the sparrow and a giveaway... {updated}

{winner of giveaway is named at the bottom of the post...}


we sit out in the sun once school is done and lunch is hot,

the three of them and me soaking up all that light.


they pretend we are at a beach and dig through the rock bed to find those sea shells left behind.


and i think back to this very day one year ago,

the one where he got here first and unlocked that front door and waited for us to join him.


it's been a year since this address became our own.


and i felt so very lost.

but like that sparrow that He has His eye on,

He had His eye on me,

on us...


i think back to that journey that led me here...

the one that really started way back when i first said yes to His call on my heart.

the path that has so many twists and turns,

detours

and brokenness...


but i have never been out of His sight.


there are moments when that thought is hard to grasp,

when i wonder if at times, one sparrow can be harder to love than others...

or easier to overlook...


when you find yourself completely alone and unknown, it can feel that way...

and it's in those weeks before He opens those doors,

before we find ourselves walking into that warmth of that church,

before i find myself at a table,

a park,

around our dinner table,

and see Him open my heart and theirs.


it's in the quiet of those days that find us learning how to live this new life out that i come to know how deeply i am Loved,

by Him.

i'm not just another timid heart perched on a branch of fear ~

i am cherished,

provided for,

known,

seen.

every once in a while, those feelings still surface...

when circumstances overwhelm,

or loss threatens to topple new found confidence in Him.


but it's true, regardless...

He loves because i am His.


and it's on one of those days that the box is delivered,

filled with the reminders that it has nothing to do with anything i've done,

but everything to do with what He has done...

and a heart that has been given much


can't help but overflow.




Dayspring has graciously sent me a copy of holley gerth's new book, You're Already Amazing, as well as the reminder that i am loved to hang on my wall and a mug that holds more than coffee in my hands...

i would love to pass onto you, in a small way, a big reminder of how deeply you are loved by Almighty God.

an extra mug was placed in that brown box that landed on my door step...perhaps it is for you?

if you would like to be entered in to receive both the mug and the book, please leave a comment (or two or three...) in the  box below?  i'll draw out a sweet name on the 27th of march and send both to find themselves at your front door...


and maybe, if you find yourself overwhelmed and drowning in what is swirling around you right now, You will find Him and His deep love for you at the bottom of it all...

*********

 


disclosure: i received all the products mentioned above from Dayspring in return for my blog review. all opinions are completely mine and true.


and now...very belatedly...the reveal:

becky - random.org has chosen *you* as the winner of the sweet mug and book and i will send them off in the mail to you in the next day or two.  so happy.  thank you to everyone else for entering in your names in my little giveaway - wish i could send something to each of you...

the month of here {day14}...3,646

i kind of like books.

i have a few i'm reading right now,

not including the two in my purse and the three in the van and the five on order at the library.


i love the words inside.

the characters, the places, the thoughts and ideas that find themselves buried within pages of text.


they pile up beside our bed.


there always seems to be one open somewhere.

and since becoming a mama, i tend to flip back and forth between any number of books at one time.


and then that doorbell had to ring.


and that deliveryman just had to drop off 3,646 pages of unexpected sheer delight right here on our front step.



and it doesn't seem to matter where one moves to, where they have come from...


if one carries timeless words with them, they are never really that far from wherever here finds you.

and i give thanks on this fourteenth day of this month that finds me here...and for the gift of 3,646 new pages to get lost in.

something new...

because i'm crazy an avid book lover, when i came across this opportunity to not only read a book *for free!!*, but write a review for it as well, i couldn't pass up the opportunity.

i'm mean, i already have so much spare time on my hands...

but the good thing is, i can read at my own pace - not a lot of pressure, and then i'll post the my review here and then at amazon.com.

i'm pretty darn excited!

so...this is the book i'm choosing to read.

it's for younger girls, but with the current trend of *fatherless* daughters, i feel it's an important topic to not only read about, but to be prepared with some answers to address the pain.

so, be speedy mr. postman!!  i'm eagerly awaiting my newest read!!