Ok, I meant to get this posted sooner than past midnight. However, just a reminder to everyone that the photography contest ends today at Midnight- Mountain Standard time.
Thank you to those who have entered so far! I am very excited about your entries and can't wait to start judging them. :-) There are also some prizes, so be sure to keep an eye out for those!!
Hope you all are having a wonderful time... sleeping? I guess that is what most people would be doing at this hour. ;-) haha! In any case, I'll probably have to give y'all a post on WHY I am up so late. Trust me, it's good. If you are a girl, you'll love it. If you are a guy... well, you might like it since it kind of has to do with hunting.... confusing? Yeah, you're right. I should go to bed. =D
In Christ's Service,
Me
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Romance movies: Are they bad? How do they affect us?
As my sister, Mom, and I were watching a cute romance comedy, I began 'swooning' over the main actor. If it could be called swooning.. Perhaps that is a rather strong word. Still, I sat there wishing I could find a guy like that. Cute, romantic, selfless, gentlemanly, a Manly man, etc. Am I the only girl that has done this? I don't think so. In fact, I know so.
I'll tell you why....
My friends and I were visiting one day and started talking about movies we had seen. I mentioned a certain movie, and off we went, admiring the wonderful hero of the tale. How wonderful he was, etc, etc.
Alright, now that you don't think I'm crazy, I'll continue with my story.....
As I sat there watching, getting that warm feeling, and feeling 'gushy', it suddenly hit me. Was I wrong in feeling that way? I mean, here I was pining over this guy (who really doesn't exist.. he's just a character on the screen, and the actor who played him-well, you can throw him out the door...). Wasn't that the same as giving my heart away to a real guy I actually knew? I pondered over this for a while and came up with this thought.
Romance movies, while they are fun and sentimental, can be harmful to young ladies. Your typical hero in a movie (or even a book!) is pretty perfect, isn't he? He has all the wonderful characteristics. Everything you'd want in a guy. He's handsome, tall, masculine, gentle, honorable, strong, protective, a wonderful leader, treats his love like a lady, etc. You get the picture. So, is it bad to want a guy like that? Absolutely not! However, we have to be careful to make sure we aren't giving our hearts away to a character (I know it sounds odd, but I do believe it is possible.)
We women want a guy like that. Does he exist? Absolutely! But, he won't fit that picture perfectly. Do we flatter ourselves by thinking that WE fit the perfect lady criteria? Who ever God has in mind for you will be the perfect one. He will be your 'knight in shining armor'.
So, ladies, how do we keep our hearts pure when we are constantly surrounded by dating, boyfriend/girlfriend pressure, romance movies, etc? Well, here are a few things that I have found to be helpful.
1. If you are praying daily that Jesus will help to keep your heart pure, then I promise He will help!
2. Have a good relationship with your Father in Heaven. If you are on a one-on-one relationship with the Lord, then your heart is going to be completely His. Once you have given Him your heart (and we aren't talking about when you invite Jesus to come into your heart) to hold until it is ready to be given to your husband, it will help a lot. You just have to remember to not take it back from Him when you want to!
3. One thing to try, when you feel like taking your heart back, is to just stop, drop, and pray! If you find yourself feeling attracted to a guy (let's face it, it's gonna happen!), just start praying that God will continue holding your heart, and He will help you keep it safe and pure.
Those are just a few tips from things I have learned throughout my years of struggling with this.
And here's another bit. I have found that I tend to yearn to my guy most when my relationship with my Dad isn't in it's best shape. Relationships do have to be tended to 24/7. Its not like you become friends and voila! You're done. Nope, gotta work on them constantly. So, sometimes my relationship with my Dad is in tip top shape. Other times it is lacking. So, when my relationship isn't really great with my dad (this typically happens when I haven't had a good talk with him in a long time), I tend to start wanting a guy's friendship more and more.
One of the many reasons we have Dads is to supply our girl hearts with guy love. Our Dad's give us that 'Daddy love' and our hearts are satisfied. Once we get older, we want more and more of it. Our Dad's fill us up again. So, we get our 'Man love' from our Dad's and then, once we are married, we get it from our husbands. Got created us to yearn for that kind of love. But He also gave us something to give that to us until our husbands come along. Dads! :-)
So, are romance movies bad? I don't think so.... just as long as we are focusing on not giving our hearts away to a character and reserving it for our Husbands instead.
