A Gracefull Place

I don’t know where I’ve been, but I’ve just found John Piper!  I had heard of him before, but finally clicked on a video of him about memorizing Scripture and now I am hooked!

 

Christianaudio.com has a free download every month, and for November, it is John Piper’s book, Desiring God.

 

You can click HERE for the link, and also, sign up for their free newsletter so you can be notified of the next free download!

 

I burned the first chapter to a CD and listened today in the van on a long trip…..oh, my!  So rich, so good!   I actually put the print book on my Christmas wish list!  

 

Here are a few gems (not verbatim, since I was driving–couldn’t take notes safely!  LOL!):

 

"God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him."

 

"Worship is not really worship unless God is treasured and enjoyed."   WOW!

 

I would encourage you to download this jewel and listen and soak it in!

 

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

 

 

And now, for my FOURTH giveaway!

 

 

I told you I’m having too much fun!

 

 

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I LOVE the book, "The Heart of the King" by Ron Auch.

 

It is a devotional on Psalm 119–but it isn’t "fluffy"–it is quite meaty!  I am on my second time through it (I bought mine just a little over a year ago).  It ministers to me so much!

 

It has a page per verse in Psalm 119–it’s about an 8X8 inch book.  You can check it out at Amazon.com HERE.

 

It is currently out of print, but when I e-mailed the author last summer, he said it would be reprinted.  I certainly hope so, as it’s a wonderful book!

 

So this copy will be a used copy–I am still waiting on it to arrive, or I would tell you its condition!  I tried to get one in the best condition possible.

 

It is a wonderful book, and it will be one you treasure, I’m sure!  

 

 

To enter this giveaway:

1. Will this be a gift to yourself?  Or someone else?  You don’t have to say who, in case they read this blog, too! 

 

 

2. My new friend at Give All Diligence has started to memorize Psalm 119!   Maybe you feel that’s a bit daunting to start–but would you commit to memorize one section of Psalm 119?  A section is only 8 verses long.   If you choose to take that challenge, you get an entry for it, plus if you check in and let me know how you’re doing, you can get another entry–1 per day for this one.

 

3. Share a book or blog that has really deepened your love for the Lord.  1 entry per book or blog mentioned!  Mention as many as you like, but no doubles!  (Don’t send me the same list each day–LOL!)

 

4. What will you do today to fall in love with Him more, the Heavenly Bridegroom and Lover of your soul?  And if you have something different for each day, you may share and get an entry per day for this one!

 

5. Tell 3 friends, post on a forum or facebook, tweet on Twitter, blog about it—and come back and let me know!  (Leave a link if you posted on your blog or on a forum!)  You can do this one as much as you like!

 

This time I will run the giveaway through November 29, Sunday night at midnight–to allow a day off for Thanksgiving!   I will announce the winner Monday morning, November 30.

 

Be sure to check back in so if you’re the winner, so you can get in touch with me to receive your "jewel" of a book!

 

And please–

 

 

take time to fall in love with Him today!

 

 

HEATHER CROSSWHITE!!!!

Congratulations, Heather!

And thank you to EVERYONE who entered!

I also want to thank EVERYONE that voted for my daughters’ blog–they are first as of right now, and the voting is done, but the team needs to go through and make sure all votes are within the rules, so we won’t know until tomorrow the official winner!  But THANK YOU for voting and getting the word out!  {{{HUGS}}}

I’m thinking of doing one more giveaway, unless y’all are getting tired of them……

 

 

If you missed last week’s giveaway winner announcement, click HERE!

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

 

I have to have my priorities straight, soooooo…..

 

My daughters’ blog, Seven Sisters is up for "Best Teen Group Blog" on The Homeschool Blog Awards!

 

So if you aren’t already voting for a friend, family, etc., PLEASE consider voting for them HERE!

 

If you’ve never been to their blog (can’t imagine, but just in case!), you can visit them HERE!

 

 

Now that we have that taken care of,  on to the NEXT giveaway!!!!

 

You might be familiar with the name "Frances Ridley Haveral"– the hymnwriter who wrote "Take My Life And Let It Be" along with about 100 more. 

 

She learned to read at the age of 3, at 4 she began reading and memorizing the Bible, at 7 she started writing verse!  She gave her life to the Lord at age 14, and memorized the New Testament, Psalms, Isaiah and the Minor Prophets!

 

It is said that she never wrote a line without first praying over it.

