When I first started posting for APOC, one of the first things I did was look at the definition of modesty in a variety of dictionaries. One of the first definitions I came across was one that I was already quite familiar with....the first definition stated that modesty was not drawing attention to ones self. After looking at a couple other definitions I came across another meaning for the word modesty that I never had heard of or thought of before. The second meaning stated that modesty was not only avoiding drawing attention to ones self, but showing proper attention to others. Of course, there is a difference between showing improper attention to another person, which would be immodest, but showing attention to another person when it is appropriate is actually a definition of modesty!
All Dads love to be encouraged by their wife and kids and since my dream for my future is to be a wonderful wife and mom, I think that encouraging my Dad is a great habit to have so that way I can encourage my husband and kids one day as much as possible.
Right now I would like to practice the definition of modesty that I stated above by giving attention to my AMAZING Dad and the wonderful remodeling job he has been working on for our house.
Lets begin!
So true! Though it seems a little backward..... If anything, the most unlikely place for "normal" to live would be in our laundry room! After a year and a half of moving our dryer and washing machine from room to room trying to avoid the traffic of remodelling, a year and a half of hooking up and un-hooking the machines and cramming 5 peoples' clothing in one closet, we are all soooo excited to see our Dad’s latest masterpiece finally make our laundry life a little more "Normal".
Here it is! Our new laundry room complete with two dryers and two washers, 7 tall cabinets and 5 smaller cabinets for storing clothes, cubby holes for shoes and all the other laundry accessories a family of 9 needs! A dream come true!
My Dad did such a SUPER job! He did every single bit of the work himself except for the drywall. You might not believe it, but this room used to be a screened in back porch. But Super Dad came to the rescue and totally re-did the whole thing and turned it into the best laundry room I have ever seen! The best part is that there is no traveling all over the house to put 9 peoples clothes away...you just turn around and hang it up!
We still have to stain the cabinets, add some cosmetic trim, add some of the doors to the smaller cabinets and add some countertops to the smaller cabinets but everything else is finished.
Here is a tour of my Dad’s masterpiece!
Each of us 7 kids have our own tall and short cabinet. All folds (Jean skirts, T-shirts, pants, etc.) go inside the tall cabinets. All hangs (skirts, dresses, blouses) go hanging up on dowels hung above the small cabinets. Underclothing go in the two drawers in the small cabinets, and below the drawers go any shoes that will not fit in the little cubby holes that are below all the cabinets. Amazing or what?!
My favorite part about our new laundry room is the two washers and dryers....any large family's dream. Mom estimated that she could get rid of a days worth of 9 peoples laundry in less than 2 hours. That's washed, dried, and put away!
My next favorite part about our new laundry room is the clothes closets. The picture below is of my little sisters cabinet. Since the little kids have less clothes that needed hung up, he added a dowel in the cabinet for their hangs instead of giving them a small cabinet as well. That way hangs and folds all go in the one cabinet for the younger kids
Mom added some country flair to our laundry room by adding three window boxes in which she planted some herbs. Dad made the shelf for the boxes to sit on.
Just a cute photo I took of our window box and our home grown peach ripening in the sun. (The peach was delicious! All 9 of us split it up the other day.)
Sadly, I moved from the clothes job just after our new laundry room first opened, so now I have kitchen duty which is the next room that is under renovation. :( So, just in case y'all aren't jealous already, let me give you a sneak peak of my Dad’s amazing work in the kitchen which he just worked on yesterday! (Hey! Remember, I'm just practicing being modest! :)
Mom calls this the family "UFO"! Yesterday Dad installed 14 can lights in the ceiling along with the "UFO". (The "UFO" is actually a ceiling fan in the middle with six lights around it.) The kids love it, especially because it can only be operated with a remote! The fan/light/UFO is going to hang over top of an island which we are going to install later.
Just in case y'all don't already know, my Dad is extremely diligent and I am soooo glad that he is my Dad. I mean, who couldn't be happy to have the BEST Dad in the whole world? Oh! Did I also tell y'all that I have the BEST Mom too? :) I’m sooooooooooo blessed!!!!!
OK. I'm finished being modest. :) So, Here is a challenge I would like to ask you all to do this weekend: Say an encouraging word to your Dad every day this weekend. That's really only two days, three days if you count today. For an extra challenge, try saying an encouraging word to your Dad every day for a week. You may not know how much it means to Dad’s to know that their kids appreciate what they are doing, but it means a whole lot to them.
I hope you all have a encouraging Friday and don't forget that Fathers Day is Sunday!
Blessings,
Good point, Evangela! This is an excellent post, and that definition of modesty is definitely a good one. We totally should be engaged in building up those around us. It's in the Bible! :-)
ReplyDeleteHave you looked up the definition of the Greek word for modesty? (Do you have access to a Strong's exhaustive concordance? Those are really nifty.)
I thought it'd be interesting to see the meaning of that, so I looked it up. It seems it kind of means to "adorn", coming form a root word that means "to tend" or to care for?
So then, when Paul says he wishes women would "adorn themselves in modest apparel," it means "dress carefully"? Interesting angle, there.