Kerusso Christian T-Shirt & Travel Mug Giveaway - #MothersDay

Disclosure:  The good people at Kerusso provided me with their products today to share with you.  As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Kerusso, the creator of Christian T-shirts for over 25 years, is our generous sponsor today.

It's hard to believe that we're already on Day 5 here at our 2014 Mother's Day Gift Guide.

Julie @ Mamawj's Moment Away is my co-hostess and we've been posting wonderful gift idea selections all week. We still have Saturday & Sundays exciting giveaways to announce! And each one of those items has one or even two giveaways for our readers.  So you'll want to click here so you can check them all out.  But if you just go to my page, then you're missing 1/2 the fun because Julie is reviewing a few different items with more chances for you win some lovely prizes.  Do I know my readers or what?  Y'all love winning goodies!

Moms everywhere from Australia to Florida are looking forward to having a day they can call all their own.  Mother's give every single day of the year, how can we possibly miss giving back to them on this one special day?  And that day is just around the corner on Sunday May 11th.

Mom's are everything but fuddy-duddy now.  And they don't need no fuddy-duddy stinkin' gift either.  So why not get them something fun like an uplifting T-shirt and a happy travel mug with a spirit quote.

Having positive messages surround me, like the ones on all of Kerusso's items, lift me up and keep what's important in the forefront of my mind.  Best of all and most importantly, it spreads the love of God without you ever having to say a word.  It's nice to think that someone looking at your T-shirt or other Kerusso item, would pause and reflect on the message of Jesus and the love that he has for all of us.  What a blessing it would be to make a difference in someone elses life!!

I can't think of a single time that something of major importance happened in my life, that I didn't turn immediately to my heavenly Father.  Whether it be for comfort from him or praise to him, he has always been the one constant in my life.  I'm so blessed and so are YOU!

To know more about this company you should know more about the man who started it. Read Vic's testimony and see what how God spent years leading a young self-professed 5th grade atheist to a becoming a believing Christian by the time he was 15. God is so gracious - so good.

Btw, have you heard about the new movie coming to theaters on Mother's Day weekend May 9th, called "Moms Night Out"?  This should be a fun movie for the whole family since it's rated PG and of course it would make a great mom's night out for you and your girlfriends too.

The movie centers around a Allyson, a stay at home mom with three kids.  As she deals with the daily and sometimes overwhelming chaos of her life she decides to put together a ladies night out.  Oh' what fun ensues, when the dad's have to manage on their own.  I can't wait to see this movie.  Even husbands are gonna love this one.  I love Trace Adkins and I've heard that provides the best performance in the movie.

You're probably wondering why, I'm even telling you about the movie when we're not giving away movie tickets.  Actually it's because the movie ties in with the T-shirt we are giving away.  Kerusso is proud to be the exclusive licensee of MOMS' NIGHT OUT apparel and Julie and I are so proud to be able to share their apparel with our readers.

In honor of Mother's Day, Kuresso is giving one lucky reader their choice of one of the two T-shirts and one of the 2 travel mugs below.  That's right you receive one of each. You'll be one hot mama on the go!!

Julie received the "Beautiful Mess""Come to Jesus just as you are Flip Flops and all" tumbler!!  I love them & I may have to order those two for myself.

I chose the "Full-Time Mom" T-shirt and the "This is the day the Lord has made" tumbler.

Aren't they all FUN!

But lucky you will get to make your own choices of these.

*Prize fulfillment may change according to availability.

But you don't have to wait to win our giveaway head over to kerusso.com now and checkout all the great items they sell for men, women and kids.  Kerusso is so much more than T-shirts, they sell accessories, purses, magnets, toys and more.

Time for a giveaway and you know the drill.  Just use this simple Giveaway Tools form below to enter for your chance to win.

Entry-Form

Good Luck Y'all...

He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.  He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked.

~ Ezekiel 18:7

Jesus' face appears in Florida

A woman right here in Florida says she looked up and saw Jesus' face in the power box.

Accorging to MSN, a Florida woman says Jesus has returned -- to a power box across from her mobile home. "I came out on the patio and I was praying and I just looked over back towards the woods and I seen this here," the woman told WKMG. "And it was a comfort to me." The Jesus-shaped likeness attracted her neighbors, who crowded around the nonworking meter to take pictures of the image with their cell phones.

What do think? It's a shame the picture's not bigger or clearer so we could get a better idea. Wouldn't it be wonderful to think that Jesus sends image reminders out to give us all faith and hope in such difficult times. What a great way to get the message across....

JESUS IS ALL POWERFUL.

