My darling daughter bounced in about 9:15 pm tonight, as our neighbor dropped her off. They had just returned from Vacation Bible School.

"Hey, it was great!" she said, and gave me a big smile, her blonde ponytail bouncing. As I often have when I see her when several hours have passed, she seemed more "grown-uppy." And I had seen and fed and hugged this little one this morning as I dropped her off at her dad's to stay a day for the summer. But tonight, she seemed years older, even though she'd just turned 10 in February.

I hugged her and asked her to sit and share the details with her stepfather and me. Instead, she leaned close and pointed at my blouse. "Mom, that's too low!" she said.

I looked down and, surprised, realized she was right. I usually dressed very modestly, but this summer night, I had on a sleeveless shirt I rarely wore, and a bigger, longer-sleeved shirt over it. While I was thinking I'd dressed modestly since the neighbor didn't come in but just dropped Victoria at the door, and since my outer shirt covered almost all of my torso, my Godly daughter had noticed that the dip in the shirt, even though not wide, was too low for our household.

Pride just welled up in me, and I beamed at her and nodded. "You're right!" I said. "And I'm proud of you for noticing! This deserves another sticker on the blessing board toward that BIG blessing!"

She smiled, and we headed to her room, where I showed her two sets of gauchos or capris, that I had bought her at lunch. "The shorts were just all TOO short," I said, "so I bought these."

She did not complain. My darling girl preferred to wear shorts, but she'd learned about the importance of modesty these past few months. And the lessons had stuck. God always helps us and reinforces our teaching, when it's truly from Him. He'd known how vital it was to me to teach and demonstrate modesty to her, especially since the enemy had found an opening in my life when I was nine and introduced me to all kinds of junk, with little caring or sign of modesty.

So when a friend gave my daughter clothes her girl had outgrown, Victoria tried them on in the bathroom of the restaurant where we'd stopped to eat on our way to an event. She came out with the skirt on. In front of the small crowd, I said, "Baby, go change back into your school skirt. That one is too short for church."

Because my girl is tall, it didn't even come close to her knee and I did not want her to think such a short length was OK--even though I'd recently seen grown women at our church wearing their skirts shorter (One thing that is wrong with the church is there is TOO much of the world in it! LORD forgive and cleanse us!).

I was so proud of her; as much as she wanted to wear that skirt, she obeyed me and went back to change, and with almost no grumble. When she came out, I just bragged and bragged on her as we ate our burgers. The LORD quickly revealed how He'd been working that night already. "Mom," Victoria said, looking into my eyes, "why was that girl who helped me at the shoe store wearing such a low blouse, if she goes to church?"

I had noticed, but hadn't thought my daughter did. Wrong! Our little ones notice much more than we often know about at the time. It's been said that children are like martians--soaking up everything, absorbing everything they possibly can. So what we allow into their worlds, they will almost always absorb. Although we can't control everything, we can control most of what their world contains, at least till they leave home.

I've always told my daughter the truth, even about the fallacy of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, and I've done that through the years on various subjects, no matter what grandparents or ex-husbands or anyone else thought about it. And the Master on High--Truth Himself!--had never corrected me for that.

So I told her the truth about too many in the Church being influenced by the world, and that it hurts God's heart. The LORD also gave me the illustration that, when we Christians dress (or, I should say, UNdress) like the world, it is a picture of our covering--the supernatural protection provided us through the Blood Covenant of Jesus Christ--being removed, or at least damaged.

I don't think we should have to wear skirts to our knees nor dresses to our chins. I think it's fine to wear light makeup and color our hair; I do. I just think decency and modesty, where attention is not drawn to our feminine bodies to the distraction of any man that can half control himself, is the key.

Speaking of that, I heard a youth pastor say once that the young men in his church had actually complained to him that the girls there dressed just like the world. "Where can we go to be safe?" (not tempted) they asked.

So I rejoiced when my daughter noticed and corrected me about my modesty. And she did it in just the right way--respectfully, with love, in truth. Just like Jesus would!

I glory in His holy Name, and I glory in the work of His hands in her life, and mine. My daughter is already an example to the believers in speech, faith, conduct, life, and purity. LORD, continue to help me model modesty to her, to Your glory, in JESUS name!

(copyright 2007 by Tonja Taylor)

Through books, courses, presentations, service, prayer, worship, and more, Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. Her series for girls, P.O.W.E.R. GIRL ADVENTURES, is now out (books I-V), along with LEGACY; YOUR HOLY HEALTH: VISIONS OF THE KING, and more. See the "River Rain Creative" YT channel.