Yay! It's Summer! Fun Stuff and Opportunities!

Hey sweet friends!

First off, do any of you remember way back in the day (Well, not really. More like a month or 2 ago. ) when I used to post something everyday?

Well, I sort of fell of the bandwagon.

April and May were crazy months for me! Not bad or anything, just insanely busy. In April I did alright, but in May I only wrote 13 posts! Just 13.

I don't force myself to write a post everyday. I did it because I sincerely love writing and sharing my heart with you all! May is just the wrong month to blog. I was finishing up with another year of school, plus I was crazy slammed with blog design orders at Forever After (Still am, actually, but now it's great because I have so much more time to work on blog designs and I can fit more people in! Like you, if you want! 50% of your money goes to bringing Nasira and Niles home. :)

Anyway, I could not be more thankful that it's now SUMMER TIME! I am so excited. I'm really hoping that this will be the best summer ever. I want it to be a time of spiritual growth, lots of fun, and lots of blogging! I will for sure be back to posting every single day now that I'm home every single day. (Have you caught on that I'm really grateful to be in college so that I get summer break?)

In addition to the return of awesome daily blog posts, I have some super fun opportunities for everyone!

Be the Change Giveaway

My first surprise is that in less than a week, we will have a giveaway starting! This giveaway will include tons of fun items (no spoilers!) that you will love, but this isn't just any regular giveaway. It's a giveaway with a purpose. Our purpose being to raise money for Nasira and Niles, my Reece's Rainbow 5/5/5 Warrior cuties! By donating just a little bit of money to one of them, you can be entered to win a sweet prize. More on this later!

Bible Study Group


One of the main reasons I started this blog in the first place was to keep me accountable. I had been journaling for a while, but it didn't last. I had no way of being accountable! I would skip writing because it wasn't like anyone else would know if I wrote in my journal or not, so I just sort of slipped out of the habit. With my blog, I'm much more accountable (usually...) because I have all of my sweet readers encouraging me and I want to write for you!

Well, the same thing goes with Bible Study. I have never read the Bible all the way through. I want to. I've set that goal as my New Year's resolution, as my "Lent resolution", and finally I've realized: It's not going to happen on my own, I need someone to be accountable to, or I just sort of slip off the bandwagon and never climb back on.

For that reason, I've decided to start a Bible study group! I'm looking for some sweet girls to do it with me. I haven't exactly figured out all the details, and I'll definitely want your input, but it should work really well. We will have so much of the Bible to read everyday, and then we will meet at least once a week (maybe even on Skype!) to discuss, share our favorite verses, pray, etc! It will be laid back, but enriching, and we will be able to hold each other accountable. Plus, getting to chat with each other every week and grow spiritually together is an  added bonus.

If anyone at all is interested, please don't hesitate to join in! Even if your a new reader, we would love to get to know you. Just drop me an email (faithfulalwaysblog@yahoo.com) or leave a comment and I'll get our group together!

Magazine

This one I'm really excited about.In the past, I've had a newsletter, but it only lasted for one issue. It's not that is wasn't fun, but 1. I got way too busy, and 2. I wanted something more. I wanted room for fin pictures articles, devotionals, everything! So now, I've decided to start a magazine. A real magazine! Well, an e-magazine. Our free e-magazine will come out each month and it will feature tons of inspiring, uplifting, and encouraging content! (Plus, with the help of my graphic design skills, it will look like a REAL magazine. With a cover, and everything!) I don't have all the content worked out yet, but I know at least a few of the things we feature will be:

-Devotionals
-Testimonials
-A Christian Blogger Feature (I'm really excited about this one!)
-Even crafts, recipes, time management, and many other featured sections on living a balanced Christian lifestyle!

If you would be interested in contributing anything at all to our new magazine, again, please email me (faithfulalwaysblog@yahoo.com) or leave a comment! We'll need lots of wonderful women to help pull this off, and I'd love the chance to get to know you better!

That's it for now. I'm so excited to be able to share all these fun new opportunities with you. I hope to hear from you really soon, and in the meantime, just be blessed and enjoy this glorious season. :)

Want a Button?

