Blogger Appreciation Week

Welcome to "Blogger Appreciation Week" we are so glad that you are able to join us in this time of sharing and encouraging one another in the blogging world! Blogging opens up a whole new world of opportunity for fellowship and encouragement with people from all over the world...incredible!

Why I write:
I love to write! I have been writing since I was a teenager. Back then I wrote for myself, mostly a lot of poems. It was a way for me to escape from life. It was a way for me to express my feelings without being told that what I felt was wrong for some reason or another. Writing has always helped in the process of cleansing my heart. I believe writing is a gift that God has given me. I still write for myself because, well...that is simply how I am wired. However, my writing now has more purpose than being just for me. Now when I write I trust that as my fingers tap, tap, tap on the keys what comes out of my heart is intended to bless others. After all the blessing is intended to be for that very purpose. You see my gifts are not for me, they are for you. They are for the rest of the world. They are given to me so that God can bless others through them. This is the soul purpose of my blog, it is intended to be a blessing.

Why I read:
I love reading through your blogs! Being able to share life with others is such an incredible blessing to me. I love to see the mighty hand of God at work in your lives, it encourages me. I love sharing in the joy that you are experiencing through your journey with the Lord. I learn so much from you all! Their are times when reading through blogs I feel sad, I feel the pain that you are sharing with the rest of the world. I can sense the heaviness in your heart and the empty loneliness that you are feeling. I wish I could be there with you in that moment to remind you of God's unspeakable power and goodness. I wish I was there to give you a hug and remind you that you are loved by the One who is love. Reading blogs makes me feel as if I get to share in the loves of so many people in so many places. I may not be close enough to hug you, and if I were you may not let me, but I am hopeful that if I leave a comment and remind you of the One who is close enough, you will be encouraged through my words.

I have in some way been touched by every blog I read. Those ways are all not the same, but just the fact that I get to participate in your life is pretty awesome. there are a couple, however, that have been special to me. I hope that you will take the time to stop by and visit them.

My wonderful blessing of a friend Shanda@ A Teachable Heart. WOW! God has brought you so far! When we met last year at "She Speaks" your writing was good. I enjoyed it a year ago, but it has been incredible to watch you grow in the last 12 months. Your blog has become a living encouragement to all who visit. (also, shanda had her writing published in the Proverbs 31 magazine, YOU GO GIRL WootWoot!) Thank you so much for sharing your heart with the rest of us and thank you for the time and the commitment that you have given into turning your blog into what it has become today. I will be watching and sharing in the great things that God is going to continue to do with you, in you and through you!

My teacher friend Christy @ The secret Life of an American Wife and Mom. You are such an encouragement to me! I am so very blessed to have you as my friend. Thank you for believing in me, it means more than you know! I love to read your blog and see what God is doing in your life. I also love to listen to your Bible Study teachings. I am encouraged by the fact that you are so very real. You do not pretend to have it all together or to have all the answers. You are simply you and that alone is an awesome blessing to me. Thank you for being you! Thank you for teaching truth and helping the rest of us find out who we truly are because of Grace, because of what Jesus has done for us all! I am looking forward to what He has placed in your heart for the conference (Christy will be teaching at the Because of Jesus conference in Tulsa Oklahoma June 12-13, it will be great! If you would like to know more, ask about it when you leave a comment). I love you Christy and I look forward to watching you grow and having opportunity to share the truth with you again sometime!

My friend Cheri@ Seven Branches, I love to read your writing! For all of you that love poetry you MUST visit Cheri's blog. WOW! Reading what you write inspires me to be a better writer. Your writing is poetry in story form or more recently, beautiful, inspiring poetry in poetry form! Don't ever stop writing Cheri! You have a gift that God uses to touch the hearts of others. Such truth and encouragement flows from your keys into my heart! Thank you!

I hope that you will read through the some of my previous postings and I hope that they touch your life in some way, shape or form. You can find my testimony in those postings, it is titled Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving-To Good To Be True (2008). A lot of my other favorites are found in the blog archives to the right of this post under 2008 as well.

God's heart is for His children to walk in love and unity. It is our hope that through Blogger Appreciation Week we will all be encouraged and drawn closer to the heart of God as we take time to share in the lives of others. "Father we ask in Jesus name that no person would leave this event not feeling loved and blessed by you. We pray that every heart would be softened and touched by your beautiful love and grace as we read through each others lives." If you would like to participate in this special blogger event anytime from May 25th -June 1st, put up a post titled Blogger Appreciation Week on your blog with the first and last paragraph of this post copied and pasted in. Then, add the URL from that post to Mister Linky @ Grace Talk With Daveda, invite your friends, surf the blogging world and be a blessing to others. Make sure you leave COMMENTS of ENCOURAGMENT to all whom you visit (leave them all under comments for this post, even if it is about another post to be sure that they see it)! Don't forget to check back often through out the week to visit and encourage those who join later.

NOTE: Mister Linky seems to be having a rough week. If the Mister Linky sign-up box has disappeared PLEASE stop back later to sign-up with Mr. Linky for Blogger Appreciation Week. In the meantime, leave a comment and let us know you are participating with a link to your blog, and visit the blogs of others that have left comments. You may have to look through their blog for their post entitled Blogger Appreciation week. I know this makes things a little more difficult, but we will make the best of it!