No Really, I'm Not Here Anymore! (I'm Here: www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.com)

For the stragglers...

JOIN ME AT www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.com

Or if you're busy, just subscribe here and you won't miss a thing!

:)

Hey You! (Yes, *You*) Read This!

I will no longer be posting at this domain! In fact, I will be deleting the posts on this blogspot very soon, so please head on over to www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.com and join me for a fresh cup of coffee! (Please be patient as everything on the new site is not 100% yet - getting there!)

Oh, and no need to unsubscribe from this blogspot and resubscribe - it just switched automatically (thanks feedburner!).

I'm Back! Wanna Know My New Gig?

So, do you remember this absurd post about the picture that I had taken for "something exciting?" Well, I can finally reveal what my exciting news is!

But first, some disclaimers.

1. You don't actually get to see my exciting *new gig* just yet, but you do get to *meet* the other gals who are a part of it.
2. No, I'm not currently having a book published (you all think I'm so much cooler than I really am!)

Are you ready?

Well, you're just going to have to first click here where you will find my new domain and design! It's not completely functional yet, but should be by tomorrow...and then the information on this blogspot blog will be dropped like a hot potato, so make a note!

Now what are you waiting for?! Scoot on over to my new site and become privy to my exciting news!

A Couple of "Gems" To Tide You Over

Well friends, I'm disappearing for a few days, but in the meantime I leave you with these little gems...

Awkward Family Photos

One week of printable menu/grocery list recipes

TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND CALL ME WHEN YOUR CANCER IS STAGE 4

Are You A Faithful Christian? (5:16 STUDY ALERT & Winner!)

Are you...

Faithful in prayer?
Faithful in the Word?
Faithful in sharing the gospel?
Faithful in loving others?
Faithful in perseverance?

I want to be more faithful.

One way of helping me to be faithful is by rising early to pray and be in the Word, which in turn leads to me having more confidence in sharing the gospel, loving others, and persevering.

With that said, I would like to invite you to be a part of the new 5:16 book study. I have a desperate need to know how to pray...more, better, etc., so I have chosen the book Prayer, The Great Adventure, by Dr. David Jeremiah to read.

If you'd like to participate, get the book and we'll kick off the first "discussion" on Thursday, August 20.

I'm not sure exactly on the discussion format yet. Would you like to use the forum, or would you prefer to have a weekly link-up where you post your thoughts on the current chapter on your blog, both or something else entirely?

I'd love your thoughts...and to know if you are in!

*The winner of the Dining Rooms Direct giveaway is....

Melanie, of Bella-Mella! Yay! Congrats friend! Please email me with "winner" in the subject line. :)

I Don't Even Know

Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by the evil in the world...I don't even know how to pray...

Free For You Because, Well, Free For Me ($65!)

*This giveaway is now closed.*

Here's the deal. Dining Rooms Direct contacted me about having a giveaway for you. I was about to kindly reply, "no thanks, I'm limiting my reviews/giveaways" when what they wanted to give away caught my eye. A $65 gift certificate. I figured you all might like that, so I said, "let's do it!" They are also sending me one of these Coffee Serving Sets, and since I don't have one, it was a bit of a motivator to let them plug their site.

FYI - I am only planning on doing giveaways that I think are worth giving up blog space for.

With all that said, let me introduce you to Dining Rooms Direct, an online store that sells more than dining room sets (thank goodness, because otherwise $65 wouln't get you very far!).

They sell this cute little number (this is what I'm getting):

And this kids snack set...


Pillows...
Plates...

And these fun placemats...



The above items, part of the notNeutral collection, are some of my favorite items, but you can use the $65 gift certificate for anything you want on their site! They have bedding, home decor, and you guessed it, dining room furniture!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment.

Really, that's it.

But try and be somewhat creative...you know, not just "enter me please, thanks!"

I mean, I'll still let it be counted, but it's so not fun...and you know me, I like fun.

:)

Contest will be open until 9pm Eastern time on Sunday the 26th. Winner will be announced on Monday.

*This* My Friends Is The Sweetness!

I love a good party.

I also love meeting new friends. Now, Robin, one of the hosts of this hoppin' party, has asked that we keep our posts simple, so I will do that by sharing only two things with you in this post.

Are you ready?

Here they are:

1. If you want to meet me (pretty please...I like you too!) click right...wait for it, wait for it...HERE!
2. If you like free stuff (hello, of course you do), then you must come back at midnight (or, you know, tomorrow) because I am having a $65 giveaway! Yea, I know, so rockin'!
   

Okay, that's it...short and sweet. Oh wait!

Hmmm...

What if you decide you wanna be pals? Gosh...that would be awesome. If you are a fellow java-hugger, or you just want to be my buddy, click here and we can coffee-talk everyday! Every.Day. You can also follow me on Twitter @sarahmaeblogs.

Sweet!

I Need Mary Poppins

I'm in a kerfunkle, and have been for a couple of days.

I feel out of sorts, tossed about, and just plain lazy. I don't like being lazy...laziness always make me feel crummy.

