Humbled and Blessed

I wanted to take just a moment to say thank you to any who may have nominated my blog for this honor. You can’t imagine my surprise to be included among so many beloved sisters in Christ. I am truly so very humbled that God is using my offerings here to be an encouragement to others. He is so good to me.

Giving God the Glory!
Tracy

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
~Psalm 19:14

Blessed and Honored

Greetings!

Hope this finds you well. It seems as though there have been a flurry of awards circulating the last couple of weeks here in blogworld. I am grateful and humbled to have received honors from a number of sweet friends.

If you're like me, you so appreciate the kindness with which these awards are given. If I can be completely honest, though...I much prefer being on the giving end of affirmation and awards than the receiving. My favorite part is always passing them along to others, and yet that presents a new dilemma all its own. What if in doing so, I hurt someone's feelings, or unintentionally overlook a sweet sister who is very deserving of one of these honors?

I pray you will understand the intent of my heart when I say I'm not going to chose individual recipients of these awards. I don't do so out of selfishness, but rather out of a heart that wishes to honor ALL of you. I'm grateful to God for each and every one of you, all of whom have enriched my life in some way. God has chosen to cross my path with yours at this time because He knows I need what you have to share. He is so good to me through you!!!

I do want to express special thanks to those of you who shared these awards. If any of these sisters are unknown to you, please make it a point to stop by their blogs. You WILL be blessed!

To my gracious friend, Nancie of More than Conquerors, who recently shared the Gratitude with Attitude Award and later the Friendship Award...thank you precious friend. You may be far away in distance, but your impact on the hearts of those of us in blogworld seems to know no limits! Nancie has a definite gift of loving and encouraging others with her kind words and sweet prayers. She has brightened many days with her caring heart.

Thank you also to Jenelle from Life in the Woods, E-Mom from Chrysalis and Peggy from Mazes, Messes, Miracles...aMazing Grace for the Brilliante Weblog Award.

Jenelle is a sweet young stay-at-home Mom of an ADORABLE little man, Colter. Her blog is a delightful mixture of real life, humor, loads of great photography and inspiration. Visits to her never fail to bring a smile.

E-Mom's blog is filled (and I mean filled) with an amazing array of resources...from marriage, parenting, politics and countless other topics through an evangelical Christian world view. Her blog is truly like a mini news network for Christians. It's impossible to visit without learning something each and every time!

Peggy is a delightful soul who exuberantly worships the Lord! The time she invests in special offerings on her blog often staggers my mind! She is truly a woman devoted to the Lord, and she loves to encourage and bless her friends in Christ. A perfect example of one such offering was her 100th post. It was the most incredible, all-encompassing post I have ever seen. She shared verses, songs, video clips, prayer challenges, and then presented the "Sharing the Love" award to 100 blogs, complete with LINKS to each and every one! I was privileged to be among the recipients and I offer my thanks to her again today.


Again...if you read this blog, please consider yourself a recipient of all of the awards above!

Finally, I want to express thanks to my new friend Colored Heart at Clay in the Potter's Hand...she honored me recently with her own blog award which truly touched my heart. She and her beautiful family have an awesome ministry in the Phillipines, and she has yet another blog that is LOADED with incredible Christian resources, and a feast for the eyes, as well.

Thank you again for these special gifts! My life has been immeasurably blessed by the friends I have made in the blogging community. I pray God will bless you abundantly for your kindness!

Thank you Melanie! I'm Humbled and Honored

Happy Friday, sweet friends!
I was honored and humbled to receive this award from Melanie of Fruits of the Spirit. She and her lovely blog are such a blessing! It is rich with all sorts of Biblical insight, fun and encouragement! Melanie has an unmistakably sweet spirit about her. If you haven’t yet met her, please take a moment to visit her blog and say Hi!

One of the best parts about receiving awards is the privilege of passing them on to others, however, this was a very hard decision because so many of you positively excel in the category of Kindness!

