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An All Beauty Issue.
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GirlfriendGazette Spring 2012 Spring 2012
Make a Scarf
out of a T-shirt!
Your Light
Endowed Thru Color
Deborah Miller
The Girlfriends Tell U
s Their
Thoughts on Beauty
Hope For The Flowers: Hope For The Flowers: Hope For The Flowers:
A Book Recommendation
A Book Recommendation
A Book Recommendation
And More!
{ Page 4 }
Featured: The Girl With The Blue Feather Pen
{ Page 20 } Goes To Philadelphia Goes To Philadelphia Goes To Philadelphia
Your ‘Light’ Endowed thru Color Deborah Miller
On Beauty Just a little bit about beauty from the girlfriends.
Beauty Around You
{ Page 10 }
{ Page 16 }
{ Page 18 }
The Stained Glass Window
Monica Miller
“You should clothe yourselves instead with the “You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty beauty
that comes from within, the unfading that comes from within, the unfading beautybeauty of a gentle and of a gentle and
quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the ho-quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the ho-
ly women of old made themselves ly women of old made themselves beautifulbeautiful.”.” -1 Peter 3:4-5
I am super excited about pub-
lishing this issue for you! So many
young ladies have given of their
time to make this possible….I
think you’re really going to love
what they have for you!
I think as we look at the topic
of beauty in so many of it’s differ-
ent aspects it is so important to
keep our eyes focused on the
One who created beauty. When
we take our eyes off of Him
beauty becomes something shal-
low…something totally different
than He intended it to be.
I am convinced that God is a
big lover of beauty. What time of
year proves that better than
Spring? The whimsical rainy days,
pink cherry blossom trees, lilac
bushes, birds, barefoot days, bud-
ding trees and plants, NEW life
bursting, blue skies...everywhere
we look creation is crying “life!”
and “beauty!” and bringing praise
to the creator!
And that’s what it’s all about…
isn’t it? Bringing praise to His
name.
{The cross is the most beautiful
story ever told…God taking on
the form of a man and taking on
our sins so that we could be one
with Him. } [One with Him.]
I bless you, that this Spring
you may see in a new way how
much you are loved, that you
could see how beautiful you real-
ly are, and that you would be able
to create beauty wherever you
go.
(and now that I have officially
babbled your ear off I will
stop….on to the rest of this is-
sue! :) )
Blessings to you in this beauti-
ful spring-time ~Monica Arlene.
Winner Of the last GIVEAWAY is Karlita Yoder!
(Karlita Please send your mailing address to thefly-
[email protected] before May 1st, 2012 to claim
your prize.)
Announcement Board:
NEW GIVEAWAY!: Send a picture to me from one of your favorite vacations/trips (anything will do… maybe it’s last summer’s trip to see your grandma...the time you went to NYC...or Africa!) Send your entry to [email protected] (along with your address, name, age and location of picture!) by June 23 and get a chance to win a special item from
a far-away land! Come on, join the fun! {winner will be picked at random}
The Lord has blessed my family with a trip to Israel —along
with some of our dear family friends, the Gaylord Barkman
family (you would know Christy...the Girl With the Blue
Feather Pen!)— with a trip to Israel!
We have started a blog for the trip and I would love if you
would follow our adventure!
www. m-bark17.blogspot.com
The Stained Glass Window
radiant beauty in broken pieces When I was seven years old my Dad purchased a hundred year
old piano. Its mustard yellow paint (yes , yellow!) was chipping
from its longevity and it desperately needed a good tuning. I t
was easy for litt le f ingers to find middle C because the key was
chipped. I stil l remember it parked in our garage as my dad dil i-
gently worked at removing the paint. Eventually he varnished the
old upright unti l it shined. It has adorned our l iving room for
the past f ifteen years and faithfully bursts with music.
Recently, I sat at a piano in a cathedral. As I played, I looked up
to notice a beautiful stained glass window. The sunlight was
spil ling through the deep colors of glass into the quiet sanctuary.
I realized my l ife greatly resembles that stained glass window.
A stained glass window is made of pieces of g lass. Our l ife is of-
ten made up of what seems like pieces . Some of them hold tears
and are deeply painful. Others are shining with laughter, joy,
and treasured memories. We wince at the chipped pieces from
our mistakes and sin. Some pieces are exciting adventures, and
others s imply the mundane of li fe. Some of the glass st i ll needs
to be broken.
I saw all those pieces lying before me. I wanted to sort the bad
ones from the good ones. They were ugly to me. Sometimes I try
to do that with beauty too. I l ike to decide what is beautiful. I
base my definition of beauty on what my culture is defining as
beautiful . I see it as the happy moments. You know - the roses,
chocolate, and summer skies. I want to separate everything else
that is diff icult and repulsive. When I’m facing hard things,
when I don’t measure up to my peers, when I cry tears, and when
I don’t feel beautiful - then I tend to believe that beauty ceased.
But it hasn’t.
