The foundation in the class really helps you to focus on the things that are most important. I didn't notice it so much last year because we were terribly busy settling into our second oldest and her babies moving in with us. This year, I am seeing things so differently it is actually quite amazing. I am not allowing myself to get caught up in the commercialized Christmas, where it seems it is a goal to have the biggest newest thing. I am not really in a I want or need mode anymore, it is really nice. I've even taken steps this year to cut my spending and it has made me extremely happy to be at peace.
So on this last day of November 2012 I would like to celebrate by giving away a special gift. This beautiful book 'A Little Bird Told Me', filled with a 30 day collection of inspiration put together by Melody Ross from her Little Bird daily truth messages. I've been receiving these little messages in my email since they have started and each one speaks to me right where I am. So let me tell you how you can be entered into this special give away.
Christmas is a time for family and friends so as this time grows closer, tell me about a special friend and share a special memory of the two you.
I have said many times before Brave Girls Club and the community means the world to me. They have truly given me those special friends that I knew I was missing.
For extra entries in the give away:
1. Link my blog on facebook and/or your own blog. Come back here to leave a separate comment telling me that is what you have done.
2. If you become follower leave me another comment.
The winner will be chosen randomly one week from today Friday, December 7th. Make sure when you are sharing your memory that you leave me your contact information.
16 comments:
I have a special friend that I've known since 1st grade. She was my friend when I had no others. Then she left (her family was military), but I never forgot her. Several years ago, I was looking through Classmates.com and entered her name. Her name popped up, but was it her? It took me MONTHS before I could email her through Classmates to even find out. I emailed her and was I GLAD I did! It was her! And she was only 500 miles away! We made plans to get together and we have gotten together a couple of time a year since! In fact, I just got back from visiting her in Chicago! She is truly my forever friend!!
Bea
bibia@arn.net
many years ago, while I was still learning about my wings, shy, angry, attacking the world first, I had a friend who saw me for the girl inside of all that. He was the same kind of scared and angry... but a little more broken. On a particularly bad night, we stayed on the phone until 4:00 a.m., when he could promise me he'd see me at school in the morning. We met in the morning. We didn't say hello. He simply took my hand and said "thankyou". A real friend loves you even when you can't love yourself.
fourwalls-nowindows@juno.com
I would like to tell you about the incredibly beautiful friends who I met through Soul Restoration, but as you'd like to hear about a special memory, I will tell you about my best friend. My best, and funniest, memory of her is when I was in hospital waiting for tests after a heart attack and my friend came to visit while my doctor was in my room. She immediately asked him what was going on with the tests and, most importantly, if I was allowed to have wine. The doctor answered that I could have "one a day" and she said "oh good. One bottle a day". The doctor corrected her and said "no, one glass", to which my beloved friend replied "well,, what good is THAT?!"!!! Friends always understand the important things!
I became a follower too, Juel :)
I'm a follower now!
A particularly special friend to me is my friend, Brandy. We met almost 5 years ago when I offered my wedding dress to her (she had just gotten engaged, I had just called off my own engagement). We were fast friends from the first night we met.
This spring, I was taken to the ER and was placed on a psychiatric hold. Brandy insisted on driving the two hours from her house (with her husband and two kids), just to be there for me -- for less than 36 hours, because her husband had to be back at work Monday morning. While her husband was driving, she continued to send me texts about all the things she loved about me and why she needed me around. She showed up at the ER and prayed with me and over me and visited again the next day when I had a room. It was a Sunday, Palm Sunday, and she took out her iPhone so we could listen to a sermon. She chose one at random -- one about Jonah. The pastor said at one point something about the fact that the prophet is basically committing suicide by asking to be thrown off the boat.
She looked at me and said, "Oh my gosh. I swear I didn't know that's what this sermon was about."