 

 

She wrote "Morning Bells" as a complimentary book to her "Little Pillows".  "Morning Bells" was written to help children to awaken with Christ each morning.  LIttle ones are challenged to imitate Christ as they seek to live for Him in their daily lives.

 

I have a new copy of "Morning Bells", in paperback, that I am giving away this week!  

 

You can check it out at Amazon.com—follow THIS link.

 

Carol Brandt, author of "Old Paths for Little Feet" said of this book, "This is child evangelism as it should be: plain, simple, truthful, without manipulation or deceit."

 

I recently purchased a used copy that has both Little Pillows and Morning Bells and started using it last night with my littles!  I read about this at Ann Voskamp’s blog, A Holy Experience, in this post:  "How to Build a House of Prayer" (a very, very good post, by the way!  But aren’t they all?!) 

 

To enter this giveaway (you can do any combination of the following):

 

1. Tell me how you will use this book (or if you will give it as a gift) if you win.

 

2. Tell me what you are using now as a devotional with your children.

 

3. Are you memorizing Scripture?  And helping your children?   Let me know what you are memorizing, and any neat ideas you have for writing God’s Word on the hearts of your children.

 

4. Do you sing hymns/choruses/Scripture songs regularly as a family?  What are your favorites?  

 

5. Tell 3 friends about this giveaway.

 

6. Spread the word through blogs, forums, facebook, twitter, and link back to here.  Let me know that you did!  If you posted on your blog, be sure to leave me your blog address so I can check YOUR blog out!  (Neat way to find new blogs!)

 

7. DOUBLE POINTS!!!!!  DOUBLE POINTS!!!!!  DOUBLE POINTS!!!!!

If you decide to learn the song "Take My Life and Let It Be" by Frances Ridley Havergal this week (sing ALL the verses), let me know each day that you are singing it and learning it (I don’t expect you to memorize it, although it will get very familiar!  ) and any other entries you make that day will count DOUBLE!   

 

 

You may enter as many times as you like on #5 & #6, and if you come up with more ideas on #1, #2, #3 & #4, that is fine, too! 

 

Obviously #7 will just be reported once a day! 

 

 

This giveaway will run through midnight on Saturday, November 21, and the winner will be announced on Sunday, November 22. 

 

 

Be sure to leave me a way to contact you if you win!   I’m looking forward to seeing all your ideas for devotionals, memorizing helps and what songs you are learning!    Let’s have fun!

 

 

 

Angela (angdesa)!!!

 

Congratulations, Angela!   And thank you to EVERYONE who entered!

You can go to the T-Tapp site and enter their contest–and maybe win TappCore plus be able to order another workout at 50% off!   Just go HERE!

OR you can enter their other contest giveaway that goes every 10 days and win a choice of workouts HERE!

I’ll have more to post later this week about all the benefits I’ve gained (and inches lost! ) through T-Tapp, so "stay tuned"!

Again, thanks to ALL who have entered, and—–

Come back tomorrow for ANOTHER giveaway!    (I’m just having TOO much fun!   )

 

As promised, I have another giveaway this week!

 

 

I mean, it’s so much FUN!

 

 

Well, except that I want EVERYONE to win! 

 

 

With the holiday season upon us, we often are faced with LOTS of food, LOTS of tempting desserts, LOTS of reasons to not get workouts in, and LOTS of reasons to let go of a LOT of healthy things we normally do!!!

 

 

Added to that, how many of us would like to see our kids move more?  I forget the statistics, but more and more schools are completely cutting out P.E.  It wasn’t MY favorite class in school, either!   BUT–there are so many more media gadgets that actually keep kids indoors glued to screens vs. out playing games for fun and exercise, riding bikes, etc.

 

 

Added to THAT, in some parts of the country, just getting bundled up to weather the cold and do ANYTHING outside is a workout in itself! 

 

 

So for my second giveaway, I am going to help you!    You know I LOVE LOVE LOVE T-Tapp and all it’s done for me!  If you happen to NOT know that, I’ll give you a condensed version!  (If you want the long version, just click on T-Tapp in my Categories on the sidebar!   )

 

 

I’ve lost 131 inches and 7 sizes, going from a 22/24W to a size 10/12 in 2 1/2 years!   WITHOUT stressing about what I eat—no counting calories, eating regular meals with my family, just making a few healthy choices here and there and STILL enjoying my Endangered Species Dark Chocolate and a dessert at potlucks! 

