The Downward Spiral to Frump {Show Your Love Day 18}

Welcome to week 4! New to this challenge? Find out about it here (and sign up so I can pray specifically for you!). Don’t worry if you are just getting started…you have only missed a bit! Jump right in! Find printables and links to the other posts here.

I hope you are loving this challenge as much as I am! Ok…sometimes I don’t love it…but I am sticking with it and it is becoming a habit!

The Downward Spiral to Frump

The following is a guest post from my really good friend Erin, from The Humbled Homemaker:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovemaegan/

When my husband and I first married, we both worked full-time outside the home. Naturally, we dressed up for work. My wardrobe consisted of lots of black dress pants and cute, colorful dress shirts. I curled my stick-straight hair daily, wore jewelry that matched my outfits, never left home without make-up, and always, always had a pretty purse in tow. 

Honestly, we didn’t do a lot of cleaning during the week. We saved it all for the weekends, when we’d sleep in on Saturdays and spend the rest of the day in sweats, doing laundry and cleaning together. And then we’d dress up for each other for either a date night or game night with friends.

And then…we had our first child. And then….I became a stay-at-home mom. And then…I quit dressing up. 

Now, until my second daughter was born, I still at least showered every day. And actually, I think I even made sure I was wearing make-up when my husband walked in the door at night. 

After all, I had seen my mother model it. I grew up with a mom who curled her own stick-straight hair not once but twice per day. I remember seeing her in curlers while she cooked dinner right before my dad got home from work. One day I finally asked her why–“To look nice for your daddy,” she said.

But when baby girl #2 came along, it was all I could do to keep sane with two kids in diapers–much less shower, get dressed, fix my hair, and put on make-up. 

Looking back, I’m pretty sure I had postpartum depression. I didn’t sit around and cry all day, but I had no motivation at all to get dressed or look pretty. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambroselittle/

And so the spiral began. Most days I’d still take a shower at some point, but many times it was after my husband was already home. He’d walk in the door after a long day at work, and I’d hand him the baby and say, “Wonderful! You’re home! Now I can shower in peace!”

Instead of dressing up for my husband like my mom had done, he’d come home to find me in sweats, with no make-up, no jewelry, hair tossed up in a claw clip–oh, and I was probably wearing either spit-up or poop. 

To be 100% transparent, this downward spiral really didn’t end until recently. Let me re-word that: I’m *still* coming out of it. I am currently pregnant with our third daughter, and my first trimester almost seemed like an extension of my postpartum period.

So how am I coming out of it? I realized that my husband really does deserve to come home to a wife who has cared for her appearance. It shows him respect. It shows him that I care enough to take a few extra minutes to turn my frump into some pump. 

And doing so ultimately brings God glory. Yes, the Lord says to not let our adornment merely be outward…but He didn’t say we should have no outward adornment at all for our husbands.

In my next post, I’ll be sharing some “short-cuts to pump.” Realizing that it didn’t have to take me hours of primping to look nice for my husband was very freeing. And I know you can do it, too.

How did you spiral down from pump to frump? 

Erin is a follower of Jesus Christ and stay-at-home wife and mom of two little redheaded girls. She is passionate about her family, mission work and researching how to live a healthier lifestyle. She blogs about her far-from-perfect homemaking at The Humbled Homemaker and edits ebooks for best- selling, indie authors. She’d love for you to join The Humbled Homemaker’s Facebook community or to follow her on Twitter.

Today’s challenges:

1. Get dressed (according to the time you on day 1)!

2. Establish your week 4 goals (on your Printable). Did you complete your week 3 goals?

3. Look at your wardrobe…does it inspire you to dress frumpy? Or does it inspire you to dress pumpy!

4.  Read Day 18 of “Frumps to Pumps” for some wise words on modesty!

How are you doing with the challenge? What are your struggles? Do you need any special encouragement or prayer? Please let me know! Comments, Facebook, or email…it doesn’t matter!

This post contains my affiliate link to Sarah Mae’s book Frumps to Pumps. You can also get a free copy by subscribing to her blog (http://sarahmae.com). If you don’t want to subscribe, just buy the PDF, it is only 4.99! The book has really challenged and encouraged me and I hope you enjoy it too!

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