Encouragement Challenge #44: Choose A Word for the New Year

This year is quickly coming to an end and we will be ringing in the New Year this coming Friday. So, for this week's ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE, I would like for you to think about what your gifts and talents are - the kind of gifts God has given us for the purpose of encouraging others (i.e. teaching, preaching, writing, listening, playing music, sewing, giving, caring, etc.) Then, choose a favorite verse, or just one word, that will help you keep your encouragement goals on track in the coming year. Once you have chosen it, write it out, or print it out. Decorate it. Put it in a place where you will see it every day when you wake up. Then, live it out to the best of your ability in 2016.

Examples of Encouragement Verses: 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 - And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  

1 Peter 4:8-10 - Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

Examples of One Word:

• Encourage
• Listen
• Care
• Share
• Uplift
• Pray
• Bless
• Believe
• Love
• Forgive

Go to one of these websites for more information and ideas on choosing your word. The second link even has a page where you can make a poster with your word on it:

• MY ONE WORD 
• ONE WORD THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE  

My one word for 2016 is:  Inspire. I hope to keep writing, and to use this blog as a tool to inspire myself and others to love God and remain faithful to Him, to spread the love of Jesus to those around us, and to take time to enjoy this life we have been given. 

  

Please share your word or verse for the year. I'd love to see what you have come up with. 

Encouragement Challenge #43: Share Your Christmas Goodies

Over the years, our family has enjoyed making "goodies" to share with our friends and neighbors during the Christmas season. Some of the items we have made and passed out include:

• Cookies:  Ginger Snaps, Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Cool Whip Cookies
• Chocolate Caramel Oat Bars 
• Brown Sugar Shortbread
• Divinity
• Fudge
• Penuche
• Peppermint Bark
• Granola
• Trail Mix
• Pumpkin Bread
• Homemade Ornaments

We do not make all of these every year, but usually choose 2 or 3 to focus on. We start baking early in the month, then freeze the goodies until time to deliver them. It is a fun tradition we have as a family.

ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE #43:

Pass out goodies to your neighbors this week. If you do not bake or do not like to make ornaments, you can pick up a little ornament at a discount store and give it along with a card. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive. Just share the love of Jesus with others. Let them know they are being thought of during this sometimes lonely time of year.

Encouragement Challenge #42: Two Christmas Gift Ideas that Share Positive Thoughts About Someone You Love

This week, I want to share with you two different ways you can encourage someone you love this Christmas by sharing the positive and uplifting thoughts you have about them...

When I was 13 years old, I received a special, handmade Christmas ornament from my parents. They worked together to draw and cut out a bell shape, type out positive thoughts they had about me, decorate it, and attach a string to put it on our Christmas tree. I kept it all these years because it meant a lot to me. It's the simple things that really touch me the most.

This is the front of the ornament. It was drawn on plain typing paper, but something heavier, like cardstock, might hold up even better.  They used colored pencils to color it, and glued a  piece of colorful fabric around the edge. The little poem was typed on a separate piece of paper, then cut out and glued to the front.

This is the inside of the ornament. The words were typed, then cut out and glued to a piece of cardboard. A piece of gold string was used to attach the two pieces of the ornament together and then hung on our tree for me to see on Christmas morning.

In the Christmas of 1998, I took the example of my parents and typed out 20 different reasons why I love my husband. I decorated the paper, put it into an envelope, and gave it to him as a gift in his stocking that year...

ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE #42:

Use one of these ideas to surprise someone special in your life this Christmas. If you already made a Christmas Tribute for someone last week, choose someone else (a different friend or relative) to encourage with one of these other ideas. Hand deliver them, or stick them in a Christmas card and mail them. Work on these personalized gifts this week and, if you don't celebrate Christmas, do it just because you love them and want to surprise them with a blessing.

Encouragement Challenge #41: Write Tributes for Christmas Gifts

The Christmas season is upon us, so I have an idea I would like to share with you - a gift you can give to someone you love, and it won't cost you anything except a little of your time.

Ten years ago, I came across a poem. (At the time, I thought the author was "Daddy" Silverwood, but I don't know where I found it. I have since seen the poem online being referenced to Clyde H. Box, so I'm not sure who the real author is). The poem is about how we shouldn't wait until our loved ones have passed away to tell them how much they mean to us. This is the poem:

Tell Them Now!

If with pleasure you are viewing

any work a man is doing,

If you like him or you love him, tell him now;

Don't withhold your approbation

'till the parson makes oration

And he lies with snowy lilies o'er his brow;

For no matter how you shout it,

he won't really care about it,

He won't know how many teardrops you have shed.

If you think some praise is due him,

now's the time to sip it to him,

For he cannot read his tombstone when he's dead.

On the same year I found that poem, I used the idea and took the opportunity to make homemade cards for some of my family. On the front of the card, I typed:  A CHRISTMAS TRIBUTE, along with the person's name I gave it to.

This is the front of the card I made for my husband

On the inside of the card, on the left, I typed the poem above. Then, on the right side, I shared my thoughts about the person the card was intended for. The words I wrote for my David are a bit personal, so I'm not gonna share them with you. Sorry. But, here is what I wrote for my Grandma. She passed away a couple of years ago, and I'm glad I took the chance to tell her my feelings before she left this earth:

Grandma – You are one of the most amazing people I know, and I look up to you. I admire your inner strength, your faith in God, and your unselfish acts of kindness. You are compassionate and caring, you have a good sense of humor, and you are someone I know I can trust. I am so proud to have you for my Grandma. Thank you for everything you have done for us. You are a very special lady, and I love you very much.

