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Published: March 20, 2017

Today's blog will be featuring a mother and daughter duo. Andrea and her daughter Grace are participating in Pure Fashion, 2017, in Ames, Iowa!

For those of you who've never heard of Pure Fashion, they are "an international faith based program designed for girls 14-18 to help young women re-discover their innate value and authentic femininity. They are a character formation program that enhances not only a young woman's external appearance, but more importantly, her interior beauty and balanced self confidence."

Their goal is to emphasize a young woman's inherent dignity and therefore create in her a desire to dress and act in accordance with that dignity. They understand that many women today are losing their sense of innocence at a very young age, and Pure Fashion aims to reverse this trend by offering a fun, exciting and effective virtue formation program that can impress the hearts and minds of young girls at a very critical stage in their lives. To find out more, visit: www.purefashion.com

Andrea enjoys carefree timelessness with her family, running/exercising, gardening, and watching her children in all the activities they participate in.  Homeschooling her children has been an enlightening experience, both educationally and spiritually. It has allowed her to dive into learning with her children, and has opened her eyes and heart to a whole new appreciation and approach to education. It has also deepened and strengthened her knowledge of the Catholic faith, and allowed her to share that love and wisdom with her children in endless hours of reading, listening, and discussion. The path that God has led her and her husband on is one they never would have imagined 19 years ago, but because of the church and all it professes, here they are six kids later, doing the best they can to follow where God is leading them!  A verse Andrea takes inspiration from is Proverbs 31: 'Though I have far to go to even compare to the woman described in this verse, it encourages and reminds me of the kind of godly woman I can strive to be for my husband and children.'

Grace is a junior in high school and enjoys drawing, painting, piano, and playing soccer in her free time. She loves art and design, and is planning on majoring in something in that area when she goes to college. She is very passionate about soccer and it has been a huge part of her high school experience. She is also very involved with the youth groupat her church. Some of the most impactful moments in her life have been through the retreats and trips she's taken with this youth group.

Andrea, how did you hear about Pure Fashion and what inspired you to get involved?

Andrea: I first heard about Pure Fashion through our Pure Fashion group leader Kim's Mother-in-Law, at a bible study I was in. I was really impressed with the results I heard about with those participating and thought it would be such a great opportunity for my daughter Grace, but at the time she was only in 8th grade. The seeds were planted and I kept thinking about it until she was a teen.

Grace, your mom heard first about Pure Fashion, but what ultimately inspired you to get involved?

Grace: At the time, I was homeschooled and felt very strongly about the same values that Pure Fashion promoted, so I liked the idea of being a part of a support system and group of like-minded girls. At my age, these values aren't often practiced or encouraged, and are often looked down upon, so having that support network was really important to me. The events also sounded super interesting and fun!

Grace, how does the mission of Pure Fashion help you navigate your life as a teen?

Grace: The ideals of modesty and purity help shape my decisions and actions, and help me stay true to myself. They help me understand why remaining pure and acting with modesty is the best choice and I don't feel as much of a need to dress or act in order to impress others. It's very freeing.

Andrea, how does the mission of Pure Fashion help you navigate your life as a mother?

Andrea: The things were are learning with Pure Fashion help reinforce and support the foundation and character we're trying to instill in our children-both our boys and girls. It really helps us when our kids are surrounded by those who don't just say to do these things, but also to live by them.

Andrea, what does purity mean to you?

Andrea: To me, purity means we're temples of the Holy Spirit and striving to keep our bodies sacred, beautiful, and respected, at every age. When we do this for Christ, we are also showing respect for ourselves, and.........

Grace: When we do this and portray ourselves in this way on the outside, it is a way to draw people in and get to know Christ through us.

Andrea: Good answer, Grace! Yes, you don't want to take away self-expression through fashion, but make sure your dress is also showing that you respect yourself and your fashion choices don't distract others from getting to know who you are.

Grace, do you have any other thoughts on what purity means?

Grace: Yes, being pure-intentioned and keeping our actions and purpose driven and focused by Christ.

