And the Winner Is...

I wanted to post a quick announcement and Congratulations to Caitlin! Caitlin is the winner of my "Good Reads" Giveaway!
Send me your address and I will get it out in the mail right away!
I'm having a blast with these giveaways! And hope you'll all keep commenting for the opportunity to "win"!!!
Blessings!

Where There are Two or More

The Lord promises that where two or more are gathered in His name, there His Spirit is also.
Upon sorting through some things I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway centered around this Bible passage.
A teapot and tea cups; perfect for two friends to gather for loving fellowship and a cup of tea!

Tea For Two Giveaway!!!

To enter:
Comment on this blog = 1 entry
Link this blog to your social network(s) = 2 entries per social network
Visit any of my blog links = 1 entry
Purchase from Jenna's etsy OR Like A Child Sites = 2 entries
*Please make sure to comment on here and let me know that you've visited these links!
**Drawing to be held on Monday September 6, 2010 (Happy Labor Day!) and mailed or hand delivered to locals on Tuesday, September 7, 2010.
Blessings and joy to you!

Good Reads

I love to read and have been a moderate "book collector". However, I have come to a place where it is time to let go of some of the things I hold dear; my books are some of those things!
In honor of "Back to School" time, I have put a few books together for my "Good Reads Giveaway".
I have chosen four which have been helpful to me at specific times in my life. I hope you will post a comment so as to have a chance to "win" these great books! Many Blessings to you.

Good Reads - Giveaway!!!

Follow my blog = 2 entries
Comment on my blog = 1 entry
Visit Jenna's etsy site (http://www.trulytruetreasures.etsy.com/) = 1 entry
Purchase from Jenna's site = 2 entries
Link my blog to your social network = 2 entries per network

This drawing will end on Sunday, August 29, 2010. Great Reads will be mailed or hand delivered to locals on Monday, August 30, 2010.

Have fun and I hope you win!

Simply Giving

For the last couple of years, the Lord has been doing a cleansing work in me. It is His desire that I be a giving person. This, actually, comes pretty natural for me. He created in me, from birth, a giving nature. I love to bless other people.
However, through the process of life, I had become a bit cynical and tight-fisted; prone to hold onto "things" which have sentimental value or that I just happen to like!
Over the course of my latest grand adventure, the Lord has had me letting go of things. In this journey, He has led me to some wonderful people who have wonderful blogs, etsy accounts, boutiques, etc. These wonderful people have awesome giveaways which both bless others and promote their sites.
I felt the Lord strongly urge me to consider this in my own life, on my own blog.
I'm not crafty, nor am I trying to sell anything. I just simply want to bless others with things that I have held dear to my heart over the years, yet am willing to part with.
Everything I am giving is meant to encourage and uplift! Don't worry, you won't receive any "trash" from me! I know where to put that stuff!
So, here I am and here IT is! My first giveaway!

Miscellaneous items from the heart!

Here is how to enter:
Comment on my blog = 1 entry
Share my blog on your blog = 2 entries
Share a link to my blog on your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter account = 2 entries
(That is 2 entries per social network!)
That's a total of 9 potential entries! WOW!!! (Please make sure to send me a message or comment telling me if you link me!)
Have fun and I hope you win!
***Entries for this giveaway must be received by August 29, 2010. Items will be mailed or hand delivered to locals on Monday, August 30, 2010!

Freedom & Religion

While we say that our forefathers seperated and fought for our freedom of religion, I submit to you, this:
Jesus came to earth, died and rose again to give us freedom from religion...

Blessings!

I Said a Prayer for You Today

I have prayed for you today. I have asked the One True God to touch you in a real, tangible way. I have asked Him to breathe on you that you may know the depth and the width of the Father's love. Oh how vast and beyond measure it truly is! Yet, once you've tasted it, there's no going back. To have experienced the Father's love is to have experienced perfection. A heart that has glimpsed this will never turn away from it's source-Jesus.

My Sentiments Exactly!

About three years ago, the Lord turned my feet to a new direction. Though the path is the same, the work He is doing in me is new.

