Giveaway Winner and... A Blogger's Prayer

It's 12:01. Can you tell I'm excited? The giveaway closed 2 minutes ago! I'm so happy to announce that the winner of $20 to CSN Stores is...

Debbie!

Yay! Excitement is in the air here. The next time you check your inbox, expect an e-mail from me!

More giveaways to come soon...!

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"I am no longer my own blogger, but Thine, O Lord.

Refine me with each post how You will, rank me how You will.

Put me to service, or put me to suffering.

Let me post for Thee or be put aside for Thee,

Lifted high, only for Thee, or brought low, all for Thee.

Do with me and each post whatever you will, because You alone know best.

Let me not strive but submit Let me not compete but care

Let me not desire hits but holiness

Let me be a follower, instead of seeking followers.

Let my blog be full of Thee, and let it be empty of me.

Let me crave all things of Thee, let me care nothing of this world.

Let my words be worthy of the greatest of audiences: You.

And You are enough.

May I write not for subscribers… but only for Thy smile.

May my daily affirmation be in the surety of my atonement,

not the size of my audience.

May my identity be in the innumerable graces of Christ,

never, God forbid, the numbers of my comments.

May the only words that matter in my life not be the ones I write on a screen ---

but the ones I live with my skin.

I freely and heartily yield every sentence, every title, every post, every comment… or no comments… all to Thine pleasure and perfect will.

My only fame is that I bear Your name

My only glory is the gift of Your Grace

My only readership, Your eyes that seek to and fro to find a heart hard after You.

Make this so, oh Lord…

Yahweh, You alone are my God, not Google

Jesus, You alone are my Savior, not site meters

And Holy Spirit, You alone are my Comforter, not comments

So be it, today, yesterday, and every post to come.

This is my prayer I have made on earth and over this keyboard… let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen."

{Via Ann Voskamp}

Now isn't that just beautiful?

I'm inspired. Way back in April of last year, I started the 7th Heaven Fan Blog. 7th Heaven was, and still is, one of my very favorite shows. I adore it. But the blog thing? Well, it didn't last too long. 5 days to be exact.

In December, when I was thinking of starting up blogging again, I had to ask myself, what do I want to blog about? It seems like an easy question, but it wasn't for me. I needed an idea that wasn't already taken (like a blog of another one of my favorite shows). I needed a purpose that would keep me going. Suddenly, it just came to me, like I had been struck by lightning. GOD!

I love God. I had been journaling for a while in October/November, but I couldn't keep up with it (a.k.a. I didn't feel like doing it.) I needed something more stimulating. What better than a blog! It's like a journal... except other people are reading it (31 to be exact!).

It's been so fun to meet new people, and post my new thoughts daily. It's been so fun to grow in the word of God and to grow into myself. It's been so fun to introduce my lovely readers to the world of Adoption and Reece's Rainbow. :) But... I can't forget why I'm here.

I'm here because I want to chronicle my life as I grow into my faith. I want to draw closer to God with every post I write.

Don't get me wrong, I love you guys! It's great to meet new people and discover through them. But I'm not about that. The fact that I kept up posting on here for over a month before I even had 1 follower, should tell you something. I didn't care. I felt God tugging on my heart, saying, " Don't be discouraged, and don't give up. It's a good thing your doing here, blogging out your love for Me. I am here, I will always be your follower." Seriously. It really is so true! God is interested in everything we are interested in. He is our #1 fan. We are his children, for crying out loud!

So I just wanted you to know: I'm REAL, I'm blogging straight from the HEART, and even if His name doesn't appear on my Google Friend Connect, GOD is my #1 follower.

Blessings!