 
I don't know if this is a true miracle. There have been so many sightings over the years by over zealous people trying to make the unbeliever change their mind. Maybe they did it with good intentions (not that I think it's right- quite the contrary).

If it is dis-proven as a hoax that's terrible. If it's never proven to be a miracle, does it really matter? The point is, it got us talking, thinking and more than likely just a little bit hopeful that YES, Jesus does want us to know that he's right here with us, listening during these hard times. I know that the woman in Florida is probably sleeping very good tonight.

Sorry that I've been missing in action lately. I'm obsessed with spring cleaning, renovations, DIY projects and even yard work. By the way, when you clean does it seem to get worse before it gets better? I have to drag everything out at once which leads to another thing and so on and so on. I've got at least every room in my house totally messed up. Neils doing sheet rock repairs so everything comes out of that room. In the mean time I tackle another room. No kidding we have mudding going on in 3 rooms right now. Everything is in the dining room and living room. Not a clean room in the house, I tell you.

When I'm not doing one of the above I'm usually rubbing my arthritis aching foot or nursing a sinus headache. Darn spring pollen, it's killin' me. Anyway, I'm having a hard time even going to the computer. I'll try to get my time organized this weekend and be back on track next week.

Hugs ya'll......Tracy ♥

Miracle Mondays - Have you been blessed?

Hello Dear Friends.

It's another Miracle Monday.

Often I like to take my bible and flip to a page, praying that the Lord will give me a message that I need to hear. It seems to give me comfort when nothing else will. It makes me feel like God is giving a visible message to me. This time I specifically prayed for a positive message, hoping that this is what all my Monday posts will consist of.

This is what I received and would like to pass on to you.

Psalms 107:1-2 ~ 1. Say "THANK YOU" to the Lord for being so good, for always being so loving and kind. 2. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.

Psalms 107:13-15 ~ 13. Then they cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he rescued them! 14. He led them from the darkness and shadow of death and snapped their chains. 15. Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds!

We will never know the reason the people of Haiti have had to face the horrific tragedy that they did last week but our faith in our Father should never falter. We are human and we sometimes can't help but question why but isn't that where faith takes over? Isn't that when we know we have to trust him? We teach our children to question everything, we tend to question everything. There's nothing wrong with that. It would be unwise not to. That is, unwise not to question everything. However, there is a place in our lives for blind faith. The blind faith only a Christian can know. Most of us, (I say most because, I believe some have) have never seen Christ with our own eyes. We've heard his voice whisper in our ears, maybe it's a thought heavy in our hearts and on our mind, maybe it's something in the beauty of nature that is awe-inspiring. I'm sure there is something that you have experienced that you knew was a message from God. Maybe you just felt God's love. Isn't that blind trust?

The people of Haiti are a strong nation of believers, even as a countless number of their people die around them you still hear voices of praise. This week we've seen our fellow Americans come to the aid of the Haitian people. Even in the depths of our own depressing economy, people have found a way to give. No matter how large or small, I am certain the people of Haiti see it as a miracle, a miracle of God. I know I do.

I believe that Haiti's devastation has provided Americans and other countries around the world with a new message of love. The message, that each person can make a difference to another person. Each person has something they can offer to someone else no matter how poor or how insignificant they think their own life is. Suddenly we realize that we are much richer than we thought we were. We are blessed more than we deserve.

So here is a Miracle that I'd like to share with you.

The economy has not been good to us the past year but we have been much luckier than most. Well the trickling down effect has finally reached us full blown. We have been retired for a while now. This has not been a lavish retirement. Really no extras at all. But God has a plan and though we didn't know it, we would be required to take care of Neil's mother and this has allowed us to do that. Fortunately we have rental property that has been our income. In one office we had a mortgage broker. Well as you can imagine the economy hit them hard and they had to move. Then the next two tenants had to leave as well, so we're down to one. This week we got what we had expected, (maybe that's part of the problem, we shouldn't have expected it), the last tenant said he is leaving at the end of the month to work out of his home. So here we are with 4 empty offices and mortgages just like everyone else.

Because of this I felt that I couldn't give to a charity at this time. I couldn't help out the people of Haiti. This bothered me so much. It really was weighing on my mind. Well Friday night we watched Hope for Haiti, where the celebrities came together in the most moving way. It was touching and the music was so moving. I don't normally watch music award type shows.

Well one person (remember, sometimes it only takes one person to change a life), called in and said if only everyone could give $5.00. That's when I realized I had $9.00 (pathetic, hun?) left in my paypal account. They accepted paypal and I gave $5.00. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not boasting about this. You'll see this is a part of my miracle.

