WHOLE HEART by Passion Music GIVEAWAY

I was moody, grumpy, generally having a bad day.


I'm sure I'm the only one, right?


I went back to flop on my bed and pout over some infraction I held against a family member.


I knew I had a review* coming due, so I mindlessly flipped on the PASSION WHOLE HEART CD as I mercilessly crushed candy on my handheld computer that also happens to be able to send and receive telephone calls.

I half listened, angrily clicking my phone.



As the words of worship began to wash over my heart, the frantic pace of my hands began to slow.


An hour later, I was freshly aware of the price Jesus had paid to buy my unearned forgiveness. My game was tossed aside and my heart was bowed before the Lord as I was convicted of the grudge I had been nursing.


I can't really give you a critical review of music preferences, because what God did in my heart through these lyrics, His Spirit refreshing my heart, was much more profound than the dissection of music style. So I'll simply post a couple of music clips and let the promoter's words speak toward answering the product details:

WHOLE HEART is the new live album from Passion, captured at the Passion Conference 2018 in Atlanta, GA.

•         “Rooted out of the Passion movement, we are committed to leading people towards renewed intimacy with God and fresh encounters of worship. Passion is more than music. More than events. Passion is a generation living for His name.” 

•         WHOLE HEART is the new live album from Passion—captured at Passion Conference 2018 in Atlanta, GA.

•         Passion Conference 2018 was a beautiful worship experience, and the live album captures each powerful moment, allowing those who were not in attendance to experience it.

  

•         Featuring Passion Artists: Kristian Stanfill, Melodie Malone, Sean Curran, Matt Redman, Crowder.

Buy Link: http://capcmg.me/PassionWholeHeart

Want a chance to win a copy? 

Leave me a meaningful comment here on my blog (along with a working method of contact so I can get your mailing address if you are the winner!) today, tomorrow, or Sunday. I'll contact one random name on Monday, February 26, 2018, to get your address for FlyBy promotions who will mail my winner a free CD in March! (Blog comments can get grumpy at times, so a comment on this post on my facebook author page will work too, although, if you have the option of leaving a blog comment, I would sure prefer that method, as that will help me track all entries in one spot.)


Please go like my author page at facebook.com/HarvestingHope (or get a friend to do so) and leave me another comment here that you did so (along with the name for me to verify that I have the new like). You and your friend will both earn an additional chance to be chosen as my winner if you do.

Please help me spread the word. Share this giveaway post everywhere you can - Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, your own blog, etc. Every time you share and come back and add your share link to comments, that's another entry too.


I'm excited to see you win. This album, just releasing today, is going to bless your heart!

Want it sooner or for sure? (Or course you do!) Grab your copy today at capcmg.me/PassionWholeHeart

#PassionWholeHeart #FlyBy #Contest #Drawing #Giveaway

* Yes, I did receive a free, promotional copy of this music for my review. However, opinions expressed are fully my own.

The giveaway aspect of this post is not sponsored by any parties other than Jennifer Saake and FlyBy Promotions, so Facebook and other big corporations, you are legally off the hook for this one.

GIVEAWAY - Let's Start At The Very Beginning

Admit it. Strains of Do-Ray-Me from The Sound of Music are filling your mind right now. "When you read you begin with a, b, c..."

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
www.eTeacherGroup.com

I'm not quite sure what I expected when I attended my first The Israel Institute of Biblical Studies (Formerly eTeacherBiblical.com, an eTeacher Group Virtual School) Biblical Hebrew course, but what I discovered left me humming this tune. 

2012 (c) All Right Reserved
eTeacher Ltd.
8 Oholiav St. Ramat Gan, 52522
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
www.eTeacherGroup.com

Instead of a, b, c, our first lesson exposed us to just 4 letter (6 symbols) and explained how the Hebrew alphabet is comprised only of consonants. The nun (similar to the Latin (English) "n") and mem (sounds much like our "m') each have two symbols to represent their sounds, a regular form that is used anywhere in the beginning or middle of a word, and a sofit, or final, form used if it is the last letter in a word, a tip of the hat to the history of hand transcription without clear spacing, in order to know the definitive ending of words in strings of letters. Fascinating!