Stay tuned for part 2!
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
P.S. if you have something to add to this post, please share it in a comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I'll tell you why....
My friends and I were visiting one day and started talking about movies we had seen. I mentioned a certain movie, and off we went, admiring the wonderful hero of the tale. How wonderful he was, etc, etc.
Alright, now that you don't think I'm crazy, I'll continue with my story.....
As I sat there watching, getting that warm feeling, and feeling 'gushy', it suddenly hit me. Was I wrong in feeling that way? I mean, here I was pining over this guy (who really doesn't exist.. he's just a character on the screen, and the actor who played him-well, you can throw him out the door...). Wasn't that the same as giving my heart away to a real guy I actually knew? I pondered over this for a while and came up with this thought.
Romance movies, while they are fun and sentimental, can be harmful to young ladies. Your typical hero in a movie (or even a book!) is pretty perfect, isn't he? He has all the wonderful characteristics. Everything you'd want in a guy. He's handsome, tall, masculine, gentle, honorable, strong, protective, a wonderful leader, treats his love like a lady, etc. You get the picture. So, is it bad to want a guy like that? Absolutely not! However, we have to be careful to make sure we aren't giving our hearts away to a character (I know it sounds odd, but I do believe it is possible.)
We women want a guy like that. Does he exist? Absolutely! But, he won't fit that picture perfectly. Do we flatter ourselves by thinking that WE fit the perfect lady criteria? Who ever God has in mind for you will be the perfect one. He will be your 'knight in shining armor'.
So, ladies, how do we keep our hearts pure when we are constantly surrounded by dating, boyfriend/girlfriend pressure, romance movies, etc? Well, here are a few things that I have found to be helpful.
1. If you are praying daily that Jesus will help to keep your heart pure, then I promise He will help!
2. Have a good relationship with your Father in Heaven. If you are on a one-on-one relationship with the Lord, then your heart is going to be completely His. Once you have given Him your heart (and we aren't talking about when you invite Jesus to come into your heart) to hold until it is ready to be given to your husband, it will help a lot. You just have to remember to not take it back from Him when you want to!
3. One thing to try, when you feel like taking your heart back, is to just stop, drop, and pray! If you find yourself feeling attracted to a guy (let's face it, it's gonna happen!), just start praying that God will continue holding your heart, and He will help you keep it safe and pure.
Those are just a few tips from things I have learned throughout my years of struggling with this.
And here's another bit. I have found that I tend to yearn to my guy most when my relationship with my Dad isn't in it's best shape. Relationships do have to be tended to 24/7. Its not like you become friends and voila! You're done. Nope, gotta work on them constantly. So, sometimes my relationship with my Dad is in tip top shape. Other times it is lacking. So, when my relationship isn't really great with my dad (this typically happens when I haven't had a good talk with him in a long time), I tend to start wanting a guy's friendship more and more.
One of the many reasons we have Dads is to supply our girl hearts with guy love. Our Dad's give us that 'Daddy love' and our hearts are satisfied. Once we get older, we want more and more of it. Our Dad's fill us up again. So, we get our 'Man love' from our Dad's and then, once we are married, we get it from our husbands. Got created us to yearn for that kind of love. But He also gave us something to give that to us until our husbands come along. Dads! :-)
So, are romance movies bad? I don't think so.... just as long as we are focusing on not giving our hearts away to a character and reserving it for our Husbands instead.
Stay tuned for part 2!
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
P.S. if you have something to add to this post, please share it in a comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Giveaway closed and winner
The desktop and header giveaway is now closed!!
And the winner is.......
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ELLA!!! Congratulations, Ella! Please leave a comment with your email address. (I won't publish it). I will send it to Miss Sonja and Miss Ashley and they will send/get to work on your prizes! Thank you so much for entering. :-)
And the winner is.......