As I was sprucing up my blog and creating a new header this morning, I decided to change the way I displayed my favorite blogs! To make the sidebar less cluttered, I created a new page to showcase all of my blogging besties. :)

I was going to put up everyone's buttons as a more eye catching and appealing way to honor my favorite blogs, but I quickly discovered that it wasn't going to work. Why?

No one has buttons!

That's right, most of my favorite bloggers do not have buttons for me to showcase. Buttons are essential, ladies! That's why I'm offering to help you out with this. My gift to you is a button!

If you do not have a blog button, and would love for me to make you one, just leave a comment! Just give me a few sentence idea of hat you want, and your email address so I can send you the HTML code. 

Note: I'll design a button for anyone! You do not have to be on my favorite blogs list for me to make you a button {Who knows, maybe I'll discover that I love your blog and it should be a part of my list}!

Blessings!

Ready... Set... Go! Comment, and you'll have a brand new button in less than 24 hours. :)

Even in Darkness, There is Light.

I'm sure most of you know about my complete and utter obsession and passion for Reece's Rainbow orphans. If you don't, read on. Even if you do, read on. We have big things to do for a tiny little girl!

*********************

Have you ever been completely moved?

Has your heart ever melted into a complete puddle at the sight of something?

Have you lungs ever been completely void of oxygen, out of pure shock and sadness?

Have you ever been motivated enough to want to drop everything and just DO SOMETHING?

I feel your pain.

No, I feel Carrington's pain.

Beloved Friends, meet Carrington:

Carrington's mommy brought her home on St. Patricks day, and not a moment too soon either.

Can you guess how much  Carrington weighed last Thursday?

Never in a million years.

11 Pounds!

And she is 3 years old.

Do you know how wrong that is? I'll show you. But be aware, it's shocking. It's horrible. It was a little 3 year olds fate before last Thursday.

OH. MY. GOSH.

I don't know what else to say.

A thought just occurred to me: Carrington has Down Syndrome. I've been pouring over her story for hours, and it never even crossed my mind.

Who cares? What I mean is, who could love a child any less, who could do THAT to a child...

Just because of an extra chromosome?

Now that, I will never understand.

I feel so strongly for all these orphans. Abandoned, kicked into a crib to literally disappear, never even given a chance...

I'm just SO THANKFUL that Carrington was given a chance.

Carrington's mommy, Shelly, has a sweet friend who has started blogging about Carrington's journey. You can get the latest updates on Carrington there!

Please keep Carrington in your prayers as she still has a long way to go before she is out of the hospital and home with her family.

The thing is, that through all of this sadness, neglect, shock, horror, and helplessness, there is hope.

It's in the eyes of this little girl who God decided deserved a lot more time on Earth than just 3 years.

Thank you, God!

********************

Another thing that happened last Thursday, was the proposal of my 'exciting idea'.

Remember that?

Well, I just want you guys to know that because of your sweet encouragement it's going great!

We are raising money for Olga, and also another little girl named Kameron.

Kameron's family is coming to get her on Sunday!

Thankfully, she is in a much better condition than Carrington, but she never got all the money she needed in her adoption fund.

So, over at Forever After, we are raising "emergency" money for Kameron.

Aren't orphans just the sweetest?

Pray, ladies.

********************

"Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." (Matthew 18:5)

 "Remember those…who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." (Hebrews 13:3)



Forever After Designs

They say, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

However, if I were the one building Rome, it probably would have been built in a day.

Just like the new blog design website!

I created it all last night. It was a lot of work too! It was really fun though.

Anyways, do you want to know who the family we are fundraising for is?

The Abell's! 

The Abell family {Chris and Jenn} are adopting Olga through Reece's Rainbow.

Jenn's lovely blog is Saving our Starfish, if you want to check her out.

For the business, I chose the name Forever After Blog Designs:

"Bringing orphans home forever,
one blog design after another."

I'm excited to start designing blogs! Check out the new site:

Forever After Blog Designs

Thanks so much everyone for all of your encouragement. I hope it works out great, for everyone! :)

Blessings!