2012 (c) All Right Reserved
eTeacher Ltd.
8 Oholiav St. Ramat Gan, 52522
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
www.eTeacherGroup.com

By week three, we were just beginning to learn about the small markings over, under, or next to consonants that act as vowels and direct how consonant sounds are pronounced.. While we started with the very basics, thus felt rather like returning to Kindergarten and my early "Dick and Jane" and "See Spot Run" readers, I felt respected as an intelligent adult, never talked down to.

2012 (c) All Right Reserved
eTeacher Ltd.
8 Oholiav St. Ramat Gan, 52522
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
www.eTeacherGroup.com

When I had to miss a week of live, interactive classroom instruction (from my laptop), I was able to catch up before my next week's class, thanks to the recorded version available to me in my "online locker".  This feature, along with my printed textbook containing all the class slides and homework (not required, but you get out of the class only what you put into it, so worthwhile and helpful!), will come in very handy in catching up with my classmates who seem to be catching onto these concepts much faster than I am. I'm very thankful that I have easy access to reviewing each class session as often as needed!

Technical support, both during registration, and even if technical issues arise right during a class, has been stellar! On the few occasions any student has has sound issues or what have you, during class, the teacher will take 30 second and open a support ticket for technical support for her student, right there in class. The disruption in minimal, while the customer service response is immediate and fellow students quickly rejoin the class in progress. I'm signed up for both text and email reminders when my weekly class is about to start, so I never have to go looking for a class participation link, can log in right from my reminder email!

From  The Israel Institute of Biblical Studies website, "The Israel Institute of Bible Studies has partnered with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the leading academic institute in Israel and one of the leading biblical research institutes in the world with a long and proud history of scholarly excellence and leadership in biblical languages and studies. We aim to share this wealth of knowledge with people around the world through programs developed by our leading biblical scholars and education professionals, and through our many years of experience as the leading online institute of biblical studies. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem fully accredits all of our classical languages courses, so students can take courses for university credits that are acknowledged by universities around the world." College credit folks!

I was blessed to try this 9-month, beginner level course free-of-charge, in exchange for my honest review here on my blog. The only real negative I can say, is that I have not found course pricing readily available on the website. There is a simple form you can fill out to request more information, so that is my best guess on how to obtain pricing information.

However, if you are at all interested, please take a moment to enter this giveaway in which one winner (from all participating blogs) will be selected at the end of the giveaway! 


It is well worth entering since each contestant will receive a follow up email after they enter for $100 off a class, so even if you aren't "the" winner, everyone who enters wins a nice discount!

2012 (c) All Right Reserved
eTeacher Ltd.
8 Oholiav St. Ramat Gan, 52522
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
www.eTeacherGroup.com

I'm not learning as quickly as I had hoped I would, but I'm so excited I took this opportunity to work on training my brain to learn something new. The process is rewarding and enjoyable. The convenience of at home learning at my own pace, and the caliber of education being offered, is unmatched. You'll want to pick a language and give this a try!

Winner

Random.org selected Sarah H. is the winner of our Laura Story CD giveaway. Enjoy Open Hands, Sarah. Please check you facebook PM within 48 hours. :)

Give Away

Don't miss the give away for the book You're Chronically Ill...So Now What? by Shelly Benoit Hendricks (of RenewedDaily) over on my chronic illness blog (you must comment THERE to be entered) - http://givenmeathorn.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-give-away.html

The Song GIVE-A-WAY!

I was recently asked to review a couple's devotional book. I'll be honest and say I wasn't too enthused about the prospect, seeing as the title, Awaken Love, and focus passage, Song of Solomon, left me to figure the book would basically just be focusing on how to "spice up your sex life". When the book got here and I saw chapter titles like, "Deepening Desire" and "Increasing Intimacy," I literally rolled my eyes and thought "here we go."