Today, I am pleased to pass this award to five wonderful ladies who bless and encourage me with kindness on a regular basis! Whether by their posts, their kind words to me, or their prayers for my concerns, each has touched my heart. These ladies are all delightfully unique, as are their blogs. The common thread they all share is their love for the Lord and their unmistakable kindness:

♥Lea of Shabby Old Potting Shed

♥Lelia of Write from the Heart

♥Natalie of Married to the Preacher

♥Sarah of Life in the Parsonage

♥Susan of Forever His

Congratulations Ladies! If any of these blogs are new to you, please take a moment to visit and say Hi! I can promise you a blessing! ☺

Thank you Laurie Ann and Alexis! I am Honored!

I was humbled to receive the Arte y Pico (meaning “Peak of Art”) award over the weekend from Laurie Ann. I enjoy her blog for a number of reasons. My heart is warmed by her love for her family, especially her husband. As we all know, God sometimes chooses to grant us the desires of our heart in ways unlike we had hoped. The thing I most appreciate about Laurie Ann is that she embraces those blessings with a grateful heart. Her posts range from faith challenging and thought provoking to light-hearted and fun. Please stop by and visit, especially if you haven’t seen her beautiful new look!

As a recipient of this award, I have been asked to share it with five blogs that bless my life. I have chosen:

Cheryl (Hope for Each New Day)
Lori (I Will Take it Lord, All You Have to Give)
Melanie (Fruits of the Spirit)
Paula (His Ways are not Our Ways)
Tricia (It’s all About Him)

Incidentally, Alexis (aka Chickie Momma) also recently shared this award with me. Alexis has an enormous heart, is loaded with personality, is extraordinarily talented and lots of fun. Her blog is such a blessing because it allows me (a city girl) to experience farm life, through the adventures of her family. I’ve been pondering five additional blogs that bless me. They are:

Amydeanne (160 Acre Woods)
Nancie (More than Conquerers)
Marj (Godlover)
Peggy (Mazes, Messes, Miracles...aMazing Grace)
Tracy (Thirsty for Him)

All of these are extraordinary women of faith, some serving here in the US, others who find themselves in faraway places. Regardless of where they reside in the physical sense, we're all travelling the same road Home, brought together by God for such a time as this. I visit them frequently because I learn something different through the unique gifts of each and every one. If any of these are new to you, stop by and check them out. (Expect to be blessed!)

Congratulations friends! The “official instructions” follow. Now go forth and share the love!

To the recipients of the award...share this with five blogs you consider deserving of this award, whether for creativity, design, interesting material, or contributions to the blogging community, no matter what language.

Name each nominee and link to his/her blog. Show the award and include the name (and link to his/her blog) of whoever presented you with this award. Link to the Arte y Pico blog so everyone knows the origin of this award. Post these rules.

Thank You Natalie! I am Honored!

Today, I was so touched to receive a Kind Blogger Award from Natalie! Thank you so much, Natalie! Your kind words thrill my heart because they affirm my reasons for beginning this blog. First, to be an encouragement to others. Second, to provide a tool by which I could express the joy and gratitude that flow from my heart because of Jesus. = ) Something I hadn't anticipated was how much I would be encouraged, challenged and blessed by so many of YOU! Natalie, I'd love to give this award right back to you. You've been so kind and helpful, such a wonderful example of grace and God's love!

I'd also like to pass along the honor to these very deserving, kind friends...

Becky (Frumpmama) – Becky faithfully encourages me with her comments. Her posts can make me laugh out loud and warm my heart. I really admire her gift for finding humor in just about any situation!

Connie (Little Red Hearts from God) – Connie was the first person ever to leave a comment on my blog, and she did so with an offer to pray. She is an incredibly kind and caring soul.

Elaine (Peace for the Journey) – Elaine's amazing gifts of writing and teaching God’s words are surpassed only by her kind and caring heart. She has encouraged me, prayed for me and spoken truth to my heart.

Tiffany (Tea with Tiffany) – Tiffany's grateful and compassionate heart is shown in every post, and every comment. Her desire to serve others is always an inspiration.

Congratulations ladies!

With prayers of gratitude for you and your friendship... = )

Tracy