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Thankful Thursday ~ Mental Health Day

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” ~ Matthew 11:28 (ESV)

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning, and decided late Monday night to make it a ‘me-day’…I am glad that my boss is pretty flexible about these kind of things. But then again, she knows that I work hard. I think I really needed this mental-health-day.

Although I have weekends off, I tend to keep going, going, going…I really have a hard time shutting off. There are always projects to do. But not today (well, except for the doctor’s appointment). I did something today I haven’t done in a very long time: I wrote a letter to a friend. Yeah, a real letter going out in the snail-mail…Now I hope that my friend will be able to read my scribbles 🙂 …

I think I need more of these mental-health days. My work will still be there when I get back. I think that I take myself too often too serious …I need to learn how to truly relax and refuel. But how do you shut off an over-active brain?!?

So, today I am thankful for the short break from work, running around and for my boss allowing me to take a needed break.

What are you thankful for today? Please head on over to my friend Lynn’s blog Spiritually Unequal Marriage to link up with other Thankful Thursday participants.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: Take a break to refuel…

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‘Thin Places’ Winner & A Marvelous Blog Link

Congratulations to Denise from ‘Shortybear’s Place‘ for winning Mary DeMuth’s books “Thin Places“. As I had mentioned in my Thankful Thursday post last week, this book has changed something drastically in my heart…As my sweet friend Lori said in her blog ‘Chill, Be Sick, Be Loved and Live out Plan B‘ – ‘God is gentle and God leads…’. I am a work in progress through His hands. I pray that I will allow Him to do the growth until I see Him face-to-face.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)

I also wanted to share a new Blog with my readers. Joan’s blog “The Beauty in His Grip” is beautiful and her writings are such an encouragement to me. If you have not visited Joan yet, I greatly encourage you to take a look when you have time. I am most certain that “The Beauty in His Grip” will soon become a well-know Blog in the blogsphere 🙂 .

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: God is ready to lead us if we let Him.

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In Honor Of & The Winners

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” ~ Genesis 20:12 (ESV – emphasis mine)

Today, April 17th, would have been my dad’s 72nd birthday if he would not have passed away in 1991. In 2006 I wrote a tribute to my dad; you can read it here if you like.

My earthly father had much influence on who I am today. I was blessed that he didn’t shy away to share God’s love and truth with us kids. Yes, my dad was strict with me, but I am thankful for that. He taught me right from wrong. He taught me that life is not always fair; but if you trust God, all will work out. He was right – life is not fair, sometimes it is hard to keep going without getting too discouraged.

I guess that why the photography-book project is so close to my heart. To honor God and my earthly father. Both have (had) great influence in my walk of faith. The little detour I took when I was younger pained both, God and my dad. I often wish that my dad could see who I am today (Dad I am so sorry for the things I did and said – I love you!)…I pray that the book will glorify my Heavenly Father and would have made my earthly father proud.

And now to the two winners. I had a hard time choosing the title for the book, because all of them were perfect  (thank you all who suggested a title). I ended up choosing Debbie’s (author of “Heart Choices“) suggestion “Fill me to Overflowing”. Debbie – I will send you a hard-copy as soon as I have it published (hopefully by May 20th). The second winner of a soft-copy comes from this post. The winner was chosen by Random.Org 😉 :

Congratulations to Melanie from The Fruits of the Spirit for winning a soft-copy of the soon to be published book.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: trust God for today, tomorrow and especially life ever-lasting.

Have a blessed Sunday,

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Thankful Thursday ~ Random

“The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.”
~ Psalm 28:7 (ESV)

This month we are meeting up at Laurie’s blog “Women taking a Stand” sharing our thankful hearts — hop on over to meet up with other thankful hearts 🙂 …

I am sorry that I missed out last week on sharing my grateful heart with you all, but life has been a little crazy (again). Not that I am not thankful, I give Him thanks daily…

This week I want to give another shout-out to my sweet friend Lori. Our friendship truly has kept me sane for the past 3+ years. Too bad that we are 1,823 miles apart from each other. Sure, I have friends locally, but Lori is more than a friend; she is closer to my heart than my own sister. Not only do I share my deepest hurts with Lori; she also sets me straight (in love) when I am off the course with my thoughts and feelings. She indeed is my ‘Titus 2‘ woman (yeah she is much younger in age — but much wiser) — thank You Lord for placing her in my life…

The other day as I was shopping for some household items at Target, I picked up a package of ‘value socks’ for my beloved. When I got home, my sweetheart was beaming, because the last package of socks we picked up from a different store, where actually hurting his feet (long story which I might share on a later date). When I locked at the packing, I noticed something really neat – MADE IN USA. Do you know how rare this is to find clothing made in the US?  Very rare (another post for another day)! Target – I am thankful that you started carrying clothing made in this country – maybe other chains will follow you and thus bring jobs back to this country.

As many of you know I love photography. Yes, I said ‘love’…photography gives me a creative outlet. It helps me to capture the beauty God has placed around us and gives me relief from the day-to-day stress. Soon I will be asking for your help to create my first photo-book that I will be publishing through Blurb. I want to shout out a deep-down thanks to Jill from Crossway to send me the written permission to use ESV Scripture passages in my book. Jill – you rock and I am thankful for your help.

Last, but not least I am thankful for you, my dear readers. You have made the past 5 years of blogging fun, but challenging. You have helped me to grow, to reevaluate me being here. You have challenged me to step out of my comfort zone many times. Which in turn helped me to be real – honest about who I am…So thank you from the bottom of my heart…

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: a thankful heart is a joyful heart…