Secret Sister Blog Party 2011

So, the other night, I was up late (which should come as no surprise to those who know me), and this idea came to me. I am really excited about it...and I hope you will be, too!

I am going to host a Secret Sister Blog Party!

The way it will work is that each participant (who obviously must be a female, hence the name, Secret Sister) will be given the name and info of another fabulous participant. You will need to either send some sort of note in the mail, through email, or leave an anonymous comment on your sister's blog at least once a week. The final note you send will be when you reveal your identity! You will also be required to send a gift of at least $10, but not exceeding $20 to your sister (although, if you own your own indie biz, you are free to send something from your shop that you made that is valued over that amount).

The party will run from November 1st-December 31st (to give everyone a little extra time to get their reveal gift to their sister around the holidays).

The other big detail is that you must have a blog to participate. The reason being so you can link up a post of who your secret sister was, how you revealed yourself to her, and how your experience was.

More details will be given through email to those that want to participate!

Sign ups will not "officially" start until October 1st, but I will send out the additional details before that to anyone that is interested in participating...so that you can be sure it is something you'd like to do!

This will be limited to the US only, so that no one is having to send anything internationally.

And, most importantly, all information you send me will be kept confidential and will only be given to your secret sister.

If you would like additional details sent to you, click on my Email tab on the right side bar. I have also created a blog button to help promote this party, so feel free to grab and add it to your blog! You are also welcome to post about this party on your blog, Twitter, or Facebook.

I am very excited about this party and I hope you will consider joining it! It will be a wonderful way to encourage another blogger and give her some love!




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It Comes in Waves

It's been one of those weeks...

I know you've had them before.

The kind where you get lots of good news...and lots of bad news.

And, many of the good and bad things were the opposites of each other.


One of my friends got engaged this week...and another broke off an engagement.

One of my friends is due to have her baby any day now...and another lost her precious little one far too soon.


I don't pretend to know why God allows things to go this way. Not even for a second. But, times like these always remind me of the song Blessed Be Your Name:

You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

There always seems to be moments of giving...and moments of taking.

And while I would much prefer if God only gave us things...I know He takes things away for a reason.


I am beyond excited for my beautiful engaged friend. Having known her for almost four years now, my heart is just so full for her. I know she has been longing for the day that she would be married...and now it will be here before she knows it.

I am so very excited to see pics of the beautiful baby boy that will be born very soon. It seems like it was just yesterday that his amazing momma sent me an email to tell me she was expecting (and told me she didn't want to tell me right away because she didn't want to hurt me. She is truly a beautiful soul). My heart longs to hold him close...and I'm hoping that moment will come sooner rather than later.

But then there's the flip side...

I am sad for my friends that broke off their engagement.

I am beyond heartbroken for the beautiful woman who had to say goodbye to her sweet Addison...who died before ever entering this world. Yet I know that Jesus is taking care of that sweet little baby...and that my wonderful friend is going to be able to hold that baby in her arms again one day.

But the one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt...through all of this...is that God is in control.

And, in each and every situation, He will receive the glory. Whether it's a joyful situation or one filled with sadness and many tears, He will be glorified...some way, somehow.

And that is all this bittersweet heart can hold onto tonight.

We Encourage - My Hubby

As I sat down today, trying to decide what to write for We Encourage Tuesday, I was suddenly reminded of the blog post my husband wrote yesterday.

(Isn't he so cute?!?)

His post was similar to my post from yesterday in content, but much more detailed and truly inspiring.

It was such an encouragement for me to read his thoughts and see his heart shine through the words he typed.

I hope they will encourage you as well.

Check out his blog post here.

Stepping Out

We spent the day Saturday at a missions conference.

Only this missions conference was very different than any I'd ever gone to or heard of before.

We met in the morning for worship and a short message...and then were sent out to minister to homeless people in the city.

We were all assigned different areas to serve in, as there were over 500 of us that attended the conference.

I was on a team where we delivered meals to people who don't leave their apartments very often. Our "job" was to deliver the meals, and ask people if they needed prayer, and to pray for them.

It was an amazing day. We were able to pray over many different people...some even on the streets as we were walking from building to building.

We also listened to people's stories and shared Jesus with them.

It was amazing to be a part of...and amazing to hear the stories of what others did throughout the day.

We ate dinner in a local food court that night...and what culture shock that was! To see all these people walking around with their bags from a long day of shopping...

Source

It just made me realize how comfortable I am all of the time.

And watching various homeless people walking around the food court...looking for the leftover food people didn't finish eating...it just broke my heart.

In the morning, we sang a part of the song Hosanna. The part that says:

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

Jesus definitely broke my heart for the people we came across.

My prayer is that I will continue to love those around me...even those I come across in the grocery store or in Starbucks...and share Jesus with them.

Favorite Color

It's time for another Inspiration Workshop with Gussy!

This week's prompt was your favorite color.


Purple has always been my favorite color. I love it so much...

From lilac and lavendar, all the way to the very deep and rich purples...it's just beautiful.

I thought I'd share a couple of wedding pics so you could see how I incorporated this very amazing color into my wedding.

(Purple and yellow were my wedding colors. I loved the contrast from the deep purple to the bright yellow - and while that is not my natural color, as I dyed over brown to get it back to blonde, it is pretty close to it)

(My beautiful friends wore these David's Bridal dresses in the shade of Victorian Lilac. I loved it)


I've also always wanted to dye all of my hair dark brown and put purple streaks in it. I think that would be divine...

What is your favorite color?