Excerpt from Olivia's Gift— Olivia's Clothing Temptation
I think you've seen enough of my Sadly Seen In Stores blog posts to know what young girls—and their parents— are up against when they go shopping. Some of the clothing styles are downright disgusting, and designers know exactly what they are doing when they target them to young girls. But how can we teach our youth that dressing in this way is harmful, that God wants so much more than for them to be wearing clothes that take away the great dignity they have as young ladies? In Olivia's Gift, Olivia is tempted the same way many other girls are, deciding between right and wrong, and modest and immodest clothing choices:
One look at the shorts Brooke was holding up and Olivia knew they were way too short. The writing was right on the seat of the shorts. Her parents would never approve. But she didn't want to admit this to Brooke.
"Come on, I have the same ones. Try them on," Brooke urged.
Olivia couldn't say no. Reluctantly, she took the shorts from Brooke.
"Don't you care what my opinion is?" Hayley wanted to know.
Olivia didn't want to know because she already knew what Hayley's opinion was. It was obvious form the frown on her face.
Olivia tried to close the door to the fitting room so she could change, but Hayley nudged her aside and moved inside, closing the door in Brooke's face.
"Are you crazy?" she whispered. "Your parents will kill you!"
Olivia waved her off. "They're not going to know," she said, exasperated.
Truthfully, Olivia did have a pit in her stomach at the thought of disobeying her parents. But the shorts were trendy and fashionable. It would be fun to have something cool like the other girls wore. How she would actually find a way to wear them was another story...one'd she'd just figure out later.
She glanced at the shorts. She'd heard enough of the Thomas family "modesty speeches" to know that her parents and grandma would disapprove instantly.
"Hayley," Olivia whined, "you just don't get it."
"Oh, I get it all right. And you're going to get it from your parents if they see you wearing those.
Olivia picked up the short-shorts and admired them. They were just like all the cool girls were wearing, with sayings on the bottom. This pair said, "BYC Diva" in pink, glittery writing. It would be fun to be a diva, right? But what did it mean?
Then she felt that voice that she was beginning to know so well.
Your dignity is a gift from God.