We laughed. It was the first time I had smiled in weeks. :)
What sweet treat to offer! My Truthteller sings loudly..and before I had my truthteller, I had my very best friend Lisa..she encouraged me, supported me, and told me the truth when I needed it, even when it hurt. I have done the same for her,and we both have taken each other to the hospital, or doctor when it was just too personal for anyone else to help.. I would love to win this book, I would sit with her, read it with her, and leave it with her...amazing woman that she is, that we both are!
(Oh and I became a follower too!)
I just became a follower! My best friend Julie has been my best friend since 1991. We enjoy going to the beach off of Savannah GA called Tybee Island. We try to make that trip annually. It is a great way for us to spend some one on one time and also to get a break from the stressors of life. She lives in Nashville TN and I am in Atlanta GA so we don't get to spend a lot of time together. We have been through divorces, marriages, and she has 2 children, 3 step children and I have 3 children and 2 grandchildren. We call each other our life partners - because no matter what we will always have each other! Love her!
My best friend, Kathleen, and I just celebrated our 20th "anniversary" together. We have seen each other through everything. We went to high school together then became college roommates. Her mom would keep staples of my favorites in their pantry just for me! I spent my first year out of college teaching 2nd grade and Kathleen spent it in the police academy. Every afternoon we would spend time on the phone recounting the days events---it was almost as if we went through those experiences together! We then spread our wings and moved out of our parents' homes together into our place. We were in each other's weddings. My children refer to her as Auntie. Sadly, we both have found ourselves recently divorced. But the upsides are: we were able to really be there to support each other and secondly, our newfound freedom has allowed us to really reconnect more often than we were able to before with all our family commitments. Divorce has actually been a great thing our friendship, as strange as that sounds. Thick and thin really does apply to this lifelong friendship and I thank God every single day for her!!!
My most special Christmas memory is when I was ages 15-17. My family did not celebrate Christmas (or any other holiday's for that matter). So my best friend Sheri would get up very early on Christmas monrning and set a a tiny little Christmas tree on the sidewalk half way between our houses - She would connect the lights to our neighbors lights (haha!) and would bring hot chocolate, presents and we would meet there at our "halfway" point to celebrate together before anyone else was awake. I cherish those memories and am so so so glad we took photographs of our little tree. On year, she even broguht a mini train track to go around the tree! Lovely. I am so very sure to make all the Holidays special for my daughter, as I didnt get that growing up and want to make sure she does. Thanks for the giveaway! Merry Christmas!
What a lovely act of kindness! I am waiting for my own copy now, but would love to win this for my friend Kelly. She has had a hard year, watching her marriage disintegrate after making major sacrifices for the family and she is such a wonderful mother and role model for her two daughters each day, and a true friend to many. She will make you laugh no matter what is going on in her own life. We spent he beginning of her first ever "custody" thing together. A good girls weekend in Charleston SC is often a cure of almost anything. Creme Brûlée, cocktails in the sand and laughing so hard by the poolside after hours we almost got kicked out, the laugh so hard you cry kind. And then some ;) We can't go back to that hotel, I am sure our photos are on most wanted. But after not seeing each other for almost a year and talking minimally we just pick up where we left off ALWAYS. THat is what kind of friend she is, and I think Kelly would benefit from the strength and courage this book brings, for her, for girls, for her girlfriends. She is one to share and care, this gift would not stay just with her. The ripple effect is sure to happen. Thank you Kelly, if you ever stumble upon this post, for being a great and true friend. And I hope you win this book, you deserve it!
I am now a follower of six months now! Love your blogs and what a great way to start the day!
This is a happy/sad story. It might sound a little bit like a movie plot, but I promise that everything is original, honest, and true. Telling my story has been on my heart for a while, and i feel like this is the perfect opportunity to do so even if no one reads.
I used to have a best friend. God dropped him in my life at the perfect time, and he loved me in a way that no one ever had before. He joined the navy my senior year of high school during a time when I needed him the most.
We were separated for a long time. Hand-written letters were our only form of communication, but I was and still am utterly grateful for that experience. We encouraged and gave each other hope. Those will forever be some of my most treasured memories.