I need Mary Poppins on days like today. I want her to sing to me "a spoon full of sugar" and snap her little fingers until my home is clean. I want to fly a kite, and maybe even soar into wild blue with it. I want to jump into a painting and frolic (love that word) through the field with no cares at all. I want to curl up in a cozy bed, and instead of doing the singing, I want someone to rub my head and sing me to sleep.

I even want to feed the birds.

Okay, not so much on that last one. Actually, when I'm in a kerfunkle, I'd rather shoot the (loud, chirping at dawn) birds.

I don't really mean that.

On most days, that is.

Anyone have a chimney I can borrow?

Just So You're Privy...

I am working really hard at my new blog design (okay, so my designer is working really hard, but I'm driving her crazy, so that counts!) so please bear with me over the next week if I don't post very much. I am planning on having a guest post on Friday where a company is going to give you a $65 gift certificate to their store, so that's a perk, right?

Pray for my designer ya'll, I think she might strangle me! (Emily Rose, you are amazing!)

The .Com Is Coming Very Soon - Get Ready To Re-Subscribe Or You'll Miss All The New Articles!

www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.com will be my new home very shortly (as in, a little over a week), so please subscribe to it now (if you can) so you don't miss the move!

Nothing is there yet, by the way, so technically I have no idea if you can subscribe yet!

:)

Are You Hungry? How About A Beauty Spree...

Jesus didn't ask us to first evaluate the circumstances of the poor when He said to feed them.

There are people in your local community who are hungry. Maybe they're hungry because they lost a job, made foolish financial decisions, or just can't seem to make ends meet. Either way, you can help.

You've heard of shopping spree's right? Of course you have! You've gone on a few yourself...for yourself, right? It's okay, we've all done it (well, many of us). But how about going on a "beauty spree?"

What's a beauty spree you ask?

A beauty spree is when you go out to buy items, such as food, to help those in need. Helping people - loving them and meeting their needs - is beautiful. Beauty isn't what we wear, how long our eye-lashes are, how perfectly small our nose is or how cute we are in that new dress...no, beauty is a condition of the heart.

Let's mold our hearts (and our children's hearts) into something really lovely. Let's feed the poor today.

Today.

Call up your local food bank and ask what their immediate needs are. Get the kiddos and go on that beauty spree! You will not only be loving God by loving others, you will be a living example of true beauty to your children.

Being beautiful works for me!

(Don't have a local food bank? How about donating a $1 to blood-water mission?)

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 23:22

"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." Proverbs 21:13

"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses." Proverbs 28:27

"Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" Matthew 19:21

"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." Luke 14:13

Your Thoughts Please...

Below is a quote given in 1872 (when women couldn't vote and therefore had no political power) in regards to women being members in the state bar (and becoming lawyers):

"It is true that many women are unmarried and not affected by any of the duties, complications, and incapacities arising out of the married state, but these are exceptions to the general rule. The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator. And the rules of civil society must be adapted to the general constitution of things, and cannot be based upon exceptional cases. " Justice Bradley, Supreme Court,1872

Thoughts?

The Upside Of Feminism?

Voting
Education
Jobs

I'll be exploring this topic in days to come...

Sold-Out For Life, Part 6 - Chromosomes, Christians & Murder

When does life really begin?

That is the question.

In fact, in 1973 when abortion became a legal right in the United States, not being able to discern when life begins was a major convincing factor in the fateful decision:

"We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer...we do not agree that, by adopting one theory of life, Texas may override the rights of the pregnant woman that are at stake."

Here's what strikes me in the above paragraph: "When those trained in the respective disciplines of...theology are unable to arrive at any consensus..."

As Christians, the question of when life begins should be as easy a question as "who are we created in the image of?" If we read our bibles, we know that God knitted us together in the womb, that human beings are created in His image, and that the murder of an innocent is prohibited. We have made complicated these simplicities. I am not suggesting that the circumstances around the truth are simple, many times they certainly are not. What I am saying is that to the person who knows Jesus, the basic truth of when life begins is simple.

The below article nails it:

Argument For The Silent: A Biblical Case Against Abortion
"...if the unborn are human beings, killing them is forbidden because it is an attack on the image of God... It is a scientifically certain fact that the event of conception (or, perhaps more narrowly, fertilization) is the first event in the history of the human being. Prior to conception, what exists are a mother’s egg and a father’s sperm. When fertilization is complete a new human being is brought into existence that is genetically distinct from the mother and father and that exists as a distinct entity. Therefore, from the moment of conception what exists is a human being with potential for growth and full realization." Read the full article here.

"You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13

Six

My Six List Today

1. Make yummy breakfast while kiddos color and listen to Karen & Kids
2. Bible Time w/ kiddos
3. Clean Kitchen - fridge/floors also
4. Pick-up dining room and living room - load of laundry
5. Banking
6. Time in the Word during kiddos naps

Interspersed in the tasks will be lots of giggling, cuddling, reading library books, training, and play. :)

Tonight I'll continue to work on my Sold-Out For Life series.

