I have an extra reason to celebrate this week--my new card line, Hope for Life's Hard Moments, with DaySpring! I don't usually do squats in the middle of Hobby Lobby but sometimes you've gotta make...
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DaySpring
Helping Someone When You’ve Never Been in Their Situation
I often get notes from people saying something like, "My friend/family member is going through a hard time but I don't feel like I can help because I haven't been through the same thing." Here's my...
How Dreams Grow
{my graphics are free goodies for you} Every dream starts small. It's a seed that first sprouts in thoughts and conversations, quiet moments and glimpses of a vision, late-night prayers and...
Top Secret Encouragement Mission Just for You
You're an encourager. I know that because I've read your comments, seen your emails, watched you on facebook and followed you on twitter. You know how to use words in ways that make a difference. So...
I wish I had a big yellow umbrella for you…
http://youtu.be/JkLdP7zkxr0 The words went straight from my heart to the tips of my fingers as I wrote to someone I loved who was having a hard day. I wish I had a big yellow umbrella that would...
God’s Heart for You this Christmas
In the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the season I keep forgetting. I keep forgetting that it's not about being busy but being blessed. I keep forgetting that it's not about pleasing but...
PS – Thankful…
* Update: The comment link works now.
Lord,
Thank you for the women who make a difference in our lives–
mothers, daughters, sisters, friends.
Thank you for the way you've created them…
to care, nurture, connect, bring life.
As Mother's Day gets closer,
we ask you to bless those who bless us.
Add more joy, hope, peace to their lives.
And for every bit of love they give,
bring much more in return.
Amen.
PS – Every Sunday we pray and share.
I'm so thankful for each of you and I thought of you as I wrote the prayer above.
Pray –This week leave a comment about a woman you thank God for in your life. Share – When you leave a comment, you'll enter her to win this God's Heart for You necklace by DaySpring! This is until midnight on Monday only. That way we can ship it for Mother's Day next Sunday!
Would you like to leave your comment or Subscribe by Email?
The Biggest Small We Can Be
I go to a place where trees reach for the sky and writers do too.
We arrive carrying words in our minds, dreams in our hearts, hopes we've whispered silently to the ceiling in the night.
It doesn't matter that I'm on faculty, or have a book published, or anything else.
Here I am a child again asking the playground questions, "Does anyone want me? Do I fit in?"
I look at the trees again and I wonder, "How did they get so tall?"
And I realize…
Not by striving but by being.
Not in a day but through years of growth so small it can't be seen.
We sometimes talk of platforms in this world–building them, being on them, maintaining them. What if we (especially me) were more like the trees?
And the most powerful tree of all formed a cross so that…
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. John 12:32
No platforms. Only crosses.
It's an entirely different sort of dreaming.
Another type of trust.
Not of becoming more but less so that we can make much of the One we love.
So here in this place where trees try to reach the sky and writers do too…I choose instead to bow, to kneel at the foot of the cross. To worship rather than work, serve rather then strive.
It's a choice I'll have to make again. Every day. Because my heart is prone to wander, my self-sufficiency quick to grow. But this is the only way.
Not trying to touch the sky but insisting on touching His heart.
I shift my gaze from the trees and look at the path before me.
And I breathe deeply of grace…clear as the mountain air.
A Different Kind of Hope: Giveaway Winners!
HOPE is a seed God plants in our hearts
to remind us there are better days ahead.
Thanks so much for going through the A Different Kind of Hope series with me!
I decided to give two Hope and Encouragement card packs per post because there were so many comments! I used the random number generator to choose them.
So look for your name below and send me an e-mail (holleyg@dayspring.com) with your address if you won!
You can find the Hope and Encouragement card pack as well as several others on DaySpring.com (psst…they're having a great After Christmas Sale right now—up to 75% off!).
And as a little thanks, you can use my friends and family code (holley20) to get an extra 20% off everything on DaySpring.com.
And now the winners…
Grace & Peace and Cathleen Johnson
Amber and Cindy Faulkner
Sarah and Amy V.
Jeanine and Kristen
Patty and Laura
Congratulations! And thanks again to everyone who left comments!
A Different Kind of Hope: Part One
This week I had the honor of speaking at the MEND Christmas Candlelight Service. I was scared silly but you'll be proud to know I did not walk into the men's bathroom.
I shared about having A Different Kind of Hope.
I’d like to pass along a much briefer version to you as well (some of it is adapted from Rain on Me and some is new).
First, A Different Kind of Hope says, “It’s okay to not be okay.”
This time of year the word “hope” is everywhere—decorations, in songs, in church. It’s often talked about like a fluffy, nice feeling. That kind of hope is a nice thought but it just doesn’t cut it for me a lot of the time.
I've realized Christmas is about both heartache and joy. The manger led to the cross. As I thought about this recently it has brought me back to one of the first things I learned on this journey, “It’s okay to not be okay”—and that’s even true at the holidays!
Before my storm I’d been one of those people who always said, “I’m fine” when anyone asked. But I got to a place where that was no longer an option. I remember worrying what people would think or how God would feel. But the response I got was the last one I’d ever expect—love and grace. And that's what God offers you too.
One of the things that kept me from admitting I wasn’t okay is that I thought I had to be perfect or whole to be used by God. I’ve realized in His Kingdom the opposite is actually true.
A verse we often hear close to Christmas is the one in Isaiah that says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our sins, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed.”
I was listening to a song with that verse in it one day as I drove home from work several years ago. I asked God, “How can you use me when I feel so broken?”
As I listened I realized that it was in His brokenness that Jesus brought healing to us. We think that we have to take what’s broken and make it perfect again. God thinks in an entirely different way—He took what was perfect (His Son) and through His brokenness brought us healing. Because of this, our brokenness can bring healing to others too. And in the process, it can also heal us.
You are loved just as you are—brokenness and all.
A Different Kind of Hope says, “It’s okay to not be okay.”
To be continued…
Loads of Hope on Blog Nosh Magazine - share your post!
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For each post in this series I'll be giving away a Hope and Encouragement card pack from DaySpring so you can help some hurting hearts. It includes 10 cards (I wrote some of them) and would be worth over $30 if you got them at a store. I'll announce all the winners when the series is done. Just leave a comment on any of the posts—or on more than one for extra entries!
(Subscribers, remember to go to the post to leave your comment. Thanks!)
*This giveaway is done but you can enter a new one and join me in The Rest of Your Story series by clicking here!