You all can sit back and relax now, because the long awaited Q&A is finally here! After several technical difficulties (new Youtube uploading page anyone?), which set us back a few days, we are here to share with you all part one of a multiple part series answering the multitude of questions you all gave us. Are you ready to hear our answers?
It was SO much fun answering all of your questions. Some of them were really challenging to pin down our answers to, but overall the time was well spent and enjoyable. I want you all to give a big hand to our editoress' for this series: Jessica and Charlotte. Without the perseverance of my two wonderful sisters, this video would not be up here as soon as it is. Hope you enjoy the video, and we're looking forward to sharing part two with you all.
Blessings,
Brigid
the Middle Sister and Singer
P.S. FYI there are about four to five parts left in this series. Could be more. Depends on how long we actually took answering your wonderful questions. ;)
Wonderful! It was very interesting to learn more about you! I'm excited to see the rest of the videos! :)
ReplyDeleteLaura
dressingformysavior.blogspot.com
The Five Little Peppers, Little House Books, sewing, and Jimmy Stewart! (and Julie Andrews) You guys have great taste! If you guys haven't already, you must watch these movies: You Can't take it with You, and Arsenic and Old Lace. (the last one I think is actually my favorite movie, hilarious) Oh, and I loved your hair bow post!
ReplyDeleteYay! This was wonderful! Oh you make me smile!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely had me laughing Brigid- I love those same eras and can NEVER make up my mind on one!
Thank you SO much!
I will love the next parts!
Cassie
the Elder Sister and Writer
p.s. And I'll have you know that our family had read each of the books you mentioned. :)
hah I asked about the flowers. :)
Hello, girls!
ReplyDeleteOh, I so enjoyed that! And I'm looking forward to the rest of the videos, as well.
Just some notes I took to comment on your various answers: first of all, you all look lovely! I just have to compliment each of you on how you do your makeup in such a tasteful way! It's visible, so one knows that you took time to array yourselves, yet still natural to where it really compliments your features and brings out your natural beauty. Well done! :) Also, yes! I know I would really enjoy posts on your childhood and how you played. I find things like that very intriguing. Next, Jessica's paper flowers are so lovely -- I can't imagine being so gifted with my hands. I'm more like Charlotte, working with my camera to create and cultivate beauty. And lastly, I need to watch "The Shop Around the Corner"... I've never seen it, but now I feel I need to!
Have a wonderful day, ladies!
Smiles!
Ali
Oh! And I have one question to add to your list for a future video, if that's alright! It is: have you ever struggled with accepting yourselves the way God made you, and if so, do you have any advice on how to conquer that struggle?
ReplyDelete^^^Excellent question! I'd also be interested in hearing your response. :)
DeleteAgreed! I'd love to hear the answer. :)
DeleteWhat an awesome question! We will try to post about this in the future, as we do have answers from our experiences.
DeleteBrigid
the Middle Sister and Singer
Thanks, Brigid!
DeleteYou girl make me laugh out loud!!! You had me in stitches the whole time.
ReplyDeleteBy the way; "Jimmy Stewart... FAINT" describes my film tastes as well :) this reminds me of my sisters and i (i'm the 2nd of three).
Cute video with wonderful answers. You all have such colorful personalities and are very alike, yet with lots of different and unique interests. i feel like i know you girls in person!
can't wait for the other parts!
~Abigail
Oh, do doll-making and childhood playing! We love talking about what we did as kids.
ReplyDeleteI got such a wonderful laugh out of this!! And I wanted to tell you how all the things you love were so similar to the things I love!!! I am so glad to have found your blog. ;) It's nice to see other Christian daughters who believe in modesty and purity.
ReplyDeleteThis was so fun to watch! Wives and Daughters and the Scarlet Pimpernel are some of our favorites as well! You remind me of my sisters and I ....such different personalities which make relationships fun and a challenge. I thank the Lord for sisters quite often, they are such a blessing. =)
ReplyDeleteOh! I would love to hear all about your childhood play experience!
ReplyDeleteLaura
Wonderful answers, girls! I love how some of the questions were answered with "The Lord's Will". You girls are a huge inspiration and I just love following your blog and seeing the amazing outfits y'all put together! Looking forward to your next post! =D
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this... As a newer follower it was a great chance to get to know you all better! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd childhood experiences... yes! That would be lovely :)
I had to stop watching halfway through at the films... I'll probably have to write them down. All those old films I always want to see yet keep forgetting about. At least I've already seen Pride and Prejudice 1995 (definitely the better version) and Scarlet Pimpernel (the only version I know, great actors). :-)
ReplyDeleteChildhood books and memories are wonderful, so I think I'd like those posts, too. :-)
And yay on craftsmanship! On a family meeting years ago, our father commented on how pretty much everyone in our family has a "craft", a skill-based job so to say, so I think that's why I relate.