True beauty, the kind of beauty that will come from deep inside
of you and shine out, often comes in broken pieces. Through the
things that don’t feel beautiful at the t ime. These pieces some-
times look like crushed longings, bad experiences, unfulfil led
dreams, hurtful relationships, fai lure, or physical limitations. Do
you have some broken pieces? What do you see as ugly and
harmful?
Mary Klassin says “the miracle of restoration compounds the
beauty.” In my words: “the process of something broken becom-
ing beautiful is what truly makes it beautiful .” My Dad took an
old, peeling, yellow piano and it now makes music. The artist
The Stained Glass Window
True beauty...often comes in broken pieces.
radiant beauty in broken pieces The Stained Glass Window
took the colorful array of broken, stained glass and made a fantastic mas-
terpiece. God takes everything in your life, even the shattered pieces, and
puts it all together.
Because He is the One who Restores – it is beautiful.
His heart is: “to give unto them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they
might be called trees of righteousness, the
planting of the LORD, that he might be glori-
fied.” [Isaiah 61:3]
When He shines the radiant, extravagant beauty of His holiness against
our “stained-glass window” - it is breathtaking. He will look at it and say,
Beautiful. Others will be drawn to it. It will be an inviting, warm, and
attractive beauty. It won’t be based on how you feel. It won’t be based on the
world’s standard of beauty.
It is a beauty from the Creator of beauty Himself.
2 Corinthians 4:7 is awesome: “But we have this treasure
in earthen vessels (our frail, human, broken pieces!), so that
the surpassing greatness of the power will
be of God and not from ourselves.”
God will take all your pieces, my friends, and create a splendid stained
glass window. Or, if you prefer, an old piano that creates beautiful music.
Because He is the One who restores— it is beautiful.
Radiant Beauty
Teresa Miller
Beauty
noun \ˈbyü-tē\
The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : Loveliness
Beauty: As According To Webster
1: You will need:
A solid colored T-shirt (This
one is size M),
A pair of Scissors,
Paper plate,
and a Marker.
2:Take plate and trace 4-6
circles on t-shirt.
3:Cut out all the circles.
4:Then cut them all in spi-
rals
5:Line them up
6:Cut a 4" Strip of fabric
Double knot it in the mid-
dle of the row.
And your done!!!
Savannah Knepp
1 2 3
4 5 6
….g
irlho
od..
Creating Beauty around my
neighborhood or my house is al-
ways an enlightening adventure
and it is fun seeing the smiles on
the faces of the people who’ve re-
ceived the beauty of something I
did. Creating Beauty around your
surroundings doesn’t have to be a
chore or work, but it can be super
exciting to make some one’s day
become more beautiful than it was
before. Creating Beauty around
you can be simple act or it can be
unique and exotic. Whatever mood
you are in . =)
Below, I am going to share with
you some of the things I do to cre-
ate beauty around me.
I love doing random acts of
kindness. Random Acts of Kindness
is doing something for a person
with out them knowing who did it
to them! =) Here is an example of
what I had done in the past. My
neighbor and her two kids were
outside. The kids were playing
around and she was trying to mow
the lawn! (she was interrupted
quite a bit, though.) After a while, I
pulled my coffee cake out of the
oven and the batch of iced coffee
was ready to devour. I wrapped a
piece of coffee cake and grabbed a
cup of iced coffee and sneaked it
unto her porch! She told my mom
later that day, “I was blessed by
someone today. That was an awe-
some surprise at my porch.” Per-
sonally, I thought that was so much
fun and it was great that she appre-
ciated it!!! =)
You can create beauty around
your house by dropping notes at
different places. Try doing it some-
time! It is really cool to have your
brother, sister, mom, or dad say, “I
got the note today, and it came at
the exact time I needed it!” You
could even get something in return,
like a candy bar on your bed at the
end of the day. =) Creating beauty
like this can be extremely fun and it
can make someone else’s day go ten
times better than before the ex-
traordinary thing you had done for
them.
Some simple acts of beauty
could be like these:
-You could have a meal ready for
your busy mom, aunt or grandma.
-You could brighten up the house
with an arrangement of flowers
that are in season.
-You could clean your ever-so-
junky house or bedroom without
being told to at least six times=)
-You could use REALLY nice eating
accessories for your Sunday lunch,
just because it is Sunday.
-You could help out and older lady
at a grocery store with all her shop-
ping bags and cart.
In my opinion, those are some
of the best things to create beauty
around your house and community
with. Creating Beauty is rewarding
to watch the persons gratefulness
or their expressions. You should try
creating beauty around you; it is so
much fun !
Simone Weaver
Beauty Around YouBeauty Around YouBeauty Around You By Simone Weaver
Oh, The Beauty In…. ….laughter.
...creativity.
...music.
….g
irlho
od..
...a well spread table.
..the light of the eyes.
…spring time.
To embark on the subject of beauty,
clothes, modesty, femininity, and
how our God ever so faithfully gov-
erns even this part of our lives, is al-
together a joy. I do it and am myself
challenged and inspired, realizing
what a responsibility we have as
women to represent Heaven, King,
and Bride.