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ELLA!!! Congratulations, Ella! Please leave a comment with your email address. (I won't publish it). I will send it to Miss Sonja and Miss Ashley and they will send/get to work on your prizes! Thank you so much for entering. :-)
Monday, October 17, 2011
Been wondering what's going on? (plus a prayer request!)
Ok, maybe I flatter myself by thinking that my readers even wonder if anything is up. However, I thought that perhaps they might have noticed that I didn't post a recipe for two Fridays in a row, and that last week's posts were rather disoriented.
I'm here to tell you that I have been rather busy. Ok, that is a lame excuse, I suppose... When I decided to do this whole shebang, I forgot that it would land right in the middle of cattle season! Whoops! So, my family and I have been a bit busy working cows, doing regular chores, and trying to do a decent amount of school work in our spare time. Yeah.
Just so you know, I won't be doing any of the "regular" posts this week. So, in other words- no giveaways, recipes, etc. I might do some of the interviews, but I'm still getting that all worked out. My sister and I realized that it would be a whole lot more fun if we had prizes for the winners of the photography contest. So, I've been trying to organize what I have on the list so far (of items to giveaway) and deciding which items to do as giveaways and which items to do as prizes. Doesn't help any when you come up a few short! Oh well, it will work out eventually, I guess! Sorry, I'm rambling.....
What you might see this week-maybe-would be a couple of posts that I've had laid on my heart to write up. If you don't see anything this week, then just come back next week as I get back into the swing of things for the LAST WEEK in our Photography contest. Remember that you've only got 16 more days-SIXTEEN- to get your entries in and spread the word! Thank you to those who have entered so far. It looks like it is going to be a pretty tough choice to pick winners! :-)
Alright, I guess I don't have a whole lot more to say. Off to 'hold down the fort' (it can literally become one with two brothers playing soldiers... ha, at least I get to be the General!).
Oh, please be praying for a dear friend of ours, Mrs. H. She just recently had her third little boy by C-section due to the fact that the baby just didn't want to come out. However, while the doctors were trying to get her baby out, they ended up cutting through her bladder (which had been flattened during pregnancy), pulled a baby through it, then had to do a 3 1/2 hour surgery on the bladder. So, needless to say, she's had quite the experience. She has two other little boys (aged 6 and 3). Both have missed their Momma. The youngest LOVES to snuggle, so he doesn't quite understand why Mommy can't hold him right now. Oh, and not to mention that while all of this is going on, she still has to take care of a little newborn. So, please keep them in your prayers. Thanks!
Ok, now I really will "Officially" sign off. ;-)
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
I'm here to tell you that I have been rather busy. Ok, that is a lame excuse, I suppose... When I decided to do this whole shebang, I forgot that it would land right in the middle of cattle season! Whoops! So, my family and I have been a bit busy working cows, doing regular chores, and trying to do a decent amount of school work in our spare time. Yeah.
Just so you know, I won't be doing any of the "regular" posts this week. So, in other words- no giveaways, recipes, etc. I might do some of the interviews, but I'm still getting that all worked out. My sister and I realized that it would be a whole lot more fun if we had prizes for the winners of the photography contest. So, I've been trying to organize what I have on the list so far (of items to giveaway) and deciding which items to do as giveaways and which items to do as prizes. Doesn't help any when you come up a few short! Oh well, it will work out eventually, I guess! Sorry, I'm rambling.....
What you might see this week-maybe-would be a couple of posts that I've had laid on my heart to write up. If you don't see anything this week, then just come back next week as I get back into the swing of things for the LAST WEEK in our Photography contest. Remember that you've only got 16 more days-SIXTEEN- to get your entries in and spread the word! Thank you to those who have entered so far. It looks like it is going to be a pretty tough choice to pick winners! :-)
Alright, I guess I don't have a whole lot more to say. Off to 'hold down the fort' (it can literally become one with two brothers playing soldiers... ha, at least I get to be the General!).