I was pleasantly surprised that 86-page, softcover book is truly a Christ-centered activity guide to drawing closer and learning to more closely cherish AND EXPRESS this, to your spouse, in so many different ways. Much of the interaction between Solomon and his bride-to-be are used to expound upon the love Jesus has for us His Bride, that in turn should lead us to desire to communicate deeper care to the person we share our lives with. As the subtitle indicates, this book is about the "journey to Awaken Love in marriage" and I so appreciate how the entire relationship is considered and focused on, rather than many marriage books that seem to focus primarily on the physical (and the emotional in order to better set up the physical).

Daily readings are really only a couple minutes long and suggested activities could often be accomplished in 5 minutes or less, but could help re-set thought patterns for a very long time to come. Not a bad time investment in the one you love! They are often the kinds of activities that could have much more time and thought poured into them over the course of the day, or week, or month, if you so desire. 

For example one suggestion is to take your spouse's name and create an acrostic of character traits about this person that are meaningful to you. Yes, there is great value if you fill in the blanks during a sliver of time, then share it with your husband/wife on your way out the door. And taking a few days to really contemplate and ask the Lord to help you remember and recognize meaningful characteristics in the one you married is great too. Maybe even do both, 2 different list with both the immediate thoughts and long-term meditations? (That "do both" idea is mine, not from the book, but you can see how the simple thoughts and suggestions there can feed your own creativity!)

I am pleased to share that I will be able to request a free copy of Awaken Love to be sent to one of my blog readers (US & Canada only). If you would like to be entered for a chance to win your own copy of Awaken Love, please leave your name and email address (so I may contact you if you win, to request your mailing address) in the comments here. For a second entry, please visit another one of my blogs, StrokeOfGrace.blogspot, and join that page through the Google Friend Connect (right hand sidebar) then come back to this post and leave a second comment, telling me that you did. Oh, and for every place (Twitter, Facebook, your own blog) you share this post, you can earn additional entries for each of those as well, just leave separate comments linking to where you did!

Drawing open until noon (Pacific) on Friday, December 5, 2014. Winner notified on Saturday, December 6. Winner must respond by noon on Monday, December 8, or alternate winner will be selected. 

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

The Song Couple’s Devotional is a 6-week book for couples that can help awaken love in their marriage. With daily relationship insights and prayer points drawn from the Song of Solomon, this devotional will help couples grow in their relationship with God and one another. 

Inspired by the Song of Solomon, The Song is both a full-length movie and resource for churches to explore God’s plan for relationships, love and marriage.

About the author:

Kyle Idleman is the Teaching Pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, the fourth-largest church in America. Author of the award-winning and bestselling book, not a fan., and presenter of eight of City on a Hill’s curriculum series, he regularly speaks at conferences and events around the world. Kyle and his wife DesiRae have four children.

give-away time!

 

So yes, I really am asking for shares! (OK, I'll take lots of hugs too, if you insist.) If you could please pass around my Stroke Of Grace blog and help people find me, I'm really working hard to expand my audience before I start presenting book proposals to publishes again, so it would help me a ton if you click on the blue "Join This Site" button (Google Friend Connect) on the right side bar, of that page. Thanks! You might even win these earrings (pictured below) if you join my membership drive contest this week. :)

 

 

Great Gain

I've gained weight the past year and a half. A lot of weight.  I was asked three times last week if I was pregnant because I'm carrying most of that weight right out front in my belly.  I had a hysterectomy, then did IVIG and there is no doubt that my hormones are way out of balance. I weight more than 50 pounds more today than I did when I was pregnant with our daughter eight years ago. About 40 of those pounds have been packed on the past 20 months.

I am frustrated. I don't like my body. I don't like getting dressed. I dislike getting undressed even more.  I have stacks of clothes I can't get into, some now 3 or 4 sizes too small, that I've been stashing away for when I can get the pound off.

Today I'm choosing a new attitude. Yes, I would still like to shed some weight, for health, for self-esteem, for so many reasons. But the fact is, this is my body right now. The same Holy Spirit lives inside this broken temple who lived here when I was at my healthiest, most fit, most attractive days. I can make choices that will keep this body as well-conditioned as I am able, but honestly some of this is simply beyond my control.