So how, we may ask, do we repre-
sent properly? My Father is the wis-
est man I know, and he’s said on
more than one occasion: “You dress
because of the people not for the peo-
ple.” And I expound: We do not dress
for God, ladies, He sees hearts, re-
member? However people cannot see
hearts, so they have to assume that
the clothing you don is an expression
of your heart. We do not fear what
they think, we fear God by asking
ourselves if our dress represents Him
properly to people around us.
“In our initial contact with people,
fifty-five percent of our perceived
credibility is based on appearance
alone!”- Jill Swanson from Simply
Beautiful
Covering of the body should be au-
tomatic for the Believing Woman.
But modesty is what may lack in
even the “covered woman”. (Though
covering is essential and praise-
worthy.) I recently heard a powerful
message on modesty in which the
deliver said this: “Modesty is cover-
ing myself not just my body”- John
Yoder. We are to reflect, bring atten-
tion to, glorify, and represent, HIM,
not us. And all of us nod solemnly
“Amen .Yes sister.” But then the next
thought is this: “HOW??” We need
to wear something! So WHAT?
We have a generation of woman
who “Just want to be beautiful” and
therefore don’t deny themselves the
distracting clothing that they believe
makes them this thing called beauty.
Even “modest” dress can distract
people from being drawn to our face
for many different reasons, whether it
is wrong color, or any number of dif-
ferent eye traps (even if they don’t
reveal skin.). In our dress we bring
glory to God by representing godly
womanhood – being completely in
His design. We cover our bodies, and
then with those things we use to cov-
er we choose style that represents
purity and color that brings attention
to our face.
“The light of the body is the eye: if
therefore thine eye be single, they
whole body shall be full of light.”
Matt. 6: 22.
We’ve all met one, they glow,
right? One that lives sold out and vir-
tuous. I believe we all desperately
want to be undeniably reflecting glo-
ry. And this truly comes from deep
relationship with Almighty: Creator
of all things beautiful. It is the light
of the eyes, the smile on your face
that makes all aware of a Holy Pres-
ence within. Therefore we want to do
all in our power to wear clothes that
bring the viewer’s attention automati-
cally to the face, where His light
shines the authentic beauty.
God so creatively made the world
go through a yearly cycle of four sea-
sons: spring, summer, autumn and
winter. (Yes, the ones you learned
about in kindergarten.) Each one of
you has the colors from one of these
seasons that naturally look smashing
with your, eyes, hair, and skin tone.
(Does that make sense why it’s im-
portant to wear the right colors?
We’re trying to bring attention to the
face, remember?)
Your ‘Light’ Endowed thru Color Deborah Miller
Let’s talk about color, shall we?
When you go to buy paint for your
new room you can’t just walk into
hardware and say: “I’d like to buys
some green paint”, because there are
hundreds of different shades of
green! There will be forest green, true
green, lime green, and moss green.
The key to understanding which color
is “yours” is undertones and shades.
To understand this we must, again,
return to kindergarten. The three pri-
mary colors are red, yellow, and blue.
Out of these colors come secondary
colors with are made up of a combi-
nation of the primary colors. Then
from the secondary colors come
many other shades of colors by mix-
ing secondary colors. This is what
makes the different hues in Spring,
Summer, Autumn, and Winter. An
“undertone” is the dominant primary
color that is the backdrop for the new
shade or secondary color. For in-
stance if you mix the primary colors
yellow and blue you get a true green,
but if more yellow is added to that
green color you get a warmer yellow-
green such as the spring would wear,
therefore I say that that color has a
“yellow undertone”. On the other
hand if you were to add more blue to
that color you would get a cooler
green such as the Deep Blue-Green
of the summer in which case I would
say it has a “blue undertone”.
There are warm colors and cool
colors. Spring and autumn have
warm, yellow undertones, while as
winter and summer have cool, blue
undertones. One shouldn’t say “I
don’t look good in green” one should
rather say “I don’t look good in yel-
low-green or pine green but I do look
good in lime green”. It’s about the
undertones and shades that make any
color look great on you. However
there are some colors that certain sea-
sons have none of. For instance au-
tumns don’t have any shade of purple
that is considered to be “their color”.
Each season has about 30 colors that
when worn make the wearer appear
alive and healthy, making eyes, hair,
and skin come to their full potential.
But there’s even more than thirty col-
ors each season can wear, but those
thirty are the “basic truths” about
your season that you want to live by.
By each season’s description you will
see 16 of the main colors from each
season that I chose to present to you
for sake of the visual. But I would
highly recommend purchasing a book
with all the colors from each season
in, or ordering “seasonal swatches” in
your correct season online to keep in
your purse as you shop. With each
season I also have a picture of some-
one in my life who is in each season.
However don’t confine yourself to
looking just like them, there are many
variations of look in each season, the-
se are just a general example.
