Vintage or Old-fashioned?

2012-01-07 20:24
Mountain Standard Time

When I was growing up in the 1980's, I often heard people use the word "old-fashioned" in a very derogatory tone. In fact, it was often flung at me by my sisters and other peers as a way of trying to get me to change in order to fit in-- and for quite a long time, I tried to be what others thought I should be. But to me, old-fashioned ideals were something I loved!  Still do, in fact.

My entire life, I have always felt like someone who was in the "wrong" time period. I used to wonder quite a lot about why the Lord saved me to come in this day and age of the world. (Now I have a clearer vision of His plans for my life!) I am and always have been highly sentimental, I admit! I read and re-read classic literature, watched costume dramas, and "dressed up" every chance I could. I reveled in wearing the big hair, and flowery style that came and went all too quickly. And I have always stubbornly held to my ideals of being a traditional homemaker, a devoted mother.

When I finally embraced who I am and stopped being ashamed of my old-fashioned nature, I was pleasantly surprised that there have always been many others who cherished the same things I do!

I love the word "old-fashioned," and though I am very thankful for the day and time in which I now live (blogging, e-mail, running water, electricity, transportation, convenience), I often have nagging thoughts about what we all have abandoned in favor of our modern lifestyle.

Our fore-mothers knew something that we don't always grasp with our modern thinking: True homemaking and motherhood are not "trends." Femininity is not something we embrace because it's fashionable right now, and then we abandon when it's no longer "new."

 

Old-Fashioned Motherhood is about serving and nurturing our families. It is the dedicated work we do in our homes and in our relationships out of love for God, our husbands, and our children. The "old-fashioned" values we hold sacred mean so much more than any "vintage" trends we could follow. Our values are who we are, what we know is true and right.

It includes hospitality in the truest sense, and includes everyone within our scope.

By all means, we "old-fashioned" ladies can enjoy wearing skirts and dresses, curling our hair, sewing, crafting, cooking, and eschewing consumerism. But no matter how much we do these things, if our hearts are not turned to our children, our homes, and our God, none of those fun "vintage" things will be anything more than a fun trend we once followed.