So today I went through all my clothes, those horded away for someday and those still hanging in my closet, many ill-fitting even though I try to still squeeze into them.  To my delight I found a few things I honestly didn't think would fit that still work nicely. :)  I kept about 5 things that are very near to fitting, just a tiny snug right now, because if I can loose a few pounds and under-grow what I have, I still have a tiny cushion of options before I hit yard sales and consignment stores for smaller sizes.

I sorted and organized all the rest and can walk into my closet and know that absolutely anything I pull off the hanger will fit on this body and I won't have to fight through five or six outfit changes (and accompanying tears and words of self-loathing) just to get dressed in the morning.  And as a bonus, I now get to bless some friends with an abundance of clothing that can be enjoyed again, no longer a source of frustration to their owner.

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

-  1 Timothy 6:6


Father, please grant me contentment in my "great gain" that I can have a heart to fully embrace the body you have given me and glorify you with it, just as I am.

Give-Away for my book

I've been posting updates about my current writing progress for my new book on the life of Paul and living with chronic pain/illness over on my Harvesting Hope from Heartache™ blog. And today I also posted a give away for a copy of my book, Hannah's Hope: Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage & Adoption Loss. To enter the give-away or catch up on my latest writing ventures, please visit HarvestingHope.blogspot.com. :)

Win Racoon Tales :)

Joy DeKok, author of the wonderful book Rain Dance that I talked about in February, also writes stories for children. Just came across a give away for her adorable book Raccoon Tales and wanted to share the chance to win with you!

259 words

This story describing my journey in the spring/summer of 1994, started out at over 500 words. Even then I felt like I was leaving out important details, but I finally got it down to the exact 259. So here we go...

“I should drive across the median. I've failed at everything. They would be better off without me.” These mocking thoughts no longer frightened me.

My health failed first. I dropped out of school. Our business tottered on the bring of bankruptcy. Yet none of these were my greatest disappointment.

Two years of yearning for the fulfillment of dreams I had carried since my earliest memories left me disillusioned. “Lord, we are serving you in every way we know how. Don't you promise the desires of our hearts?”

I flung my Bible across the room. Remorseful, I ran to find it open to 1 Samuel.

“Not funny, Lord!” I hated Hannah's story. How could He put her through years of waiting, only to bless her with a child, then take back the thing she most longed for?

I sat down to read it again, to prove to God how cruel He was. What, God never demanded Samuel of Hannah? She gave him of her own free will?

Heaven broke through the hardness of my heart, not with an audible voice, yet with words that rang loud and true, “My child, you cannot treat me according to the gifts I choose to give or withhold. I AM worthy!”

I offered works in hopes of blessing. He wanted praise for the sake of love.

We lost our business. I never earned my degree. It was five more years before we held a living miracle in our arms. But I never fantasized about driving my car into another again.

Mary DeMuth recently sent me a copy of her new book, Thin Places. I knew it was a memoir, but beyond that really had no idea what to expect. So far I've only been able to steal away enough moments to read the introduction and already I'm enthralled. Mary describes thin places as "those times where the division between this world and the eternal fades; snatches of holy ground, tucked into the corners of our world, where we might just catch a glimpse of eternity." Check back here in the coming weeks (or maybe months - I'm a very slow reader) as I'm sure I'll have more to share about the book later.

In the meantime, I received an interesting invitation this week, asking me to share with you my own "thin place" story, a time when God burst through my life to remind me of His presence or reassure me of His reality. The story was to be exactly 259 words long. If you know my writing, you probably know that limited word counts are the hardest writing challenges for me! The above story was my response to the invitation.

Why such a specific wordcount? This is the retail price of a new Kindle, the contest prize for the winning essay submitted. Please join me for your chance to win a Kindle by sharing your thin place story too! (Head on over to http://www.blogtourspot.com/2010/02/thin-places-blog-tour/ for details.)