Most of you, by nature, know what
colors look good on you. But what’s
really wonderful about learning your
colors is finding new colors in your
palette that look great on you but you
would never have thought to wear. It
will also help you to stay away from
“fad colors” that are terribly “in” but
won’t look good on you. We are
tossed off the color path by the gen-
eral colors that everyone wears, such
as black. Did you know that only if
you are a winter does black genuinely
go with your skin-tone, hair, and
eyes? A weakness is to put on a pret-
ty color, see only the attractiveness of
the color think “this must be my col-
or”. Colors do weird things that may
make us believe they look good on
you. For instance: black slims, and
looks classy, so people assume it
looks good on them. Some good
question to ask your self are “Do peo-
ple see the color or me first?” Or
“Am I wearing the color or is the col-
or wearing me?”
As you look at the different season’s
colors, observe the difference of
shade and undertone with within the
same colors. Concerning whites; note
that winters are the only ones who
can successfully wear pure white,
although there are times when one
simply needs to wear white, I under-
stand. So, if you are a summer pur-
chase “Soft white”, a spring: ivory,
an autumn: “Oyster white”. Most all
people can get away with the sum-
mer’s “soft white”, but summers al-
ways wear it best.
Spring As I write our family
is returning home from
a ministry trip and I look
out motor home win-
dow to see spring un-
folding before me. Trees
and grass in their clear
yellow-green, some
bearing beautiful peri-
winkle blue blossoms
others having soft ivory
buds. It’s all so beautiful,
fresh, and clear. Look
outside this time of year
and you’ll see what to
wear as a spring.
My Mother is a beauti-
ful spring, looking fabu-
lous in peach, bright
coral, clear bright aqua,
camel, and periwinkle
blue (to name a few.).
She used to think she
was a fall because she
enjoyed “warm” colors,
but she would look drab
in most of the deep col-
ors of autumn, where as
the clear, warm colors
of spring make her
“come alive”. Instead of
the autumn’s dark choc-
olate brown she wears a
medium golden brown;
instead of gold she
wears light, clear gold.
Spring and autumn do
share several colors to-
gether however, such as
camel, orange-red, and
bright yellow-green. But
then comes the purples
and blues that autumn
can’t touch and the deep
browns and reds of au-
tumn that springs
shouldn’t do.
My little sister is also a
darling spring pictured
here in Bright Coral.
Her cheeks can be the
most delectable of
peach/ pink color, and
her blonde hair is
brought to life with the
clarity of this spring sea-
son.
Skin:
•Creamy Ivory
•Ivory with pale golden
freckles
•Peach
•Peach/Pink (may have
pink/purple knuckles.)
•Golden Beige
•Rosy Cheeks (may
blush easily)
•Golden brown
Eyes: (Often Spring’s
eyes have clusters of gold
around
the pupil or gold flecks
in the iris.)
•Clear Blue
•Steel Blue
•Green with golden
flecks
•Clear green
•Aqua
•Teal
•Golden Brown
•Blue with white “rays”
Hair
•Flaxen blonde
•Yellow blonde
•Honey blonde
•Strawberry blonde
(usually with freckles)
•Strawberry redhead
(usually with freckles)
•Auburn
•Golden brown
•Red-black (rare)
•Dove gray
•Creamy white
See which characteristics describe you.See which characteristics describe you.
Autumn
Hair
•Red
•Coppery red-brown
•Golden brown (dark
honey)
•Golden blonde
(honey)
•Ash (“dirty”) blonde
•Strawberry Blonde
•Charcoal brown or
black
•Golden gray
•Oyster white
Skin:
•Ivory
•Ivory with freckles
(usually redhead)
•Peach
•Peach with freckles
(usually golden blonde,
brown)
•Golden beige (no
cheek color.)
•Dark Beige (Coppery.
Usually with charcoal
black hair)
•Golden brown
Eyes:
•Dark brown
•Golden Brown
•Amber
•Hazel(golden brown,
green gold)
•Green (With brown or
gold flecks)
•Pale, clear green
•Olive green
•Blue with a distinct aq-
ua or turquoise tone
•Teal Blue
•Steel blue
I am autumn, I live in the
browns, oranges, greens, and
yellows that are on the trees
in the season. It’s been said
that autumns have the easiest
shopping since the colors are
readily available and all you
need look for is golden un-
dertones that can be clear or
muted.
A personal tip for autumns:
buy tan, kaki, copper or
brown skirts verses your tra-
ditional denims, blacks and
whites (though a few of those
are OK). You’ll be amazed at
how much sharper your au-
tumn tops will look with a
tan skirt instead of the denim.
Your wardrobe will also flow
together much more with the
majority of your skirts being
in the tan, brown-line.
Often a give-away from a
spring or autumn is cheek
color. The autumn’s cheeks
will generally be more color-
less while springs will be rosi-
er. However some autumns
do have a more pink cheek
and will easily get confused
with a summer, but, again,
the pink will be more peachy
then a true blue-toned pink.
Autumn’s hair may be
blonde as a child but normally
darkens with age (My story.)
