should check my emails. Much of my important communication happens through them. But I could check them twice a day instead of 10 times.

Facebook keeps me connected to people I don’t see everyday, so I’m not willing to chuck it out the window altogether. But what if I limited my time to actual interactions with people and reading personal updates instead of skipping around and stalking people? You know you do that too. What if we spent more time getting to know people in person? Or *GASP* writing old fashioned letters? Aren’t those the best?!?!?!

Twitter could easily be addicting, but I don’t like the format so much. I could easily get this one outta here.

Pinterest. Oh, Pinterest. This is the ultimate way to make you feel like there are a bajillion different recipes you need to make, exercises you need to try, places you need to go, crafts you need to do, cute things you have to remember, and DIY things you absolutely must try out. Guess what? You’re never going to remember it all, and it’s really just clogging up your brain and making you feel like a failure. Honestly, this is one place I have tons of fun finding new ideas on. It’s easy to spend time on. And I love finding inspiring quotes. But I think my time could be better spent learning from people I actually know, and books (which I love!). What ever happened to borrowing a cup of sugar instead of googling 10 alternatives or going to Pinterest for a solution?

My blog is different in that I can’t waste time reading stories here since I write them all. I can definitely focus my time more and brainstorm ahead of time to cut down on time. But this isn’t something I intent to stop.

Now here comes the biggie: other blogs. I have a very weird assortment of blogs that I follow. Some are much better than others. And some I just love following other people’s lives. It’s fascinating and fun, sort of like, huh, actually getting to know a person…except for the fact that it’s purely digital. I recently purged my list of blogs, and brought it down to around a whopping 30. And it’s so hard to get rid of more! Instead of reading so many, I’d like to cut the number down and consider why I follow them. If it’s for no other reason than entertainment, out the window it must go.

In this digital age, many people are suffering from the inability to connect with other people. I don’t consider myself to match that 100%, and really do try (sometimes) to limit my screen time, but I know I need to get better at how I spend my time on the computer. I need to hold myself to higher standards, and show the beauty of that to other people.

Why?

You might call modern technology freeing, but to me it’s enslaving.

“Oh, did I check that blog yet today?”

“What’s the latest on Pinterest?”

“Oh my gosh, did she say THAT on Facebook?”

Um, why do I need to care about those things? These things are not important. Changing your Facebook status will most likely not help you get to heaven, and for the most part, wasting time on the computer does not help you in becoming a better person. For many people, it actually changes you for the worse. I’m talking about wasting time, not work on the computer, or actual material out there that contributes to a better world.

When I’m technology free, I focus on things that matter more like my family, friends, and personal growth. Isn’t that a better way to live my life? Now that is a better version of freedom to me. We were made for so much more than social media updates. And really, we don’t need to know what’s going on in the lives of our seven hundred and thirty three Facebook friends, or how to make custom burlap flowers dyed with the berries from your back yard that you cut with rocks that you dug up yourself because Pinterest told you to.

That’s why I made it one of my goals to cut down on my computer time.

I’m throwing around the idea of concocting some sort of challenge for people out there who want to cut down on their computer time too. And I’m also going to give you an idea of how to do this, and more of the why. Check back soon!