After new years, I was finally able to see my best friend after months of separation. It was one of the sweetest moments of my entire life. I've never felt so unconditionally loved and safe in someone's arms. I've also never experienced so many emotions at one time.
I wish I could say that my best friend and I are still together, but that only happens in fairy tales. The distance separated us in more ways than we realized, and our paths diverged. I miss and think about him every day. I'm always praying for him, and I thank God for all of the things that He taught me through this relationship. I'm in school now and I'm still recovering from the break-up, on top of dealing with major anxiety about life in general. I have some big decisions to make and it is truly overwhelming. But I'm learning that there is beauty in the broken, and things will get better if you open your heart. And God is bigger than all. praying that everyone gets a happy ending <3 much love !
This is a happy/sad story. It might sound a little bit like a movie plot, but I promise that everything is original, honest, and true. Telling my story has been on my heart for a while, and i feel like this is the perfect opportunity to do so even if no one reads.
I used to have a best friend. God dropped him in my life at the perfect time, and he loved me in a way that no one ever had before. He joined the navy my senior year of high school during a time when I needed him the most.
We were separated for a long time. Hand-written letters were our only form of communication, but I was and still am utterly grateful for that experience. We encouraged and gave each other hope. Those will forever be some of my most treasured memories.
After new years, I was finally able to see my best friend after months of separation. It was one of the sweetest moments of my entire life. I've never felt so unconditionally loved and safe in someone's arms. I've also never experienced so many emotions at one time.
I wish I could say that my best friend and I are still together, but that only happens in fairy tales. The distance separated us in more ways than we realized, and our paths diverged. I miss and think about him every day. I'm always praying for him, and I thank God for all of the things that He taught me through this relationship. I'm in school now and I'm still recovering from the break-up, on top of dealing with major anxiety about life in general. I have some big decisions to make and it is truly overwhelming. But I'm learning that there is beauty in the broken, and things will get better if you open your heart. And God is bigger than all. praying that everyone gets a happy ending <3 much love !
I have a very special friend Kristie. On my first day at work there was this nice email in my box welcoming me to the company and telling me that if there was anything I needed all I had to do was ask...it was from kristie...we immediately became good friends...that was fourteen years ago and we are still great friends... sometimes it's the simple acts of kindness that matter the most. Thank you for the chance to win!
I had a very special friend...I considered her one of my best friends. I met Lisa McKinney Hughes when we both worked at Bank One. I was her supervisor and we became very close friends, doing things with our family outside of the office. As with most things in life, she switched banks but we still kept in touch. She moved out of town and still we remained good friends and got together when we could. When her mom died of breast cancer, her husband cheated on her and her father passed away from what was supposed to be a simple out patient surgery, Lisa broke on the inside. I didn't know it. I did try to be comfort her...to be there for her. She pushed me away, cancelled lunch dates, didn't return phone calls or texts. However, in September of 2009, she and I met up in her hometown as I was traveling through on business for dinner and the next day we did lunch and some thrift store shopping. Her brithday was December 28, so I started trying to schedule a birthday dinner with her at the beginning of December. Her phone went straight to voicemail, my text messages unreturned. Dozens upon dozen attempts to get a hold of her...no answer at home or at her job.
In Janaury, I managed to track down her brother. Lisa had died on Nov. 11th. He shared with me that Lisa was an alcoholic and had passed from complications of that and the mixing of some cold medicines. I was devastated...about many things. That a light had left the world and I didn't know it; that I didn't get to say goodbye; that I didn't know...didn't have a clue about how deep her struggle was...that I didn't see the many clues. I still am not sure today that I have forgiven myself.
I only wish that Lisa could have experienced Brave Girls; that she could have been inspired, strengthen, motivated by all the beautiful words and art...by the healing. That she could have found herself and learned again to use her wings. She was a remarkable person. So very kind, with a huge smile. You would never know the hurt that she must have been enduring.
This is about my friend, Lisa Hughes. And I pray that she knows how much I love her.
RIP, my dear friend.
December 28, 1995-November 11,2009
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