The hair of the autumn usual-
ly has golden or red high-
lights. Redheads are most
often autumns, with the ex-
ception of a few due to deli-
cate skin that makes them
springs.
If you’re an autumn don’t
limit yourself to brown as I
did! J There are beautiful
greens, oranges, or yellow
colors that can be worn dur-
ing spring and summer sea-
sons that don’t look like
you’re always in deep fall col-
ors. But do buy brown, warm
beige, or oyster white under-
shirts instead of white and
black, these are the best
completions to your outfit
and you’ll wear them over
and over again.
See which characteristics describe you.See which characteristics describe you.
I feel as though I’m entering a
whole new world after we’ve
talked so much about “warm,
golden, brown, and yellow
undertones” we are now
speak in the world of “pink,
cool, gray, and blue under-
tones.”
When I spoke of spring I
mentioned the beautiful life
that is going on around us in
this amazing change of sea-
sons. I used to think that sum-
mer was the “bright colored”
palette, but I was quite wrong.
If you think of summer, all the
crisp colors of spring turn into
muted pinks, greens, plum,
and the sky is softer and not
as contrasting with the earth.
This is summer; muted and
powered colors.
Often summers are the
ones with beautiful pink
cheeks and raspberry lips.
Some may be pale lacking
cheek color, then there are
the ones with rose-beige skin,
others may be very high in
pink color, there are also
those that have beige, shallow
skin which makes it hard to
discern the blue undertones.
But no fear, something along
the line will reveal your true
colors. J Hair though it may be
brown or blonde in many dif-
ferent shades, has an ash, gray-
ish cast to it. This is a large
differing factor from the au-
tumn or spring that has a red
or gold cast on her hair. The
soft white speaks that can
appear in the summer’s eyes
differ from the harsh con-
trasting white speaks that ap-
pear in the winters. They are
just that: softer.
No one in our family is a
summer, but I shall tell you
about my friend who knows
her summer and wears it well.
She has hair about my color,
but with a gray cast while
mine has a red. Her cheeks
are always rosy, and lips deep
raspberry. She’s so attracted
to gray, silver accessories, and
says she’s always in powder
blue or pink. Just today I was
in a thrift store and found a
shirt that I only wish she could
have been along to see. It was
raspberry and carried lots of
ruffles that would have fit her
to a tea. She looks so alive and
beautiful in her summer, mut-
ed colors.
Some may glace at the sum-
mer palette and think
“boring”. But trust me, when a
summer dons any of these
muted tones, they look like
the most exciting colors on
earth!
Summer
Skin:
•Creamy Ivory
•Ivory with pale golden
freckles
•Peach
•Peach/Pink (may have
pink/purple knuckles.)
•Golden Beige
•Rosy Cheeks (may
blush easily)
•Golden brown
Eyes: (Often Spring’s
eyes have clusters of gold
around
the pupil or gold flecks
in the iris.)
•Clear Blue
•Steel Blue
•Green with golden
flecks
•Clear green
•Aqua
•Teal
•Golden Brown
•Blue with white “rays”
Hair
•Flaxen blonde
•Yellow blonde
•Honey blonde
•Strawberry blonde
(usually with freckles)
•Strawberry redhead
(usually with freckles)
•Auburn
•Golden brown
•Red-black (rare)
•Dove gray
•Creamy white
See which characteristics describe you.See which characteristics describe you.
Hair
•Red
•Coppery red-brown
•Golden brown (dark
honey)
•Golden blonde
(honey)
•Ash (“dirty”) blonde
•Strawberry Blonde
•Charcoal brown or
black
•Golden gray
•Oyster white
Skin:
•Ivory
•Ivory with freckles
(usually redhead)
•Peach
•Peach with freckles
(usually golden blonde,
brown)
•Golden beige (no
cheek color.)
•Dark Beige (Coppery.
Usually with charcoal
black hair)
•Golden brown
Eyes:
•Dark brown
•Golden Brown
•Amber
•Hazel(golden brown,
green gold)
•Green (With brown or
gold flecks)
•Pale, clear green
•Olive green
•Blue with a distinct aq-
ua or turquoise tone
•Teal Blue
•Steel blue
See which characteristics describe you.See which characteristics describe you.
When considering yourself
to be a winter, look for blue or
blue-pink undertones in your
skin. This may work to no avail
since winters are sometimes
shallow and the blue undertone
indistinct. Don’t be disheart-
ened, your other features well
tell you what you are. If you’ve
heard the term “olive skin” and
consider yourself to have it then
you’re probably a winter. Olive
skin appears golden but actually
has blue undertones. My mother
used to think she had olive skin
because she considered olive to
be the definition of “warm”
skin. Orientals and blacks are
usually winters, though some
are from any other of the sea-
sons as well.
When I was a little girl, I
thought I looked wonderful in
black and wanted very desper-
ately to be considered a winter. I
remember well this darling little
black shirt that I thought was
the prettiest thing in my closet.
My daddy liked it too, and so I
felt that I was, indeed, a winter.