 

I’ve only lost 19 pounds!  (Weight doesn’t matter!–Muscle and bone density DO!)

I have more energy, stamina, clearer thinking…..I have a lump under my arm that has reduced in size to be the smallest it’s been in TEN years!  

 

 

T-Tapp is about total body health for me!   Inch loss is great, and it "reels us in", but it’s the other benefits, the ones you can’t "measure", that really count!  (Here is a post on the T-Tapp  Forums that I did on that very subject a year or so ago!)

 

 

As my gift of health to YOU, I am giving away FREE the TappCore dvd that Teresa developed for schools!   There are 9 moves on here–each move has a 3-5 minute instructional, then the straight through move is about 2 minutes.   The walking one is longer (I haven’t timed it lately, but it’s not terribly long!).  She walks with Buddy in his little carry bag on her back during that one! 

 

Teresa told of one school where the teacher has the kids do Hoedowns about 2:00 in the afternoon–right before reading class!  Hoedowns have been proven to lower blood sugar and they clear the mind–these kids have super concentration after doing their afternoon Hoedown!

 

 

The goal is to try to get three of these moves over the course of a day.   But you can fit them in however it works with your schedule.   My younger girls do three at a time and love it!   In fact, we have a video of our youngest T-Tapper, Isaiah!

 

 T-Tapp Toddler (sorry about having to tilt your head–we’re working on that!)

 

 

Since I have a variety of readers with many different preferences, I will let you know that Teresa is in workout wear.  If you think that may be a problem for you for whatever reason, you might want to preview it and perhaps learn the moves so you can teach them to your kids (after all, when you teach you learn it better, right?!)

 

 

If you have specific questions to determine if this fits in with your family style and routine, please e-mail me (link on the sidebar).

 

 

I love Teresa’s heart!  She is all about health–yes, inches lost, looking good all count, of course.  But as one who got to spend nearly a week at her retreat and talked to her a few times one on one, I can assure you she is very real and truly desires health in ALL ages!  She’s even working on a dvd for Senior Fitness that should be out next year!  

 

You can click on the banner below for more information about T-Tapp at her website.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, I know!   How can you enter?

 

FIRST OF ALL!  

 

I forgot in last week’s giveaway to make sure you gave me a way to contact you!  If you plan to see if you win and then send me your contact information, that is fine!  (I know you might not be comfortable posting your e-mail address).  

 

And if you are a young person still at home, please make sure this is okay with your parents first!

 

1. Tell me how you plan to use this dvd if you win it.  I won’t be sending anyone to check up on you!  Just tell me what you think at this point you would do!

 

 

2. Tell three friends about this giveaway.

 

 

3. Blog, Tweet, post on facebook or a forum you’re on…..and let me know!

 

 

4. Think of ONE other healthy habit you can add during the Holiday season!  Some ideas:

 

 

~Drink more water (less soda or coffee)

 

~Eat more veggies (or, eat at least ONE veggie!  LOL!)

 

~Eat a good breakfast

 

~Eat fewer desserts! 

 

 

5. If you already T-Tapp or work out, let me know that you worked out that day and post it!  Tell me what you did!  

 

Here’s to better health–the T-Tapp way!   

 

 

Piglet2U!!!

Thank you EVERYONE for your wonderful entries!  It was so nice to read all your sweet comments and how many of you are going to start a Gratefulness Journal for your husbands or daddies!  You will bless them incredibly! 

I wish you ALL could have won!

I want to remind you that there are  wonderful resources at Revive Our Hearts–you can sign up for 30 Day Challenges, and two of them are a Gratefulness Challenge and a Husband Encouragement Challenge!  You will get an e-mail each day focusing on another aspect of gratefulness and encouragement.  I highly recommend them!    You can find them here.

Here are two more wonderful resources at Revive Our Hearts:

A Prayer for Women by Pastor John Piper

Characteristics of a Meek and Quiet Spirit

One more—this is available as a booklet, which I recommend you get one and keep it with your Bible to read through every day.   It has 28 Scriptures with self-examination questions in the first part, and it has 32 statements in the back part covering three categories of building your home up, or tearing it down–Attitudes, Words, Actions.  This lends itself very nicely to going through it in a month, reading one of the sections in the first part, then reading one set of statements in the second part (doubling up on the last day)!   I’ve been doing this for 10 years now (my cover has come off!) and it has helped me tremendously in focusing on what God would have me be as a woman whose heart is stayed upon Him, as well as what I call "True Heart Submission".

