Fabulous Mother's Day Giveaway!

Close your eyes for a moment and think of a few moments when life felt full. You know, those times when you felt as if you could simply stay forever–laughing, loving, enjoying God's goodness.

Who was with you in those moments? For many of us, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends were near. And it's likely that a table was close by too. We say so often that the kitchen is the hub of a home–the place where relationships are nurtured, hearts warmed, and bodies fed.  

Those moments matter so much because we live in a crazy, busy world. And taking time to return to full and abundant life–remembering we're created for being more than doing, for relationships more than work, for God and not ourselves–somehow puts everything else in perspective again.

The people who give us those moments are the ones who makes our lives richer, deeper, and more meaningful. And we love them for it. Jesus said He came to give us "life to the fullest" and so many times the family and friends are His hands, feet, and heart in doing so.

That's why DaySpring created the Life Collection just in time for Mother's Day. It's based on John 10:10, "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full."

And the wonderful news is that DaySpring is letting me share it with you!

(By the way, I always wonder, "Should I blog about this?" because I'm not here to sell you stuff. And if you ever feel like I am, I hope you e-mail me and tell me to knock it off. But I consider you friends and friends don't let each other miss out on anything fabulous, right?)

This week's giveaway is two place settings from the Life Collection. Each place setting includes all four plates shown above. You'll have a set for you and a set to share! You can keep the four plates together or divide them up as four separate gifts. They can be used as decorations, set out on plate stands, or serve up your favorite food (chocolate, anyone?). I've seen the plates in person and they're absolutely gorgeous.

The plates are just part of the entire Life Collection. There are also amazing items like these...

 

 

You can check out the rest of the collection and use coupon code LIFE20 for 20% of your total order from DaySpring.com (and there's free shipping for orders over $50).  Please be sure to share the love by passing this along to your friends and family too!

To be entered to win the plates, just leave a comment by midnight on Saturday sharing who you would give the other set to and why. If you're a subscriber, remember to go to the site to leave a comment rather than replying to the e-mail.

The winner will be announced on Monday morning so we can ship them to you in time for Mother's Day!

Reflect one more time on those moments when life felt full...then go find a way to make another one this Mother's Day.

I need an intervention

Let's say, hypothetically, that someone wrote a profound and deeply spiritual blog post about getting up to spend time with Jesus at 5am and then slept until 7am this morning...

Okay, okay, it's true. I did.  

(And did I mention that I'm supposed to be at work by 8 and it takes me 35 minutes to get there? Yeah, it was one of those mornings.)

I debated about whether or not to share this because, you know, some of you might have a little bit of a delusional idea that I might have some part of my life together.

But in the end I decided that I just can't keep anything from you so there it is. I bet the Proverbs 31 woman would not blog about such a thing and then oversleep. But she had servant girls so it's really not a fair comparison.

Anyway, I'm not going to make excuses. Except I will say that my hubby left at 4am this morning. After he was gone I fell back asleep and the rest is history.

So even though I've already goofed it up, I'm committed. But I need help, serious help. So all of you morning people and converted night owls, leave me a comment and tell me what I need to do. Please.

(By the way, all of this sleep talk reminds me of a story. When I was a newlywed, my husband--the ultra morning person--used to tell me, "You can get up early. You'll be fine!" I insisted that my hair would fall out or some other tragedy would occur if I got up a moment before it was really necessary. One morning he left for work early. My alarm went off, I got a shower, and was eating breakfast when the phone rang. My hubby asked, "Hey, whatcha doing?" I told him I was about to head out the door. He started laughing and then confessed to changing all the clocks in our apartment to an hour later. "See," he said quite cheerily, "You can get up early." Oh, I love that man, but it's amazing he's still alive.)

So if you don't help me, I'll have to ask Mark for assistance and he's likely to take drastic measures again--like installing an eject button on my side of the bed. Let's not give him the opportunity.

At this moment I'm feeling thankful for grace. And thankful for all of you lovely readers who don't judge me. You're not judging, right?

When life presses in, we can reach out for love again

The crowd is thick--joyful, busy, full of life.

But she is alone, afraid, wondering if she should even be there. For years no one has touched her. The elbows jostling, arms bumping, and shoulders brushing feel welcome and uncomfortable.

Then she sees the one she has been waiting for during twelve long years of suffering. Perhaps she had been in the crowd many times. But today she slips through the people, tentatively at first, and then using her elbows, voice, and hands until she stands within a foot or so of him. Fear grips her, taunting thoughts run through her mind, but she has come too far to turn away now.

One trembling hand reaches out and touches the edge of His cloak. In an instant she feels the pain stop and then a sudden, inexplicable surge of joy. She knows she has found healing, hope, life--everything that has been missing for so long.

He turns and asks, "Who touched me?"

She hadn't expected this. Her plan had been to remain unnoticed. But Jesus asks, and trembling, she finally answers.

He looks at her with eyes of love, eyes that seem to really know, and says, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace" (Luke 8:48). 

One of our pastors, Matt Newman, shared a great message from that story last night. As I listened I had this thought: So often I settle for staying in the crowd. It's not that Jesus is far away. I feel like I can see him and often even hear him. But life is busy. I'm having fun with my friends. I'm right in the middle of the action. In so many ways, I'm distracted.

Eventually I get tired, worn out, and frustrated with life. I long for something more. Last night I realized that's because I'm not taking those final steps to intentionally come close to Christ--close enough to touch him, receive his grace, and find what my heart needs each day.

So I just did something crazy. I signed up for the 5:16 club. It's a group of women who are committed to spending time with God each morning. You can read more about how it started here. You can choose whatever time you'd like but I picked 5:16.

As I'm typing this a part of me is already asking myself, "What were you thinking?" I'm not a morning person, as many of you know. The infamous story is that I once put chocolate on the alarm clock to bribe myself to get out of bed. I ate it and back to bed. Like I said, not a morning person.

But in spite of that, I know the answer to the question above. I was thinking that it's time to get out of the crowd and get close again. It's time to focus less on doing and more on being. It's time to reach out again and touch the one who has touched me.

In so many ways, for so many reasons, it's time to get up.

 

Would any of you like to join the 5:16 club with me? If so, leave a comment here and then sign up at the 5:16 site. If you do, I'll commit to praying for you each morning. And I would love for you to do the same for me--I'm definitely going to need it! Let's share this with other women too. I believe we can do this together by the grace of God and the power of very strong coffee!