Consequently, this new direction the Lord has me on has left some people in my life feeling angry, irritated, confused, sad and/or judgemental. Though this has been difficult for me at times, I have realized that it is for the Lord to help them along in their journey and for me to remain faithful and obedient to Him in mine.

I (literally) have just finished reading an excellent book in which the author, through her main character, captures my thoughts perfectly, almost as if she had read my mind. Rather than reinvent the wheel so-to-speak and try to re-articulate her thoughts into my own words, I have chosen to quote directly from her book.

My thanks to God and to Anne Perry via Anna Zarides in The Sheen on the Silk:

"God doesn't leave people. We leave Him. You created a God in your own image, one of laws and rituals, of office and observances, because that requires only outward acts. It's simple to understand. You don't have to feel, or give of your heart. You missed the grace and the passion, the courage beyond anything we can imagine, the hope even in absolute darkness, the gentleness, the laughter, and the love that has no shadow. The journey is longer and steeper than any of us can understand. But then heaven is higher, so it has to be steep and far.
A church can help. People can always help. We need people. There's nothing if we don't care. But the real climb is made not because this person or that person told you what to do, or lifted you on the way, it is made because you hunger for it so much, no one can stop you. You have to want it so that you will pay what it costs.
(You) have helped, but Christ redeemed them...
We all make mistakes... But we are here to help, not to judge. Only God can teach you how to do that, not even the best of men, not when the pain is beyond bearing. Be gentle. Reach out. What gain is in it for you doesn't matter."

So, dear friend, I will leave it at that-for now.

Love and blessings!

All Out

The last half dozen years or so have been a journey of "all outs".

As I have desired to live "all out" for the Lord, He has been faithful to reveal to me what He desires to get "all out" of my life, attitude, thought processes and character.
In order to live "all out" for the Lord, one must be "called out". We are called out from the world and into His marvelous light.

The process of being "weeded out" by the Lord is not at all fun, but absolutely necessary.
It had to be revealed to me that in my desire to be transformed, somehow I had fallen into the trap of being conformed. Strangely, as I had been, what I thought was transformed into the image of Christ by leaving the conformity of the world, what had really happened was that I had been conformed into what was deemed acceptable by (for lack of a better term) "the church". I had left one conformity for another!

Jesus began to (continually) remind me that while He walked the earth visible to the eye of man, He would say to them, "I am about my Father's business. I do what I see my Father do. I say what I hear my Father say." Then He promised that He would send One who would enable us to do the very same thing! The Holy Spirit is the One who desires to be at the helm of our lives, leading and guiding us. He has moved me into a place where I live and breathe Him. I desire to do only what I see Him do. I have purposed to say only what I hear Him say.
Am I always successful? No. Do I fall short? Sometimes. Do I let that stop me? Absolutely not.

Walking in the leading of the Holy Spirit has set me on a course of true freedom. True freedom is living as He has called me to live.  To be free means that I am not afraid of man, but that I fear God. A reverent holy fear which compels me forward. If I were to fear something else, it would be to fear falling short of my God-ordained destiny. I desire to be all that He has called me to be.

This morning the Lord revealed to me that I still care too much.
I care too much what others think and this is what is holding me back from moving on to the next "thing", "phase", "path", "step" (you choose the term you like best). Having identified my "problem" I am confident that with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will yet overcome this area which needs to be "moved out" of my life. I know I am closer to being rid of it than I was a year ago, yet, I had hoped by now I would be completely free from it.

This journey I am on has been a long, often arduous one. But I know that if I stay the course, he who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it until the day of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The same is true for every believer. To say one has gone as far as he/she can in the Christian faith is mistaken. This walk; this life of being a Christ-follower is a journey in which one reaches his/her destination when he/she is in the (physical) presence of Chrsit.
 Don't stop. Keep moving. Stagnant water breeds disease.
If you need a pick-me-up, encouragement, help, -call out to the Holy Spirit. Call out to another brother or sister in the Lord; one whom you trust. One who will encourage, uplift, strengthen and edify. One who will carry you if necessary. One who will sit down beside you if you can't presently move.
And if you currently have no one like that in your life, send me a message and I would be blessed to come along side of you and be that one to help!

Christ's love and blessings to you!