THANK YOU!

I am so grateful and humbled by this nomination. A Big thank you to Heather at Sassy Sensibility for nominating me. You should check her out blog, she has a great post “Declutter Your Chaos” and if you have any kids heading to college soon hurry over to http://www.sassysensibility.com/  for some great tips and advice.

My Journey:

My blog is very new; however, my journey to here is not. God clearly told me to write in 2003, and I started to write, I wrote a little for about 2 years, mostly I did a lot of research and grew in my faith. I just didn’t understand the writing, I never even wanted to write nor did I do well in English, and it was really such a crazy idea. So it quickly dwindled as you can imagine. About 9 months ago I felt this strong pull from the Lord again, as if He was saying “you are not following Me”, “you’re are not being obedient” and though He was gentle it was really tearing into me. So, I started writing again. I was praying about it, wasn’t sure where I was going with it, and then one day I heard, clear as day, “why not a blog” once you have heard the voice of the Lord, you pretty much know when He speaks. Still, I prayed and asked for clarification. I was saying, “really a Blog?” “Are you sure?” Well, He was sure… and He didn’t need to tell me, because I knew and the scriptures told me, the bible study told me, we were going through Gideon, by Priscilla Shirer. Yeah! I knew. God is good, and He brought me here and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me and this site! I have just very recently, as in today in church realized that I knew God wanted me to write over 10 years ago, yet I wasn’t ready for a blog, yes, I could have and should have been more obedient in the call to write, I would have been better prepared. As for blogging, I have only just recently been ready in my relationship with Him to take this step. It is scary and exciting and I am just so happy to be here I can’t quite explain it.

Advice for New Bloggers:

(I know the directions said 2, but I am going to give 3, I am not always good with rules! Sorry!)

1. Pray, Pray, Pray, take your time and then just jump on in! Okay that may sound like an oxymoron but stay with me. First pray, every day pray, before you do anything or make any decision take it to God first. Then as you set up your site take your time don’t be rushed. Yet, there comes a point now, you are just sitting in your comfort zone, that is when you need to jump in! You will never have your site 100% perfect before it goes live, there will always be a few things to work out after. Don’t worry, there are not 25K people waiting to look at your site the moment it goes live. You can work out bugs with a friend or family member.
2. If you are a Christian Blogger, get in touch with Carmen at http://www.marriedbyhisgrace.com/ who is my first nomination, she has been and still is an amazing support she has a list of 30 do’s and an ebook that I found so very helpful. Work through the 30 do’s!
3. One of my biggest fears was that I am not a writer, I don’t know proper form, sentence structure, etc… what I have found, mostly from reading blogs is that its more about finding “your voice” if that makes sense. Write as if you are talking to someone, keep it real, don’t lose you. I feel like I am still working to find what my “voice” really is, but the more I write the closer I feel I am to it. So just keep writing. And Love what you write about.

My Nominees:

1. Carmen Brown at http://www.marriedbyhisgrace.com/ she offers support and help to many Christian bloggers and is such a daily blessing to so, so many of us. Thank you, Carmen.
2. Chuck at https://dailywalkdevotion.com/ who gives a wonderful devotional 5 days a week, and how could I not nominate my Pastor who I think does an awesome job, always encouraging. Preaches the Word of God faithfully.
3. Deb Wolf at https://countingmyblessings.com/ Deb is a solid thoughtful Christian who always has something to say that I need to hear.
4. Anna Harris at http://www.thawingout.org/ she writes with such beauty and grace.
5. Diane Ferreira at http://www.worthbeyondrubies.com/ She is a powerful writer with some good words and often different perspective that is helpful for understanding.
6. Althea Elmore at http://www.letitbedone.org/ she is a real go getter and wise young woman.
7. Alison Tiemeyer at http://alisontiemeyer.com/ she has a wonderful site and supports women bloggers with everything from blogging, prayer, worries, and marriage.
8. Lureta at http://journeyingbyfaith.com/ what can I say when she says herself she is in the purposeful pursuit of an extraordinary God.
9. Brittany at http://www.gracespokenhere.com/ Christian Living, Children and Marriage, non of which are easy, all are worth it. And she offers some help and sanity.
10. Sony at http://www.healthylivingmom.com/start-here/ “you were meant for more” and she has easy to implement and empowering ways of thought to help you get there.
11. Debra Pedrow at https://debrapedrow.com/ She writes about the beauty of God’s Name. The name of the Lord is Holy!
12. Candice Crabtree at http://mercyisnew.com/ Candice open about depression dependent on prayer and God’s Word, plus I want to start the whole Bible Journal thing and she has some great info to get me started.
13. Tom at http://onewordblog.com/ I love this one-word concept for 2017 his word is joy, I hope this nomination is joyous for him.
14. Nora and Erin at https://www.centralcoastmama.com/ they have a blog that promotes moms that are doing great things and the central coast of California, which is the beautiful area that I am lucky to live in.
15. Tracy at http://www.mydailywalkinhisgrace.com/ who openly and honestly shares her life, struggles and all.

Nominee Instructions:

Below are the requirements for accepting this nomination:

• Thank the blogger that nominated you and provide a link to their blog
• Write a post to accept your award
• Give a brief summary of how your blog began
• Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers
• Select 15 of your own nominees for the award
• Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them then provide a link to the post you have created

In Closing:

Above all I would like to give God the glory, as I have said, this is His site and the results are His, so this is His! All His! As well as His timing, and His blessing to me! Thank You Lord! I would like again like to thank Heather at Sassy Sensibility for the nomination, I am humbled, honored and very grateful! Thank you! I would also like to thank my family, friends, readers, and supporters of all kinds, there are so many of you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you!

May God Bless you all!