Ebay has been very slow the last year or so because of the economy. Everything and everyone is hurting somewhat. I haven't been selling much at all. Days go by with no sales. When I woke the next morning I went to check my email. Now I never wake up this early, 7:30 am, we are night owls, boring, stay at home night owls, but night owls non-the-less. Well one woman (remember one person can make a difference), had went to my store and purchased 3 items and had questions about more. She ended up purchasing 5 items for a total of $51.00. I keep feeling like you will think I'm boasting, look at the good thing I did. Even the Lord says to give or pray without boasting, but that's not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to share his miracle in my life, his goodness to me with you. I was in utter amazement as I knew this was straight from God. By the next day I had sold 3 I had been given a return of 10 fold on my small gift. more items. The point that I'm trying to make is that my head told me I didn't have it to give but my heart had the message of the Lord telling me to have faith and step out without fear.

It doesn't matter what you give. It could be clothing; no matter how bad we think it may look it could provide covering for someone who has none. It could be food, for surely they are lacking. It could be your time of collecting donations, helping a charity sort items, load a truck, etc. Each person has an opportunity to help. And prayer for these people is a mighty thing and everyone can do that. See if your heart doesn't feel better. It sure took my mind off my troubles and depression at least for awhile.

I hope all of you start the week with the promise of hope. I pray that blessings fill your home. Please take a moment and share your blessing or miracles with us. If all you do is shout out I'm here, that is a blessing to me!

With much love and thanks..........Tracy :)

Look At What, I Mean Who I've Found Now

Hi. I want to share with ya’ll my new find. My new find by the way, is a person. It seems the Lord has already answered one of my prayers this year many times over. And here is the why and how.

Those who follow me know I have only been blogging since July 2009. And do you remember me saying how just a few months back before I started blogging I keep wondering what the big hoopla was about? I just couldn’t grasp it. I mean what’s the point. I’m not a world traveler or a movie star so why would people want to post about there lives and certainly why would anyone care about mine? Then I came across a couple of sights and okay, I hear you giggling, and you know what happens next.

One suddenly introduces me to another and then to another and omg, I can’t cut the computer off. I can’t go to bed.

Here is a little replay:

Me: What? Ya’ll want me to fix dinner, or you kidding I can barely keep my eyes open, my arms ache and my neck aches and there’s still more to see.

I know ~ keep going. I will get to the original point of this post soon.

Well I finally drag myself away from the computer, oh my it was hard, and suddenly I look around…..what in the world happened here?!!! When did my house get like this? Why are ya’ll sitting at the table with your forks in your hands? LOL!!!

I know I can’t possibly be the only one this ever happened too. Un-huh, that’s just what I thought. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Oh boy, I was hooked ~ hook, line and sinker.

Anyway back to my answered prayer. Ya’ll were wondering when I'd get back on track, weren’t you? When I started blogging I was feeling really alone and I wasn’t spending time with the Lord. I had pulled away, depressed thinking, he’s just got to be sick of me. Feeling like I couldn’t ask him for anything because I wasn’t doing anything on my own to change the way my life was. I was thinking how can I ask for anything when there are people out there with real problems. I can’t be that selfish.

Keep going, quit yawning and stop that giggling! I’m getting there.

Well for those of you who know the Lord, your probably going “silly girl”. As it got closer to Christmas I got lonelier. It’s my favorite time of the year. There was lots of crying a few weeks before but all was better by Christmas. No, nothing changed at my house but inside everything changed. Christ took me in his arms and comforted me. He took away the pain I was feeling from being the only one at my house who cared about the holiday. No tree this year and no Christmas. No Christmas ~ only in the meaning that we didn’t celebrate with with the festivities, and we usually put up 2 trees indoors and lots outside. I mean I have the attic full, plus the little house shed is at least half full and the laundry room at the other house is almost full of my Christmas. Heck, I used to go decorate MIL's house too. I don’t know if next year will be any better, I can’t change other people but I can still celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I still long for the joyous celebration and for people to enjoy it with, which includes the decorating, planning, hope and expectations and things like that. Maybe you can even pray that joy will once again be apart of my home.
How I do go on and on without ever getting to the point.

I am amazed, I mean amazed at how God has a plan way before we can even imagine it. I mean, I started blogging, still struggling, feeling so hurt and so lonely, praying, wondering if he was listening. Oh, but was he ever listening. I had no idea he already had a plan in the works. He has brought so many unbelievably kind people into my universe. These people, ya’ll, have touch me and moved me to tears ~ the good kind! Ya’ll have helped me feel loved again and worthy of Gods time. Because of you I have found my way back to the grace of God. I could go on and on.