What's your six list today?

Sold-Out For Life, Part 5 - "If you don't like abortion, don't have one"

If you don't like murder, don't murder.

If you don't like child abuse, don't abuse a child.

If you don't like rape, don't rape anyone.

Does this make sense to anyone?

Somebody? Anybody?

Yea, didn't think so.

Please Don't Hate Me, But...

...I think I'm going to let Saturday Score die.

In fact, I've already killed it.

But don't worry! I still have some *sweet* giveaways I'll be doing...just more randomly, and not very often.

K?

You and me - we're still cool?

Oh, by the way, the winners of last week's Biggies Wall Stickies Saturday Score are...

Denise - Pets
Jessie - Dinosaurs
Tami - Butterflies

Congrats! Email me with your snail mails please! :)

Sold-Out For Life, Part 4 - Would You Hold Her Hand?

Would you hold her hand?

If she listened and cried

and really tried

would you hold her hand?

If she gave up and gave in

emptied the womb within

would you hold her hand?

If she raged and cursed

chanted choice first

would you hold her hand?

If she grew and aged

as life turned the page

and she wept at the face

that she chose to replace

and she felt and then knelt

at the throne of grace

would you still be there

holding her hand

or would you have left

that day

when she lived in the grey

not the black and white

we deem worthy to fight?

if you let go

love

loses.

Sold-Out For Life, Part 3 - Secret Clubs (Guest Post)

Today's article comes from Heather Gemmen Wilson, author of Startling Beauty: My Journey from Rape to Restoration. She speaks internationally on the subject of hope and forgiveness. Visit her web site at www.heathergemmen.com.

My husband had gone to a meeting at church and my children were asleep down the hall when a stranger entered my bedroom, waking me from a deep sleep. Through the dim light reflecting from the hallway, I saw his silhouette—and vaguely understood that a tall, black man with thick arms stood a few feet away.

I didn’t scream. For a few seconds, I didn’t really understand what was happening. “Who are you?” I asked.

I might have rolled over and disappeared back into my dreams, but the ugliness of his laugh shocked me into wakefulness. I sat up quickly, and he yanked a knife out of his pocket.
“Oh, no,” I whispered, holding my hands up toward him as if sheer willpower would keep him away. “No. Don’t do this.”

***

Someone once told me that after she was raped she felt like she joined a secret club she never wanted to be part of. I cried when she said it, because it was true for me too. Suddenly I knew things in a profound way I didn’t want to know at all—things like shame, and doubt, and fear. And I knew how much ugliness there was in this world.

The overpowering emotions I experienced didn’t go away the next month, or even the year—but neither did my community. Like every good church, mine had an impromptu “casserole committee”—when a member was hurting, the others rushed in with food. I hadn’t much understood this casserole obsession until I was its beneficiary and discovered that hot meals made by loving hands comfort the soul better than Band–Aids on skinned knees. All the little acts of service—from lawn mowing to housecleaning to babysitting—said what I needed to hear: “I love you.” “You are one of us.” “We’re in this with you.” Slowly I began to notice more joy than despair, more confidence than fear. And so much love was poured into me that there was no room left for shame.

One of the tokens of kindness given to me at that time was a puppy. This darling little beagle proved remarkably protective and became our family’s watchdog. I went outside one bright winter day to find little Gus growling menacingly. I looked around to see what was threatening him, but didn’t notice a thing out of place. Feeling a little spooked, I stroked his ears, hoping to calm him; but he bared his teeth and raised his hackles. Then I saw it, the menacing figure that Gus kept at bay: A great. Big. Snowman.

It took awhile to convince my small protector that this intruder was no threat. I pulled off the orange hat from the snowman’s head and tossed its raisin eyes and carrot nose in Gus’s direction. He ate them, and moved slowly forward. By the time I had yanked the sticks out of the snowman’s sides and the scarf from its neck, Gus saw the wilting lump of snow for what it really was: an empty threat.

My community disassembled my snowman. They helped me to see that my hackle-raising fear of physical harm, and the even greater suspicion that my faith had been wrongly placed, was unnecessary. I had not been abandoned by God, and his people proved it.

***

It has been over a decade since the rape, and I’ve experienced many life changes since then. I gave birth to a precious baby girl, conceived that fateful night, and she is now my daily reminder of God’s restorative love. We adopted a little boy we knew from our inner-city neighborhood where we lived—and he now towers over me, a godly young man who brings much laughter to our family. Eight years after the rape, my husband, who had joined me in joyously welcoming our daughter and who still loves her today, suddenly abandoned the marriage—and I am now building a new home and blended family. I’ve moved from Michigan to Colorado to Indiana. I’ve experienced the death of loved ones and the birth of a grandchild. Yet through all those changes, one thing has remained constant in my life: God’s faithful love. And I see now how much more beauty exists in this world than ugliness, even when life is hard.

I don’t know what secret club you have joined, but I am confident that God is in it with you, loving you and drawing you to him. I pray that you too will be startled by beauty.