Andrea: I love watching speaker Jackie Francois Angel because she exemplifies living in purity and being so joyful! I also think chastity is a huge part of purity-both as a single person and in marriage.

Grace, what do you find, as a teen, makes it the most difficult to dress with modesty and act with purity?

Grace: Being around friends at school. Most of them dress to impress others in order to model famous people and with an impure purpose; trying to attract boys. It makes me sad that the fashion and entertainment world tells us that as women, the only way to be powerful is to dress a certain way so that you have power over men. I really believe that these women would be more happy if they dressed for themselves and dressed to celebrate who they are as themselves, rather than defining their fashion choices to please others.

Andrea, what made it hard for you as a teen to live a life of purity and chastity?

I didn't have the voice that showed me this path or any Christ-life mentoring in my life. My husband and I were high school sweethearts and both look back and wish we'd known these things.

We took a "growing kids" class and learned how growing kids' lives are like a funnel and we have to be a guiding influence on our children. 

Andrea, what advice would you give yourself back then that you can now tell your daughter?

Andrea: Treat your body as a temple. Respect yourself-it's hard now, but in the end, you'll be so grateful you did and you'll see the fruit of it and it really is the best thing for you! I love my parents, but we had no guidance on purity back then. I wish after taking a course on Theology of the Body, that I could share its messages with everyone!

Doing things like Pure Fashion with your children, keeps the dialogue and conversation going. It can be hard to approach the subject of sex and chastity sometimes, so when we go to these events, it gives us common ground to work from and keeps us parents engaged.

We are so grateful to have Andrea and Grace at The Purifed Palate! Please keep them, all Pure Fashion participants, and young people in your prayers!

P.S. If you're in the Ames, Iowa, area on Sunday, April 2nd, be sure to show them your support by attending their fashion show at The Gateway Hotel and Conference Center. Doors open at 3pm and the show begins at 4. Artists Luke Spehar and EllieMae Millenkamp will be performing and there will be several Catholic vendors for you to browse! Here are the details:

 We hope to see you there!

• Mommyhood
• Pure Fashion
• Modesty
• Chastity
• Purity
• Womanhood
• Parenting
• Daughter

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Published: January 6, 2016

I'm tucked away in a cafe on a chilly December afternoon in Evanston, Illinois, with some awesome company: Cassie Pease of Cassie Pease Designs! I have to admit...I'm truly humbled by this inspiring woman. She has so much talent and instead of using it in the realm of secular design, she uses it to glorify God. Through her beautiful work, she is doing her part in the New Evangelization by inspiring, educating, and evangelizing fellow Catholics and beyond! Cassie has graciously allowed me to interview her so that you can get to know the artist behind these powerful designs. I hope this interview inspires you as much as it did me! 

Cassie is a Catholic graphic designer from South Dakota. Her mission is to combine the wisdom and joy of the Catholic faith with beautiful and colorful imagery that inspires people to discover (or rediscover) the joy of a life lived for Christ. The saints, who are great examples of this joy, have become a main source of inspiration for her work.

As you were growing up, how did your faith formation inspire you to use your talents to glorify God and inspire your fellow Catholics?

While growing up, my parents were a huge influence on me. They shared the faith at home and that was beautiful to see. That gave me a very good foundation, which wasn’t something I realized at the time. It was during high school that I really began to take ownership of my faith and it became something I began to love and wanted to grow in. I went through a couple of catholic camps and those were really inspiring for me. It was amazing to see people growing in their faith and fired up about it. I grew up in a small town that didn’t have a lot of faith-growing opportunities, so in high school I began to seek them out on my own.

• Discernment
• Faith Formation

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Published: November 4, 2015

When did you first feel called to Holy Orders?

When I was in middle school, maybe around 7^th or 8^th grade, I was folding laundry at the dining room table. A cousin of mine named Eric had just returned from hunting turkeys with my dad. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen sipping on a beer, watching me fold laundry, and he said, “Jacob, you have the right attitude to be a priest.” I didn’t think anything of it; I wanted to be a father and a husband and being a priest wasn’t even on my mind. So I basically laughed it off.

• Mommyhood
• Discernment