Even as a “tween” I wore lots of
true red, pink, white, and gray.
(I even decorated my new room
in shocking pink and black
stripes.) I really enjoyed loud
contrasting colors. This was
partly because, with my person-
ality, I like to make a statement
with my clothes, but the Lord
has changed a lot of those ideas
and made me realize who He
really created me to be as a
woman in His Kingdom. The
fads and colors of the time also
affected me; I just wanted to be
“in”, therefore bought glory to
myself by wearing loud clothing
that honored me more than God.
This was during the time that
my brothers call my “rumm
springa” or in another word:
rebellion. But when my heart
changed, so did my clothes, and
a search for godly womanhood.
In that search I found the things
I’m writing now, and it’s beauti-
fully freeing to bring honor to
God though our clothes, is it
not? OK…I’m sorry, I wasn’t
panning on sharing my life sto-
ry, more on winters…
Hair is usually dark, with the
exception of white-blondes. It’s
normal for winter’s hair to gray
early, but they do so gracefully
with the salt and pepper look.
My Father is winter, having had
his first gray hairs at age 18, and
now at age 43 he has more
white hair than black. Mother
says it makes him look distin-
guished. J The noble author of
this Girlfriends Gazette is her-
self a beautiful example of the
Winter
So, have you figured out which one you
are? I know how it is to go in circles trying
to diagnose yourself, but once you know
which season you are amazing things will
begin to happen in your closet. :)
It took me quite some time to come to a
very deep knowing of which season I am.
We have an idea, but we also are really
attracted to this and that color, or maybe
someone said they like this shirt on us and
wasn’t in the season you thought you were.
That’s alright; it’s a process to change your
closet and mindset to the proper season. I
knew I was an Autumn for quite some time
before I began buying ONLY autumn
clothing. I would like something so much
and buy it because it didn’t exactly look
“bad” on me, but it also didn’t look “best”
on me. Step by step you begin to enjoy
your season so much and know the colors
automatically as you shop, saying “no” to
anything that isn’t your best.
I would now recommend taking a few
colors from each season, holding them up
to your face and asking the opinions of
your Mom, Sisters, or Friends. Remember
it’s not about the color; it’s about what the
color does to your skin, hair, and face.
Color is one aspect of dressing. God also
created us with personalities that we often
express in our dress; this takes wisdom to
not do whatever we want with our person-
ality, but to also enjoy it. The books I
mentioned above go in-depth with clothing
personality. (Both mention about four or
five clothing personalities you can have,
but I personally enjoy another paper that
I’ve fill out concerning the subject that has
more like eight.) One warning I have is to
see your natural tendency in dress, then
look for its strengths and weaknesses. For
instance the “creative” dresser may be too
creative, wearing so many layers and
unique clothing that it brings more atten-
tion to her than to her face. But she can
also be the inspiring individual that glori-
fies God in her creativity.
Since hair is the frame for your face it is
one of the most important aspects your
presentation. Learning what your face
shape and features are, and how to do your
hair to complement them is so important.
There is also the aspect of the human
mind. You see, the mind works in a certain
way without failing, and by learning how it
works there are key things we can wear at
key places on our attire that will naturally
make the human mind to make eyes look
at your face. Of course, we can do just the
opposite as well. Put together some outfits
walk into a room and ask one of your fami-
ly members “What was the first thing you
noticed about my presentation (Not
“outfit”. As in, did they see the clothes
first or you. I do realize that we naturally
take a glance at a person’s clothing, our
goal is to make that glace naturally go up
to the face.)?” The section on clothing in
the Advanced Training Seminar Book by
Bill Gothard has some wonderful tips con-
cerning this subject; you probably already
have a copy of this book in your house.
Well Ladies, it’s been a pleasure discuss-
ing color and how the proper use of it can
glorify its Creator. I most humbly say that
I have much to learn, and much I know
that I’m still not putting to practice. I am
so grateful to know that the Keeper of Our
Steps will continue to teach all of us His
perfect ways concerning…what shall we
call it? Beauty is quite overused, were not
trying to focus on fashion, and clothes are
the minor aspect…let’s call it “The fram-
ing of His light.”
Blessings~ Deborah Isabel
Information on colors and color names
and shades are derived from Color Me
Beautiful by Carole Jackson.
All Rights Reserved.
Simply Beautiful by Jill Krieger Swanson is an attractive that makes learning more on proper clothing
fun. Jill is a wonderful Christian lady that my Mother met at a conference. She has a spiritual challenge at
the end of each chapter that goes along with the subject discussed. She does colors not by season but by
tone, so it’s a bit different, but I really enjoy her chapters on closet organizing, shopping, and color person-
ality.
Of all things I ask that each of you go on amazon or ebay to purchase Color Me Beautiful by Carol
Jackson. This is an old book that can be easily found anywhere for a good price. Please invest in the book
to see all 30 colors that are the backbone of each season. You can tear out these color palettes and put
your correct season palette in your purse to take shopping with you. The 16 colors I gave you can only
take you so far, but the 30 colors in this book open your color would anew. You will also be able to learn
more about your season then I was able to share with you in this article.