Hope for Haiti

Haiti. It's all over the headlines. It feels overwhelming, a world away and yet too-close for comfort. And we feel helpless. What can one person do in the face of so much anguish?

Jenny from Simply Delightful Designs knows that while just one person may not be able to do a lot, when we band together we can become a strong force. On her Hope for Haiti blog, many wonderful women and companies are donating items and services to this online raffle for proceeds to go to Red Cross and Compassion International.

Raffle tickets are only $1 per entry and some of the prizes are valued at several hundred dollars! Along with my offer of $30 dollars worth of your choice of Affordable Mineral Makeup™ products the raffle items include everything from blogging conference tickets to photography sessions, books, jewelry and art. Such a great selection of prizes, and all funds raised for a wonderful cause!



Together we can make a difference! Please visit Hope-For-Haiti.blogspot.com and share what you can. Every dollar helps, and you might win a great prize too! Thank you for helping to bring a glimmer of hope to such a hurting slice of our world!

Birthday Reflections

Dec. 21 already. Amazing! I'm reflecting on "birth" right now - the birth of the Son of God (that came at the cost of a Father's greatest grief), the birth of our first living miracle (10 years ago this morning I was just starting labor), and the births we never got to enjoy, our little ones awaiting us in Heaven.

Joel Samuel, who shared a due date (2 years later) with his big brother and would now be turning 8, has been especially on my heart these past couple of days. His name means "The Lord will repay the years the locusts have eaten," and we named our son in faith that after so much heartache (deep financial struggles, multiple failed adoptions, miscarriages...) God surely had something more in store for us than years of tears and loss that had marked our first decade of marriage.

We had no idea what form that "something more" would be, perhaps emotional, spiritual or even physical tangible blessings, but we clung to the hope that His "more" would be perfect in His right timing and that He would not leave us adrift in the despairing grief that threatened to sink us. My heart is full with all I want to write on the kindness and grace God has washed over us in the eight years since Joel left my womb for Heaven, including two more living miracle babies! Yes, there have been hard times too, like my recent diagnosis of a retrovius (XMRV is one of only 3 known human retroviruses, the most well-known being HIV), but God has been so gracious through it all.

It seemed for so long we were the ones grieving, in need of tangible financial or other help. This Christmas, when so many are struggling, we live in a warm home with bountiful food, God's blessings overflowing. My eyes tear as we hand warms socks and an energy bar to the man with the cardboard sign on the corner, as my husband quietly walks forward to pay for lunch for the man who digs through his pocket and turns to walk out of the fast food joint because he doesn't have the change to cover a value meal, as we place a few small gifts of love in a friend's arms to put under the empty tree in her tiny apartment. We do it for Jesus. We do it for Joel.

[Edited Dec. 26 to say, after dedicating this entire post to Joel, I realized belatedly that it was actually Hannah Rose who shared a due date with our oldest J. She is the one that would have been turning 8. Joel would have been due in September, as we had two back-to-back miscarriages.
There, Mommy-guilt for having mistaken dates surrounding the lives and deaths of my children, now somewhat relieved by this admission. As this is a mistake I still can't believe I would ever make "in my right mind," and especially one I'm still shocked that it took me nearly a week to even realize I had made, I'm chalking this one up to CFS/XMRV "brain fog". :( ]

Yesterday we enjoyed the blessing of a long, leasurly lunch with Rick's parents to celebrate Big. J's addition to our family 10 years ago - such a wonderful change of pace after 19 weeks of spending my Sunday afternoons hooked up to IVs! (On top of that, my hives are even starting to clear up. What a blessing!) We'll celebrate him again tomorrow (his actual birthday) with my side of the family.