Once again…..Let’s get to the POINT already.

I’d like to introduce you to one very sweet soul. Her name is KYMBERLY from Free Trinkets and Treasures. Actually she has several blogs. And yes, her kindness to me did influence my opinion ~ Ha-ha. If you have never been by to visit her, I urge you to now. She is so warm and kind. She loves anything and everything VINTAGE, just like the rest of us. She loves crafting and you’ll love her. Just take a look at the beautiful images and sweet words she posted about me and the upcoming Miracle Mondays I have planned. What a generous soul. She didn't know me from Adam (or Eve), but she made me feel as special as can be. Thank you, Kymberly. Click here to go to Kymberly’s blog and be sure to tell her I said hi.
http://freetrinketstreasures.blogspot.com/2010/01/today-is-angel-day.html
I hope you all have a beautiful weekend. Just be sure to come back and share it with me.

Warm Hugs......Tracy :)

I've Been Asking and Now I'm Listening

Hi Ya’ll. I know I haven’t been posting a lot lately but I have been checking in on everyone and enjoying all your post and pictures. So many of you have new blog pages and headers too. They’re all so pretty. I see I’m not the only one that’s excited about the New Year and the changes it promises to bring.

Isn’t it exciting knowing that there’s a fresh start? Even if it’s only in our mind. I mean really we can start over any time. We don’t need a calendar to do that. That is the glory of God. He’s not like the insurance company saying you can start a new program only once or twice a year and you can’t use all your benefits up. Isn’t that a wonderful thought ~ You Can’t Use All Your Benefits Up ~ EVER!!!!

The Lord doesn’t look at us and say I’ve worked with you for 12, or 16 or however many years and say schools over, either. He doesn’t tell us, teaching is done and times up, here’s your test, either pass or fail, we’re done. No, he would never tell us that. We are all still children to our heavenly father. As we yearn to learn, he yearns to fulfill us. He can’t wait to reward us with his love and kindness. It’s just as we as parents hate taking our children’s toys because we have to teach them a lesson. We want them to enjoy all that we can give them. Have you ever had something that you were so excited to give your children because you know it was going to be something that they’d really wanted, only to have to hold on to it because they had done something that wasn’t in following with their parents wishes. Isn’t that just the worst. I think we’re usually more disappointed than they are. I believe this is how our Heavenly Father feels about us. He takes great joy in giving to us and meeting our needs. All he ask in return is that we acknowledge who our Father is and aim to live by his word and be pleasing to him. Like any other parent, he asks us to listen. Pretty simple, hun? Just listen. Listen for his word. Pray for his guidance. No problem is too little nor is it too big.

I don’t know how others feel and I always enjoy others opinions and thoughts but I’ve been timid in telling the Lord everything, and asking for all I need. I am trying to overcome the thought that the Lord doesn’t have time to be troubled with me. I ‘m always thinking…..Tracy, he’s tired of you looking to him for everything, if you can’t take on some responsibility and get it done on your own, he doesn’t want to hear it. Well, that’s just not true! Thank goodness!!! Jesus is so different from that. He is not just one of our friends, or family or acquaintances that’s excited to help at first and then grows weary. He’s patient, kind and loving and never tiring.

I never intended this blog to be all about religion. I do want it to be about me, just the same as I visit your blogs to know more about you. Right now, I’m on a new journey to walk closer to the Lord. I’m searching to learn more about myself as well. I think this year will prove to be very positive. I hope to share more crafting, up-cycling and other fun stuff with you. More about my hitting my 50 year milestone, what that means and where that will lead.

I have lots of questions for all of you and could use all your support and suggestions.

Hopefully this is my first step into posting more often. I wanted to start out today with a new regular weekly post called “Miracle Mondays”. I’ve thought about this for years, way before blogging. I’m interested in having you share your miracles with me here. I know there must be something special, a moment or even a feeling that you’ve experienced that you would like to share with others. Kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul. So next week I hope to have my first official post on Miracle Mondays and I hope you will all come by and hopefully contribute something or support those who do. I’m super excited about this. Please stay with me on this journey and lets see what we have to discover.

Just so you know all of my followers have already been a part of this journey, whether you knew it or not. You’re love and outpouring has been overwhelming. You’ve all been such a huge part in me dealing with the ups and downs of depression.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I hope to see you next Monday if not before.

Warm hugs and Warm blessings to each of you….Tracy :)