Oh, please be praying for a dear friend of ours, Mrs. H. She just recently had her third little boy by C-section due to the fact that the baby just didn't want to come out. However, while the doctors were trying to get her baby out, they ended up cutting through her bladder (which had been flattened during pregnancy), pulled a baby through it, then had to do a 3 1/2 hour surgery on the bladder. So, needless to say, she's had quite the experience. She has two other little boys (aged 6 and 3). Both have missed their Momma. The youngest LOVES to snuggle, so he doesn't quite understand why Mommy can't hold him right now. Oh, and not to mention that while all of this is going on, she still has to take care of a little newborn. So, please keep them in your prayers. Thanks!
Ok, now I really will "Officially" sign off. ;-)
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
Friday, October 14, 2011
Winner of the Bath Tea and Soap bar!
I am so sorry I didn't get on yesterday to announce who our winner was for the previous giveaway. Things got a tad busy. Any how, I am here to announce that the winner of our giveaway is.................
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Miss SARAH!!! Congratulations, Sarah!
Thank you, everyone, for entering in this giveaway! We got quite a response. ;-) Please come back again for future giveaways!
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
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Miss SARAH!!! Congratulations, Sarah!
Thank you, everyone, for entering in this giveaway! We got quite a response. ;-) Please come back again for future giveaways!
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Giveaway #3- Desktop background and Designed Blog Header
Alright, our bath tea and soap giveaway is now closed! All entries posted now will not be accepted.
For our second giveaway, I mentioned in the last post that I would be combining two contributors. This one will be a tad different. You (the winner) will be talking to 2 different people while getting your prize. Confusing? Well, maybe the info below will make more sense.
Miss Sonja has graciously donated a lovely Desktop Background. You will get to choose 1 of 3 designs she has. I will be posted just one picture of one of the desktops. I ask you to be honest, though, and do not take this picture. Whoever wins this giveaway will be sent a larger picture (that will fit your desktop). If you use the one below, it won't look very nice on your screen.
Miss Ashley is going to make the winner a free blog header design! Trust me, she does some lovely work! This is definitely a nice gift to win, especially if you want your blog to have that 'certain touch'. ;-)
Ok, rules of entry:
Mandatory Entry:
Visit Miss Sonja's blog and leave a comment (link)
Visit Miss Ashley's Etsy shop and tell me what your favorite item is on there (link)
Extra Entries:
Go to Miss Sonja's Blog and follow (if you already follow, just put that in the comment) ~2 entries
Go to Miss Ashley's Blog and follow (Same as above) ~ 2 entries
Go Follow my Sister's Blog (same as above) ~4 entries
Add the photography contest button to your side bar (if you already have it, still counts, just let me know) ~ 5 entries!
Blog about this giveaway AND the photography contest ~ 5 entries
Email five (5) friends about this giveaway/photography contest ~3 entries
Alright, this giveaway ends Next Wednesday, so be sure to enter quickly and spread the word about it!!
Winner of our previous giveaway will be posted tomorrow.
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
For our second giveaway, I mentioned in the last post that I would be combining two contributors. This one will be a tad different. You (the winner) will be talking to 2 different people while getting your prize. Confusing? Well, maybe the info below will make more sense.
Miss Sonja has graciously donated a lovely Desktop Background. You will get to choose 1 of 3 designs she has. I will be posted just one picture of one of the desktops. I ask you to be honest, though, and do not take this picture. Whoever wins this giveaway will be sent a larger picture (that will fit your desktop). If you use the one below, it won't look very nice on your screen.
Ok, rules of entry:
Mandatory Entry:
Visit Miss Sonja's blog and leave a comment (link)
Visit Miss Ashley's Etsy shop and tell me what your favorite item is on there (link)
Extra Entries:
Go to Miss Sonja's Blog and follow (if you already follow, just put that in the comment) ~2 entries
Go to Miss Ashley's Blog and follow (Same as above) ~ 2 entries
Go Follow my Sister's Blog (same as above) ~4 entries
Add the photography contest button to your side bar (if you already have it, still counts, just let me know) ~ 5 entries!
Blog about this giveaway AND the photography contest ~ 5 entries
Email five (5) friends about this giveaway/photography contest ~3 entries
Alright, this giveaway ends Next Wednesday, so be sure to enter quickly and spread the word about it!!
Winner of our previous giveaway will be posted tomorrow.
In Christ's Service,
Sarah
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