My brother, sister(in-law) and nephews got in from Washington yesterday evening and spent the night with my parents. We will be seeing them in a couple of hours and spending the next 10 days together, so you might not hear from me much until the end of the year. As a "Christmas gift" I wanted to point you to a current blog give-away for Joy Dekok's wonderful book, Rain Dance. It takes on some heavy topics (infertility, post-abortion syndrome, grief - topics that scared me away from the book for far too long) but is an amazing read and will touch your heart. Enter to win your own copy at http://www.crazy-for-books.com/2009/12/blog-tour-review-giveaway-rain-dance-by.html

Win a Kindle

I just discovered The Great Kindle Giveaway and am excited for a chance to win one of these great tools. He's giving away up to 15 free Kindles (the more business he earns through his free promotion, but more Kindles he'll end up giving away) and I would love it if I won one of them and so did you! To enter, just sign up for his email list (that's easy!) and if you want more entries, he gives you several more ways to earn them (posting a quick blog entry like this one for example). Won't you join me in giving it a try?

Joy & IVIG 18

I just posted about Joy over at InnerBeautyGirlz. Would love to have you swing by and read a bit more about our infertility joureny, a personal Christmas tradition, a give-away drawing, and a new shade of Affordable Mineral Makeup™. :)

IVIG #18 started off a little rough, but about 4 hours in I took an amazing turn and actually felt pretty decent for the end of the infusion and ever since! I am still incredibly tired, but I did not come home and crash and actually functioned reasonably well all day yesterday even after getting up with a sick child in the night and doing lots of extra loads of laundry thanks to her tummy bug. I still don't feel "good" but surprisingly "better" than my normal post-infusion days. Six more weeks to go.

I convinced the nurse to leave off the PICC line security tape "butterfly" this week. I'm at pretty high risk for loosing my PICC line without it, BUT I have very few new hives from this last dressing change and the old hives are starting to heal dramatically! I did try a vitamin supplement again last night (that I had started shortly before the hives first began, but stopped about a week ago in case there was any connection) and the existing hives did flair up noticably within half an hour of taking those, so I think I will continue avoiding them until we are fully finished with the IG. But the biggest culprit really does seem to be that PICC line butterfly and both the immediate and ongoing improvement in my pain and frantic itching levels without using it at the last banddage change is DRAMATIC improvement!

Better to Give...But You Might Also Receive!

I love the loving hearts of my miracle kids. They have been saving all year in great anticipation of the gift-giving catalogs coming in the mail at year's end. They just purchased a hive of bees, a dozzen chicks, and a "Jesus Loves Me" lamb for needy kids/families overseas. (Mom did a little gift-matching to get them all the way there, but they hit the goals almost totally on their own!)

Editing to add another story with a lump in my throat! Oldest son (not quite 10) just handed me $100 of his own money saved up over the past couple of years and asked me to write a check on his behalf for Bible translation for those who do not have Scriptures in their own language. I would like to invite you to visit God's Word for the Nations to see what's inspiring our sweet boy!


Want to join in the blessing? Here's where giving may "pay off" for you! Visit Samaritan's Purse (the Christmas Shoebox people) and shop/donate from your computer - couldn't be easier! And after you have opened your purse a bit, head on over to Sarah Mae's Like A Warm Cup of Coffee blog and enter to win a Sondra Roberts purse valued at over $100!

Hope in the Shadows

Have you ever heard someone describe a time of trial as, “living under the shadow of [xyz]”? My shadows have included infertility, grief, depression, chronic illness and more. I'm sure you can plug in your own "xyz"s; maybe cancer, abuse, loneliness…

Job and the Psalmist talk of “the valley of the shadow of death.” Shadows impress a dark picture of gloom and heaviness in my mind.

Hope demands I give shadows another look... [To read the remainder of this article, please visit (In)Courage where you can also enter to win a copy of my book, Hannah's Hope.]


Keep scrolling here for a great list of verses that reflect God's sheltering shadows in my life.

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One way God seems to work in my life is through “theme word seasons,” specific life lessons He wants to drive home with me and situations that bring those themes to light over and over until I finally begin to grasp a small portion of what He longs to teach me. Wait resounded in our hearts through the loss of our business and the struggle for my husband to find a new career that truly fit, all in the midst of infertility's endless cycles of hoping and hurting, wanting and worrying, coping and crying.