I can also relate to the indecisive historical fashion geek among you, even though I actually like Regency and would know exactly which eras I like - but the more you look into it all, the more you like it all, right? ;-)
Thanks so much for doing this, it's also nice to see you interact in the video as we mostly get to see you seperately or on stage. :-)
I enjoyed watching your YouTube post! It was so cute and personable! I agree with Bridget I personally don't admire anyone to much from Hollywood either. At least I certainly don't want to pattern my life after them.:) you girls are the sweetest I can just tell! Merry from eachlittlebird.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHey, girls! Thanks for posting this q & a video! I have a quick question for you about your answer to how boys and girls should act around each other before they are officially "courting." You said that the couple shouldn't have feelings for each other until they are officially courting...but don't you think that that is a small part of the reason to court? Obviously you have to agree on doctrine and the way you each should live your lives in Christ, but don't you think it would be very hard, if not impossible, to not have feelings for the person you are potentially going to be courting/engaged to? There is a large amount of self control that needs to be maintained during the "getting to know you" period of a relationship, and I understand that....but I am just struggling with the whole feelings part. If you are spending time with a particular person, doesn't that mean that you have had feelings for them at one point? Also, the feelings will often come without your bidding-I mean, not DIRECTLY after two people begin courting/are engaged. I think that, in some respects, the feelings and love come softly. All that said, it is in our nature to have feelings for someone, even if the timing is not convenient for us....what do you think of this? Please enlighten me! Thanks for your time and your video!
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteYes, of course there should be feelings of admiration and respect for the young man before courting begins, but there shouldn't, at least in our family's opinion, be any "affection" prior to or during the time of courtship. We believe that courtship should be private, and not have any public display of affection until the engagement, though everyone has different opinions on this subject. Obviously you can, and should, have feelings of sisterly love, admiration, and respect, but your heart shouldn't be set on the fact that you will marry this person, although that is the intent with the courtship, just in case the courtship is stopped on account of a conflict of beliefs, etc. We believe the whole goal during this time is to still keep your heart pure while you discover if God means for this young man to be your future husband. Because if he is not, and you have had undue feelings toward him during the courtship, you will end up in the same mess of broken-heartedness as everyone else in the dating world.
I completely agree with you on how hard it is to keep your feelings in check, but that is exactly what we believe we should do, as I explained above. And yes it is completely in our nature to have feelings for someone, and those feelings are good and a gift from God, but only if we use them rightly, and don't allow them to get in the way of seeking His will in the courting process. These feelings should be channeled into sisterly, and Christ-like love prior to and during courtship.
I hope this answers your question!
Blessings,
Brigid
The Middle Sister and Singer
Thanks, Brigid! I totally agree with what you are saying and was just wondering about the whole feelings thing. Yes, it is great to stay pure in heart while going through something like this! It is so great that someone who could POTENTIALLY be a future spouse can also be one of your best friends before hand!
ReplyDeleteGod bless :)
I so enjoyed this video and can't wait to watch the rest! I too love any movie with Jimmy Stewart...he is probably one of my favorite actors! I would love to see a post about your childhood. Oh, and thank you so much for answering the questions about how you earn money...I was curious about that. Loved the video and your blog! Please come check out my blog! :)
ReplyDelete~Sarah~
http://allthingsvintage-sc.blogspot.com/
Great video, ladies! I found your views on courtship and male/female friendships to be spot on! It's very encouraging to find other people who are like-minded on these issues, especially when it often seems there aren't very many.
ReplyDeleteI have a question that I'd like to hear your opinions on, however, if you don't mind. My question is, specifically in the realm of online/digital communication, how do you interact with your brothers in Christ and male friends? For example, do you communicate with male friends privately via text, or some other form of online communication? I'm not sure how often you use social media or other online mediums, so maybe this hasn't really been a dilemma for you three.
Personally, I've come to the conclusion that I should not personal message young ladies privately/one-on-one online. Many people think I'm too extreme and/or not treating my female friends as sisters (as the Bible instructs) by this policy of mine. What are your opinions?
Thanks!
Your brother in Christ,
Reagan
Thank you!
DeleteLet us lay out our families rules for communication with our brothers in Christ: We are not allowed to have guy friends on Facebook (except for our singing page, and that is only because our singing engagements are usually public events), we are also not allowed to have one-on-one communication via the phone, texting, or private email. Having said all of that we are allowed to converse with our brothers in Christ via private email, but only as long as our parents are CC'd on those conversations. The only time we have had to do this with guy friends is when we have had to communicate for music or business purposes, and even then our parents saw everything we said to each other.