A Biblical Portrait of Womanhood

May these resources help you as you strive to be a Godly woman who is a blessing to the men in her life!

Again, thank you ALL for entering!

And another surprise……

Tomorrow I will have a second giveaway!  

See you in the morning! 

 

Note:  This post will remain at the top for the remainder of the week.  Please scroll down for any new posts.

(HaHa!  Maybe you better just click on the sidebar for

the newest post! LOL!

 

You all are doing great!)

 

Newest Post:  Gratefulness, Continued!

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

 

It’s finally here!  My first giveaway!  

 

 

November is the month of Thanksgiving–which seems to get swallowed up between Halloween and Christmas at the stores—and just as well.   Heaven help us all if they figure out a way to commercialize Thanksgiving!  

 

 

So for this giveaway, we will focus on being thankful!

 

 

I am giving away a triangular knit shawl made from Lion Brand Homespun yarn in the color "Baroque".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is plenty wide enough and long enough to wrap up your shoulders and arms on a coolish morning while you have your quiet time, or maybe on a cool evening while reading blogs on the computer!  

 

 

Along with the shawl is a lovely bound blank journal (and a pen–not pictured!) so you can create your own gratefulness journal!

 

 

 

 

 

But this isn’t "just" a gratefulness journal.

 

 

About 9 years ago I was challenged to start a Gratefulness Journal about my husband.   A place where I would write down the things I was thankful for in him.   Now at first, that was easy.  But you can only say, "He’s such a good husband/father/provider, etc." so many times!   It has been good for me to really think specifically what I am grateful for.

 

 

And to be honest, the times when I was a bit upset at him were the very times I needed to be writing in that journal….and I did!  It’s amazing how quickly a "big issue" gets scaled down to less-than-a-minor-glitch when you start focusing on what you have to praise God for in your mate!

 

 

I had misplaced the journal when we packed up our room for the remodeling, but I’m on a mission to find it and pick up where I left off!

 

 

And I challenge you, my readers, even if you don’t win this journal, to get one and start it.

 

 

"Oh, but I’m not married", you say?

 

 

You’re not off the hook either!   A young lady can write what she is grateful for in her father, and even her brothers!   It will be a good practice to be in so when you do marry, you’ll have a head start on "looking for the good"!  

 

 

And if you are a single mom for whatever reason, you can give thanks for perhaps a Godly woman who is your mentor, or for God Himself–specifically how He is helping you as you look to Him to be your all.

 

 

How to enter:

 

NUMBER ONE!  YOU  MUST DO THIS ONE NO MATTER WHAT OTHER WAYS YOU CHOOSE TO ENTER!  AND IF YOU ENTER ON ANOTHER DAY, YOU MUST DO THIS ONE AGAIN!

 

1.  Tell me one thing you are grateful for today about your husband (or daddy, etc.).    It can be about his character, something wonderful he’s done, how he’s weathered a trial, his quiet steady support….

 

2. Tell three friends about this giveaway and let me know that you did.

 

3. Post about the giveaway and link back here on your blog or facebook or twitter or whatever else is out there that I am so-not-savvy-about!     Just let me know that you did!

 

4. Tell me that you are going to start a Gratefulness Journal for your husband (or daddy).   And please DO IT!  If you want to wait to see if you win this lovely journal, that’s fine, but MAKE SURE YOU DO IT!  It will be an incredible blessing to you, and if/when you choose to share it with your husband or daddy, it will certainly bless him as well!

 

This giveaway runs from today, Monday, November 2, through Saturday, November 7, at midnight.    I will let Random.org pick the winner and announce it (hopefully!) on Sunday, November 8!

 

 

You may enter as many times as you like!   If, for example, you enter today, you will tell me one thing you are grateful for in your husband or daddy, etc., then maybe tell me you told three friends and posted about it on your blog.

 

If you happen to twitter about it tomorrow, and you want to come tell me, you must tell me another thing you are grateful for in your husband or daddy, etc.!   Does that make sense?  For each day that you comment about something you did, you also share something you’re grateful for!   And it counts each time you do it–as long as it’s not the same thing!

 

And please, no generic "He’s a good husband/daddy/provider"!   I want specifics! 

 

 

Happy "Thanksgiving"!