Waiting has given way to new horizons, a series of theme seasons too numerous to list here, but with one of the most recent being Hope. And then to Hope, God’s spent this year adding the active pursuit of Joy to my life as well. Here are some of my favorite resources from these three themes:

Wait:
- Hannah’s Prayer Ministries offers support through fertility challenges, including infertility or the death of a baby at any time from conception through early infancy.
- A Graceful Waiting by Jan Frank
- The Wait Poem by Russell Kelfer (Truly beautiful book, with a written message even more powerful than the photos! This poem was life-changing for me and has been impactful in many lives.)

Hope:
- Out of the Valley Ministries, Inc. Postpartum Depression Support
- Grieving the Child I Never Knew by Kathe Wunnenberg
- Hannah's Hope: Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage, and Adoption Loss by me, Jennifer Saake :)

Joy:
- Rest Ministries provides support in the face of chronic pain and illness, including National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week each Sept.
- Rain on Me: Devotions of Hope and Encouragement for Difficult Times by Holley Gerth
- The book of Philippians, written by the apostle Paul.

"Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies” Philippians 4:8-9. (MSG)

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Verses that reflect God's sheltering shadows in my life:

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17. (NIV)

“I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” Isaiah 45:3. (NIV)

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” Isaiah 9:2. (NIV)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" Isaiah 40:31. (NIV)

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me" Micah 7:7. (NIV)

"We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield" Psalm 33:20. (NIV)

"I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God..." Psalm 40:1-2, (NIV)

“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light…

“He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead…

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness…

“For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love…

“You came near when I called you, and you said, ‘Do not fear.’
O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life…”
- from Lamentations 3 (NIV)

Will You Help Me Dance? (fighting CFS)

I've lived with a serious, disabling and chronic neuro immune illness called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) for the past 19 years. This illness goes by many names including Post-Infectious Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and in the past was known as chronic Epstein-Barr virus (CEBV). You can find out more and learn the answers to questions such as, "What is ME/CFS?" or "Is it contagious?" by visiting the FAQs at the Whittemore Peterson Institute's website.

The Whittemore Peterson Institute is working hard to find both the root cause, as well as a potential cure, for CFS. They are a wonderful, compassionate group of researchers who have given me more hope in the fight against this illness than I have ever had. To help them keep moving forward, I would love to be able to purchase two tickets to their fundraising event, I Hope You Dance, on Sept. 12, 2009. I cannot afford these tickets on my own, but am asking my friends to consider chipping in to help me out.



Fundraiser tickets are $250 each. I would love to be able to purchase two, one for myself and one for my husband, so that we can attend this event and learn more about the ongoing strides at WPI. I'm asking you to consider helping me earn my way this benefit with your donation of even a dollar or two. For each person who helps me out with $5 or more, I will enter your name/email into a drawing for $30 in free products from Affordable Mineral Makeup™. If you can send me $10 or more, I will enter your name/email in a drawing for a Flower Bead Set necklace and bracelet from Gurrlie Girl ($68 value; or you may specify that you would prefer 2 entries into the makeup give-away if you would prefer). Any gift of $20 or more will get you entered into both drawings!

Whatever I can collect from this little drive will be donated to the Whittemore Peterson Institute even if I don't reach my ticket purchase goal, so ever little bit helps!!! Today it's a struggle even to walk, sometimes I'm in a wheelchair or simply in bed. Riding a bike just to the end of my block is no longer an option. Swimming is too much for me. Climbing a flight of stairs is overwhelming and leaves me breathless, wobbly and in pain. But I have hope that someday I will have a body that functions as it should again, and then I will be able to dance! Will you help me?

Creative Adoption Fundraising

Over the years I've seen many creative ideas for raising funds to adopt a child. I happened across one this morning that really impressed me and I had a share it with you. Preparing for a Miracle is one family's journey to bring their daughter home from South Korea. They are working to raise $10,000 through some amazing online raffels. Reading through their story, I am reminded so much of our own journey and am in prayerful tears that God will work all things together to bring their Lily home soon!

25% Mineral Makeup rebate until Wed.