Now in the case of commenting on a young man's blog, that is public, and typically we only like to comment if the content of a young man's post is of great interest, or else we want to reach out and encourage the young man and what he has to say. We think it is very important to encourage our brothers in Christ because of how many young women this day-and-age try to bring them down, especially against the young men who are striving to live a Christ-centered life and act accordingly. Friendships are good to have with our fellow brothers, and since we three do not have brothers of our own, our parents feel that it is alright to have conversations via blogs because it is not private. A friendship is a state of mutual trust. Thus, to have God honoring friendships with our brothers in Christ is very important to us.
No we certainly don't think your convictions are "too extreme"! Things can go haywire very quickly if a one-on-one relationship between a young man and woman is not kept in check constantly. And to be honest, we are so thankful you stepped up and asked our opinions on this tricky subject. Dad also thanks you for your great presence of mind and morals in regards to your question, and is highly encouraged to hear this coming from you!
May we be sharpened by each other as brothers and sisters in Christ!
Your sisters in Christ,
Jessica, Brigid and Charlotte
Wow. I think that's very good and very wise. That's also pretty much exactly my policy. I think public/group communication is good, but private is definitely not a good idea.
DeleteI also think it's great that you make a conscious effort to encourage your brothers in Christ. A lot of people seem to only want to comment on blogs and such when they disagree or want to attack. It's encouraging to see you taking a positive approach. I can’t express how thankful I am!
You're definitely right about how things can go haywire. I didn't always have the non-private-communication policy that I have now. I joined a Christian writing forum back when I was 16, and up to that point in time, I rarely interacted with other Christians, and the interactions I did have were negative. That forum was the first time I had experienced interacting with people who had similar beliefs. On top of that, they were my age, and also liked writing.
At that point in time, the only girls I knew weren't Christian and were public schoolers (I went to public school). I had no desire to be friends with them, and they didn't really seem to want to be friends with me. So I had no policies regarding girls since I had no need. Then, when girls started messaging me on this Christian forum, I didn't really know what to do. But then I thought about how the Bible says we're supposed to treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, so I was like, "Oh, I should treat them like I would treat one of my sisters!" Long story short, that turned out to be a mistake that I now regret. Whatever 1 Timothy 5:1-2 means about treating each as brothers and sisters, it doesn't mean what I thought it meant.
I share this to say that--just in case any of you have ever had doubts about your convictions--don't! Haha! I think your rules are very good! It is tricky, though, and something I've struggled with. I feel rather rude every time I have to tell a female friend I don't do private communication, and I've had a lot of people try to explain to me why I'm wrong, the common objection being that we are supposed to treat each other as brothers and sisters, and obviously, I communicate with my biological sisters privately. Have you always had these standards? How does your family handle objections?
Thank you very much for the thorough response! I'm glad I've been able to be an encouragement. You all have certainly have been one to me.
Hear-hear to the sharpening! And may we stir one another to love and good works!
Your brother in Christ,
Reagan
Hi! Just out of curiousity, what are your reasons for not privately messaging girl friends? Does it extend to handwritten letters as well?
DeleteIn Christ,
Hannah
Good question! There are actually a lot of reasons why (I've actually thought about writing a detailed blog post about why on my blog) but I'll try to briefly list a couple reasons.
DeleteFirst of all, I realized that I'm not going to be private messaging other women when I'm married, so it didn't make sense to me to do it beforehand either.
Second, as the Boyer girls explained, there is a lot of risk that things can go "haywire" when you have private communication with people of the opposite gender--meaning--one or both of the people communicating could end up developing feelings for the other that wouldn't be appropriate. That's always a mess.
I haven't thought very deeply about handwritten letters because I haven't really had to do it much. I have received birthday cards, though, and I've written back to say thank you (though I didn't send them birthday cards because I didn't want to send the wrong message or make things awkward for them just in case). I think it's okay to send a thank you card. Anyone in their family can read it since it came in the mail. I think letters/cards here and there for specific purposes are okay, but I don't think it would be a good idea to have a chain letter/be pen-pals with someone of the opposite gender. And I could be wrong about sending any letters at all.
I hope that makes some sense.
Hold Fast,
Reagan
Thanks! I definitely limit contact with people of the opposite gender in that respect. However, I do enjoy many great messaging conversations with other young ladies as a means of communication and encouragement via email and letters. Just as I would/do have private conversations with other women/girls, but not with young men. :)
DeleteThank you so much for taking the time to answer!
In Christ,
Hannah