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Marriage Monday ~ Celebrating Our Womanhood

 

For Marriage Monday, Chrysalis is inviting us to complete the below prompts to help us to get to know each other as a unique daughter of God. For detailed instruction, please visit E-Mom’s weblog.

 

I am… fearfully and wonderfully made.
I want… to encourage others.
I have… hunger for God’s Word.
I wish… I would be more creative.
I hate… dishonesty.
I miss… my family in Germany.
I fear… loneliness.
I feel… loved.
I hear… the birds in the backyard.
I smell… bacon that my hubby cooked this morning.
I crave… acceptance for who I am in Him.
I search… for things made the U.S.A. (and found some very cool stuff)
I wonder… if it will rain today.
I regret… my wander years without God.
I love… my family and friends (and try to love my enemies).
I ache… in my lower back.
I care… about child hunger (and it should be eradicated in first world nations)
I always… hope for a better tomorrow.
I am not… not a fan, but follower of Christ.
I believe… Jesus Christ died for my sins.
I dance… all the time.
I sing… in my head all day long.
I cry… when I am mistreated
I don’t always… speak the truth in love.
I fight… for the underprivileged.
I write… to bring hope into the dark world.
I never… say ‘never’.
I listen… to music that lifts my heart.
I need… my hair cut.
I am happy… when I can spend time with my hubby and son.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
(Psalm 139:14 ESV)

Thank you for stopping by to get to know me a little 😛 .

Love and peace,
Iris

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Thankful Thursday ~ Lisa Shaw

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV)

In the month of January we meet up at my friend Laurie’s blog, “Women Taking a Stand“. Please visit her blog to link up for Thankful Thursday.

Last week, I read an interview with Lisa Shaw on my friend Debbie’s blog, “Heart Choices“. I haven’t met Lisa in person, but I know Lisa through the internet. Lisa is such an encouragement to many of us who have been around for a little while.

At any rate, I ordered Lisa’s book last week and it arrived today just in time for me to post about it for Thankful Thursday. I can’t wait to read her book “You are beautiful in God’s Eyes”.

Lisa also included a sweet personal note, that blessed my socks off 🙂 …That is just so like Lisa.

If you haven’t come across Lisa via her blog or FB, I suggest you check out her ministry. I know her words will bless you.

I am thankful for women like Lisa that share the love of Christ with others; women who are beautiful inside and out.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Love and peace,
Iris

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Thankful Thursday ~ New Beginnings 2012

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
(Lamentations 3:22-24 ESV (emphasis mine))

Goodness, where in the world did the year go. It seems to me as just a blur. You know what they say: “As you get older, the years are going faster!”; I sure can attest to that.

The past year has been full of learning for me; work-wise, blogging and also with my photography. To be honest, it has been a very humbling year for me.

Blogging: I stepped back from LWG in the last quarter as a contributor. I felt empty, not able to fill others’ cups. I also didn’t blog much here on “Grace Alone…”. Who wants to ready daily stuff of a 50-something woman?

Work-wise: At the beginning of the year, our company reduced its work-force. One of the reduction included my boss. I needed to adjust to new rules and management. Let me tell you: it took me awhile to adjust to the change. But today I live by the motto: “the only constant in the work-force is constant change”.

Photography: In May of this year I upgraded my camera to the semi-professional model. I really enjoy photographing with it. I have learned so much over the past 7 months. I feel very comfortable with photographing in manual mode. It is challenging, but oh-so-much-fun 🙂 …

Although I do not write out New Years resolutions (I broke all of them in the past), I do always have plans for the New Year. Here are a couple of points for 2012:

  • Grow closer to the Lord. Not so much head-knowledge, but more heart-knowledge (I think you know what I mean).
  • I love to cook (really). At the end of this year I have found a new passion for cooking. I will try more new recipes in 2012; I will combine that with my passion of photography (who knows where that leads).
  • I want to blog more (again)…especially on my personal blog. I already have some ideas that you might enjoy as well.
  • I plan on carving out some time to read more and maybe review some of the books I have read.
  • Support more the small business world, locally and across the country
  • …and maybe I finally can get my house totally organized; especially my two spare rooms are full of ‘junk’!!!

So this week, I am thankful for new beginnings. Even though our God grants us new beginnings every day, we like to start fresh with a new calendar year (not sure why that is)…

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving a link to your Thankful Thursday post below.

Thank you for stopping by today (and reading through the little longer post). Remember: God gives us a fresh start every day; make the most of each day.

Love, peace and Happy 2012,
Iris

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. Laurie @ Women Taking a Stand
2. LaughingLady
3. Ms. Kathleen
4. Denise
5. Why the blues?
6. Stefanie @ UpLIFTing Words		 7. Jenny Anne@Royal Little Lambs
8. Melanie @ M&M
9. Jocelyn – His Pursuing Kindness
10. Vacation thoughts….
11. Mary
12. Heartmade Home		 13. God is Still Good!
14. Inspirations from Phather Phil – Thankful Thursday: A Shift in Vision
15. Simply God’s Girl
16. I am a flood survivor
17. bp

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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Thankful Thursday ~ Starbucks

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” ~ Colossians 3:12 (ESV)

I am not thankful for Starbucks for the ‘usual’ reason (although I do enjoy my morning treats of coffee). I wanted to share with you a program Starbucks is running right now. I think we can all be thankful for it; at least us who live in the United States.

If you frequent Starbucks, you may have seen their program “Create Jobs for USA“. I have done a little research to see what truly is behind the program. Starbucks started a fund that will support small businesses in the US to expend and create jobs.

I personally think this is so cool and I have purchased a little wrist-band this morning while getting my morning coffee. Will my donation make a difference? Sure it will. So, if you have someone on your Christmas list you have no idea what to get for them, why not make a donation in their name?

So, this week I am thankful that a big company is trying to make a difference in this country.

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving a link to your Thankful Thursday post below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: we all can make a difference in someone’s life; let us be His hands and feet in this world.

Love and peace,
Iris

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. The Glory of the Lord
2. Jenny Anne@Royal Little Lambs
3. LaughingLady
4. Edwards Granddaughter
5. Stefanie @ UpLIFTing Words
6. Slenderella Jenn		 7. Denise
8. Tami @ The Next Step
9. Kingdom building….
10. Melanie @ M&M
11. Mary
12. Ms. Kathleen – Christ’s Mass and the Faces of Jesus		 13. The wait adds meaning to the moment
14. bp
15. Lynn (Spiritually Unequal Marriage)
16. Inspirations from Phather Phil – Thankful Thursday: Grumble, Grumble, Grumble…
17. Kate @ Teaching What Is Good

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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