I am trying to sell $200 worth of Affordable Mineral Makeup™ by this Wednesday in order to qualify for a rep incentive. If anyone makes a purchase from http://www.InnerBeautyGirls.com by Aug. 12 (before midnight EST) at full price, email me - InnerBeauty@AffordableMineralMakeup.com - your purchase order number from your completed transaction. I will paypal you a 25% refund of your product purchase total (not including tax/shipping fees) as soon as your order is processed. Your purchase MUST originate through my link in order for me to receive credit for your purchase and be able to send you the refund.

I really want to hit this goal, so I'm offering you a huge chuck of my commision as a direct cash-back refund. Tara (the company owner) sometimes offers discounts ranging from 10-13% (and only very rarely up to the 13% mark), but 25% if a really big deal and I'm willing to take the cut directly out of my earnings in hopes of gaining some new long-term customers and letting you see how wonderful these products are for yourself! This really is your very best chance to try out Affordable Mineral Makeup™ at a really great price. I hope you will take advantage of this amazing, but very time-limited deal and pass my offer along to your friends as well. Thanks for helping me out!

My Quest to Win a Laptop Computer

I love entering give-aways. I'll put my name in almost any drawing out there, as long as I'm not committing to enter a costly contract or agreeing to anything that stands against my moral paramaters for living. My sweet hubby finally asked me to stop entering draings that were going to lead to unending sales calls or sitting through timeshare presentations or in-home "free estimate" sales pitches like the ones that happen when I enter all the drawings when homeshows come to town. So I've instead turned to the thrill of online contests and as a result I have won a large stack of books (many autographed by the authors, a random collection of toys and children's products, a few food items, and most recently a week's free RV rental ($1,600 value) and a toddler's ballance bike ($140 value).

I've even entered to win houses a couple of times, and while I've never come close to that kind of prize, I actually had a neighbor/friend who did in fact win her house several years ago! My moto is, "Somebody's got to win, and if I don't enter, there's no chance it will be me." There are two things I've always wanted to win (that are a little less ambitious than a free house) that I keep entering for but have yet to bring home. The first is a new mini-van. I've been entering to win free cars of various kinds for probably 15 years or more, and so far have never come close. But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying. :)

The second is a laptop computer. I've lived through 19 years of chronic illness (with a lot of bed-bound days over those years), 3 high-risk bedrest pregnancies, am a homeschooling mom and a published author. Over the next three months I'll be undergoing about 48 hours of IV treatments that will have me stuck in a hospital infusion center where I would love to be working on my next book project and in late September our family will be taking to the road for our RV blogging trip. I dream of having a laptop computer! My sweet husband bougth me my very own desktop for Christmas a few years back, the first new, non-hand-me-down computer I've ever owned in my entire life, and I am so VERY thankful for this luxury. But I romanticize the freedom of a laptop.

So my newest quest is to win a laptop computer! (Or if by any chance there is some computer company guru out there reading my humble little blog and you want to sponsor a computer review, I would be happy to take you up on test-driving your product to share with my readers! *GRIN*) I participated in a Twitter contest a few weeks ago and didn't win any of the netbooks they were giving away then, but starting Aug. 12 I'll be following all of these blogs in the HP Back to School Give-Away and entering at a differnt site each day until early Sept. in hopes of winning one of their computers! Today I've entered for one of the 9 BlogHer Intell laptops being given away:

OwlHaven (I really enjoyed this author's main site on raising large families and homeschooling.)

Bacon Is My Enemy

Deb On the Rocks

Mom to Screaming Masses

Petroville

Mocha Momma

Busy Mom

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

Edited Aug. 10 to add the Brad's Deals twitter contest to win a $1,000 Dell laptop!

Edited Aug. 11 to add another Twitter contest:
@PSGforBiz Giving away 6 Dell Mini's by September 1st. To enter, RT this message.Top 3 re-tweeters along with 3 random followers WIn!!

Edited Aug. 15 to add:
Win an Asus Netbook with @WebPlus5! Tweet #webplus5 or @webplus5 to enter. Details: http://ow.ly/jPWr

Know any other laptop give aways I should check out?