“The Power of finding Beauty
in the humblest things
makes home happy and life lovely.”
-Louisa May Alcott
Just a little talk about beauty from the girlfriends.
On Beauty
“I like to draw and paint beautiful pictures to
create beauty. “ -Clarissa “Every other Tuesday night some of us
girls from church get together to make
casseroles and deliver them to shut-ins
and low-income families.” -Lanae
“How do you create beauty around you? “
“Being a vessel of God's love and letting it shine through me to other people. As a writer, creating pieces that touch hearts...smiling a from the heart smile...sharing encouragement and being willing to lift people up instead of tearing them down..”
-Kelsi
“ I create beauty by sending cards to people to brighten up their day,
flashing someone a smile in the hall, keeping my bed made and my
room clean so that it’s pleasant for me and others, singing my heart out,
keeping myself presentable and pleasant to look at, cleaning things up
and making something look nice.”
-Sierra
“What comes to mind first when you hear/see the word ‘Beauty?’”
“Flowers!” -Savannah
“ I think of physical beauty but also inner beauty. Some attributes of inner beauty are unselfishness, kindness, gentleness and pa-tience.” -Sharayah (12)
“A pinky-orangey crisp sunset,
my row of books organized by
color, rainy hazy rainy days, a
truly virtuous heart, the panora-
ma view from a mountaintop,
and Autumn.” -Christy (16)
“Purple, Butterflies, Mountains, and Green Trees.”
–Cheyenne (14)
“Beauty? Probably my
mom, she's is one of the
most beautiful people I
know, inside and out :).”
-Brittany
“Stars on a clear night.”
-Sierra Beauty is God working in and through your life.
When He takes the weak YOU, and by His pow-
er and never-ending strength, makes you
strong.
He makes you to fly with wings like an eagle,
enabling you to spread His fame all over the
earth, not for your glory, but for His.
That's Beauty.
It's Jesus dying the terrible death on the cross
for our sins.
Washing you whiter than snow.
Loving you more than can be imagined.
That's true Beauty.
JESUS is true Beauty.
-Janae (16)
“I think of a kind, gentle, and beautiful
young lady!!! “–Londa (12)
The Girl With The Blue Feather Pen CHRISTY BARKMAN
Well, HI!
CUT.
Greetings and Salutations.
CUT.
HOWDY.
CUT.
Maybe I should figure out some new way to
say hello, all the others are overused and
practically recycled.
Ah well.
HELLO.
It's awful swell to write again, I daresay.
(although I'm not too sure WHAT I'm going to
write about.)
What's been going on in my life?
Well.
Starting with what-i-thought-would-be our
little day-trip to Pennsylvania.
My Uncle was being commissioned as a dea-
con in his church, and so we wanted to be
there for that.
Trips in the family suburban are
always interesting.
(A.K.A. crumbs, fights,
snores, music, laughing,
cramped quarters, being too
cold while another person is
too hot, and etc.)
But we finally made it there.
In April (I think) of last year, our
family had done revival meetings
at their church, and so it was fun
to go back and recognize every-
one.
Add little cousins (as well as old-
er cousins) sitting with us, draw-
ing entertaining little sketches
for us, (sigh. the younger cousins, not the
older ones.) thus laughing and creating quite
a little stir during the service, plenty of sar-
casm, glittery shoes, a little meeting with the
elder cousins on the kitchen floor, lunch at
Grandma's house with most of the uncles
and aunts there (including a newly engaged
couple, HURRAY!), and skyping with some
who weren't there,
and I'd call it a pretty swell day.
Not to mention my Cousin James STAR-
RING in their Youth Group's production of
Cheaper by the Dozen as Mr. Gilbreth.
(May I say we're quite proud to have an actor
-cousin for kin, by jingo.)
And THEN, through a series of VERY fortunate
events,
I was allowed to stay with Grandma and the
Aunts for the entire week until they came to
OH.
Let's just say I was a bit excited.
There was a spoiler:
I became quite sick.
(Please gasp in horror.)
*the crowd gasps in horror*
I assure you, it's true.
It was all right though, because I basically just
downed all their garlic, vitamin C, Echinacea,
and another pill that i've forgotten, and was
right as rain in a few days.
(there are rumors circulating that I slept in
until 2:30 the second day. I would like to go
on the record as having no comment.)
(Word of Advice: If you ever go to PA for a
week, make sure that you don't know that
you're staying, hence, you have to go shop-
ping. heh heh.
I must say it feels pretty good to have a
whole new wardrobe from Goodwill.)
After being re-wardrobed, my aunt and I ven-
tured out as tourists in Lancaster City, going
From Here to Timbuktu.
literally.
(no, I'm serious.
There was a store called From Here to Timbuktu.
So, literally, we were from here to Timbuktu.)
My goodness, I almost convinced myself that I could live in the city.
(provided that I had shoes other than boots. UGH.)