For this week's ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE, work on making these special tributes for your loved ones. Give them away for Christmas this year. I promise, they will be treasured keepsakes.

Encouragement Challenge #40: Send A Care Package

ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE #40:

This week, send a care package to someone on your mind. If you need more information about care packages, or you need some ideas of things to include in one, check out these links:

Here is a blog post I wrote in January 2012:
WAYS TO ENCOURAGE #7:  SEND A "CARE PACKAGE"

A blog post from Redefined Mom written in September 2014:
8 CREATIVE COLLEGE CARE PACKAGE IDEAS 

An article from Military.com:
7 AFFORDABLE IDEAS FOR MILITARY CARE PACKAGES 

You can also find a large collection of ideas for different kinds of care packages on: PINTEREST.

Encouragement Challenge #39: Make A Thankful List

 It's Thanksgiving week in the United States of America.

For this week's ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE, the first thing I want you to do is make a list of 10 different things you are thankful for. Click below for a document you can print out and use for this exercise, or you can just write your list on regular notebook paper:

10 THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR  

After your list is completed, do at least one of the following suggestions with it:

• Include the list in a Thanksgiving card and mail it to someone this week.
• Share the list with your family as you eat your Thanksgiving dinner.
• Post the entire list on Facebook in one specific post.
• If you don't do Facebook or Twitter, send your list out in an e-mail to several of your friends. 

REVIEW: Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook

I have been hearing so much about the Trim Healthy Mama diet plan by sisters Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison. Their first book caught the attention of many mamas who were looking to eat healthier, control blood sugar, lose weight, and keep the weight off. Then, more recently, two new books by the sisters were published through Penguin Random House. One is the new updated THM plan book, Trim Healthy Mama Plan. And, the other is the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook. 

I haven't read the "plan" book yet, but I did get a copy of the cookbook. I wanted to see what kinds of recipes can be made on this THM plan. As I read it, I found the sisters have a unique sense of humor that gives the book a fun, light tone; and it has some interesting recipes I am sure I will be trying in future months - things like Reuben in a Bowl, Fotato Soup, Taco Meatloaf, and the Pumpkin Pie Sip (a beverage that is meant to be sipped throughout the day to curb hunger). However, if you are wanting to know more about the THM plan, you will need more than the cookbook to really understand it. The cookbook is meant to supplement the "plan" book; and, if you want the recipes to really work for you, it is best to actually KNOW the plan first. Pearl and Serene even mention this in the introduction to the cookbook.

On its own, the cookbook is colorful, laid out well, and includes more than 350 recipes including one-pot meals, main dishes, sides, breakfasts, sweet treats, and beverages. If you are already doing the THM plan, and are wanting some new recipes to try, I recommend you get this cookbook.

NOTE:  I received this book from Blogging for Books for the purpose of this review.

Encouragement Challenge #38: Send Encouraging Words

 ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE #38:

Share some golden apples this week by sending a favorite Bible verse, an encouraging quote, or just some words that come from your heart to 5 different people. You can send to one person each day, or do all five at once. The choice is yours.

REVIEW & GiVEAWAY: Mercy Me It's Christmas CD [GIVEAWAY CLOSED]

I know its not even Thanksgiving yet, but I want to let you know about a new Christmas album you may want to consider this year. Pizza Ranch is helping to promote Mercy Me It's Christmas by the contemporary Christian band, Mercy Me. The album will be available for sale at each of the 200 Pizza Ranch locations throughout the Midwest and Great Plains states for only $5.00 plus tax. Sales begin November 1, 2015 and continue through December 31, 2015.  The CD has 4 exclusive songs that can only be found on the CD version being sold by Pizza Ranch.

Bard Millard from Mercy Me said, "We are so excited to debut our new Christmas album, MercyMe, It’s Christmas, with Pizza Ranch. [It is] a fantastic restaurant with a great mission to glorify God."

I love Mercy Me, and I love Christmas music. So, for me, this CD is GREAT! It has upbeat, traditional AND modern music that can be a help in bringing some Christmas cheer to your home  this year. 

When you enter below, you will have a chance at winning this exclusive CD. The giveaway ends Saturday, November 14, 2015, at 8:00 p.m. CST. One entry per mailing address. If you have won a prize from my sponsor, FlyBy Promotions, in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.

Entry-Form

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

 Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Encouragement Challenge #37: Appreciate Our Military Personnel

Veteran's Day is this Wednesday, November 11th.

For this week's ENCOURAGEMENT CHALLENGE, choose one or more of the following ways to show your appreciation for our military personnel:

1.  Display the American flag on your home or business.

2.  When you see a person in military uniform, or know of someone who was previously in a branch of the military, thank them for their service.

3.  Attend a Veteran's Day ceremony.

4.  Send a care package to a soldier on your own, or through a local organization.

5.  Click over to OPERATION WE ARE HERE to find many other ideas for thanking and encouraging Veterans. 

 Thankyou, Veterans, for serving!