There were so many wonderful wonderful little shops along the streets filled
with wonderful wonderful random things.
We went to art galleries, a smokey book store, a french pastry place, St. Johns
Church's cemetery,
(I assure you it was much much better than it sounds) to name a few.
It was lovely, in a wintery, gloomy, haunting sort of way.
(that IS a good thing, in case you're wondering.)
My aunt is a nanny to some kids named:
Guess?
Jack and Emma.
Right out of a storybook.
They're quite the darling children.
We had lots of fun with them; Nerf gun wars,
cats, running around in circles around the
table, finger-nail painting, and etc .
We went to Philadelphia.
Gah. That was awesome.
I have hereby decided that Subways are some of the most interestingly confusing plac-
es.
Everything is dirty.
People eat yogurt, listen to music, or text, and all the while
everyone avoids eye-contact with everyone else and ignore the man begging for mon-
ey.
It's really strangely sad.
Everyone is in their own little world, and not wanting to venture out of their shell to
strike up a conversation with anyone else.
Anyway, we went to Independence Hall.
That was pretty incredible.
(I was kicking myself all week for not taking my camera along. The few pictures I have
were taken on my aunts camera, mostly in Philadelphia.)
We were in the buildings that the Founding Fathers wrote and signed the Declaration
of Independence.
There were two fire drills, which were quite confusing.
But during one of them we met a real live grandmother from England . . .
(excuse me, I just dumped a cup of coffee in my room.
Report: The good news is that the coffee was cleaned up.
more or less.
the bad news is that everything in my sock drawer will probably smell like coffee for ever.
Current Report: am now consoling myself with chocolate.)
ANYWAY.
. . . a real live grandmother from England who had a real live accent,
and said she was leaving around 'teatime'.
*happy sigh*
And we also went to a museum.
but I forgot it's name.
ehem.
Then we went to the Signing Room, where we 'met' the Signers of the
Declaration of Independence and posed for quite a few pictures with
them.
(see pictures)
We also signed the Declaration, with good ol' George Washington
looking on.
We then left Philadelphia, and went to a restaurant/shop called
Terrain.
You can look it up, because I can't explain it right.
It was ridiculously gorgeous.
That's all I'll say.
And then we went to Target.
Good Ol' Target.
You see, all week my aunts had been saying that they HAVE to buy me
better walking shoes, because my boots weren't too swell for walking
through Lancaster City and Philadelphia in.
And then, at the last store we went to all week, Target,
they bought me shoes.
(I thought it was pretty funny.)
Then, we came back to Ohio.
(we discovered that Lemon Pound Cake at Starbucks is incredible.)
It was a VERY good week.
This past weekend we attended a Missions
Conference with a theme of Human Trafficking.
Wow.
It was so eye-opening, to realize what's going on around the world,
even right here in Ohio,
and I don't have the excuse of all that horrible stuff just happening
overseas where I am not right now.
To get involved in or learn more about organizations working against
Human Trafficking,
go to www.ijm.org and www.shehasaname.com. You can make a difference.
But first, pray.
That you would be willing, open, and obedient to His voice.
That He would open your eyes to the people in chains around you.
Because it is real, and it's closer than we think.
(After asking Chloe what Beauty was, these were her answers:
What do you mean?
You mean what do you think things that are pretty?
Um. I don't know. Black Beauty.)
Thank you for reading my rather last minute column thing.
Once again, if you want to ask a question, offer words of advice, or if
you just want to chat, email me at [email protected], or you
can stalk me on my blog:
www.sinkhappysoughts.blogspot.com.
God bless you all, and have a smashing Winter-turning-to-Spring!
“You were given life; it is your duty
(and also your entitlement as a human being)
to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
and oh, by the way, I was sworn
in as President.
I hope that wasn't too big of a
shock to you, I shall try my
utmost to care for the land and
it's inhabitants.
I should consider growing up—but I still
love storybooks. They are the working of
the ordinary and simple into profound
truth.
The two fuzzy caterpillars, Stripe and Yel-
low, desperately attempt to reach the top
of a massive caterpillar pillar before realizing they were
meant to fly, not climb. They learn that being what they
were designed to be is not something you attain, but ra-
ther something you become.
I scribbled down this quote from the book: “What looks
like dying really is not. Life is changed—not taken away.”
You will enjoy the yellow-themed illustrations and the
author’s creative writing style. -Teresa Miller
Hope for the Flowers—Trina Paulus A tale partly about life, partly about revolution, and lots about hope for adults and
others (including caterpillars who can read)
It’s A Beautiful, Crazy LifeIt’s A Beautiful, Crazy LifeIt’s A Beautiful, Crazy Life
It’s A Beautiful, Crazy LifeIt’s A Beautiful, Crazy LifeIt’s A Beautiful, Crazy Life Snapshots From My JourneySnapshots From My JourneySnapshots From My Journey
This Issue’s Cover Model: Shania, Age 15. This Issue’s Cover Model: Shania, Age 15.