Pausing to Share my 2010 Verse and my New Personal Blog

I'm so excited about the verse the Lord laid on my heart to ponder and flesh out in 2010:

2 Timothy 1:7:

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity,

but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Wow, He knew I needed this verse. As He helped me work through focusing on Him with an undivided heart last year, He now has my full attention. But with that, He's begun the process of altering my confidence in Him--the kind that will produce a deeper, Spirit-filled love and discipline in me.

I'm so excited, and a little timid (admittedly), to begin praying and applying this verse to my daily life, but here I go. Thank goodness "The One who calls" me "is faithful, and HE will do it." Otherwise, I wouldn't have a chance! After all, the key to every resolution kept is the power of His Word released in and through my life. That's why my New Year's resolution is always something from His Word...because the Living Word in me can make it happen as I surrender myself to Him.

Have you considered praying for a verse for the Lord to flesh out in you this year?

And one other exciting thing, at least to me. I've been working on a new personal blog for months, and it is finally up and running! Wanna have a look-see? I hope you will!

LauraLeeShaw.com

Happy New Year!!!!

Pause...for Giveaway winners & Important Announcements!

Okay, WOWzer, ELEVEN people shared their salvation stories for my 200th post giveaway. After reading them, I'm convinced that not a single one of them did it for a prize, but because they understand the mighty impact of a life that turns from death to Jesus Christ for eternal life.

Each story I read gave me spinepimples, and though I was going to draw for seven of them to be shared the week of Easter, I've decided that I have to share them all. So starting tomorrow, Friday the 3rd, going through the Tuesday after Easter, there will be one of these testimonies on my blog. (I drew names for the order). Cool, eh?  I won't have one on Easter Sunday, but every other day I shall...

Here's what my readers can expect:

Friday, April 3rd:  Denise from Shortybear's Place

Saturday, April 4th: Lynn Squire from Faith, Fiction, Fun and Fanciful

Sunday, April 5th: Josh from Just Joshin'

Monday, April 6th: Laurie Ann from A Magnolia's Heart Beats 

Tuesday, April 7th: Melissa from Feel Chic Boutique 

Wednesday, April 8th: Bernice from My Journey

Thursday, April 9th: Marita from MariFlower

Friday, April 10th: Joanne from An Open Book

Saturday, April 11th: Karen/Irritable Mother from Surviving Motherhood

Sunday, April 12th:  He Is RISEN!!!! Resurrection Sunday!

Monday, April 13th: Stina Rose from Scroll Bag

Tuesday, April 14th: Brook from Snips, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I Can't WAAAAAAAIT!!!!!  I hope you are excited too! God's gonna be GLORified in this place!

Okay, now onto the winners of my giveaway. I drew two names:

The first is Melissaaaaa!!!!  You win a copy of "Women of Passions: Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God," AND the "SELAH" CD of your choice. 

The second is JOOOOSH!!!  And I'm NOT joshin'!  You win an advance copy of "The Unexpected Adventure" by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelburg. 

Okay, and one last announcement.  I'm so excited about the upcoming "A Woman Inspired Conference." I actually have the privilege of being a greeter/host for some of the amazing speakers on Tuesday and Thursday of the event, so I'm doubly excited. If you haven't heard about this, it is a virtual conference for women...imagine going to an event with your jammies on!  Well, okay, I realize not everyone sits around in their jammies. (I sure don't. *COUGH*) But the point is that you have an opportunity to learn more about the Lord and more about women passionately pursuing Him through this incredible event, which is only like 15 bucks or something. Anyway, for more info, click here:

Blessed Aroma

Wanna encourage someone who blesses you with their blog on a regular basis? If so, you might want to check this out and SOON. I'm about to head over myself and do the same. What a delicious idea to encourage other bloggers for Jesus Christ!  Click on the button below to nominate and to find out more details (which I've included below as well).

Internet Cafe Devotions introduces Blessed Aroma ~ 2008!


As a Christian Women Devotional site, we passionately want to encourage and inspire women all over the world. We know that an ounce of encouragement goes a long way and that is why we are introducing Blessed Aroma ~ 2008. It's a way to showcase some of your favorite blogs who have encouraged you with their written words and examples of faith in 2008. This is a chance to showcase some of the most encouraging and inspiring blogs, and an opportunity to introduce our readers to some new and exciting ladies.

This is not a contest. There are no prizes. We firmly believe that there is no competition in ministry and we are to support and encourage each other as the body of Christ.

Our vision for this is to simply add a page to the Cafe with a fresh list of wonderful blogs that others can enjoy. We will obtain this list through nominations by you, the readers, and not simply based on our own opinion. No one will know who was nominated or how many people nominated each blog but the top ten of those who receive the most nominations in a category will be included on our website. In random order, of course.

We will accept nominees through Jan. 30th, 2009 and shortly after the top 10 blogs in each category will be announced when our new web design is revealed.

You can vote once in each of the following categories:

Cup Overfloweth Blog
This is a woman who is following hard after Him. Her words, her heart and her passion for her Savior is evident with every click of the mouse. She inspires you to have a closer relationship with Him.

Cup of the Day Blog
This blogger is the "cup" you couldn't do without. You find yourself daily drawn in to sit a spell. You leave inspired and encouraged.

Most Joyful Among Us Blog
This gal always sees her coffee cup "half full" and the joy just pours out of her site. Her joyful attitude is what keeps you coming back for more.

Beautiful Cup Blog
This blog is unique and artistic. It's the blog that you are drawn to because of it's beauty and design. Maybe she is into interiors or photography. Maybe she creates one of a kind art. Maybe she is a blog designer with an eye for detail.

Gathered Together Blog
This is a group blog category. This blog is a team of writers who inspire you with their words of encouragement.

Pouring Proverbs 31 Blog
This blog exemplifies the principles of a Proverbs 31 woman and it comes through on her blog.

Caffeinated Blog
This is a high energy blog! Perhaps she is a mom to a dozen or a woman who is wearing many hats. Her energy and enthusiasm shine through on her blog.

Learn A-Latte Blog
This is a lady who loves to see others learn. She might teach her kids at home or maybe she teaches you about: scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, photography, or anything of the like. The truth is you learn something almost everytime you visit her blog.

My Cup of Tea Blog
This is a lady who loves her family and friends and is always pouring out thoughts and ways that you can love your family more. She is a woman after God's own heart.

All New Flavor Blog
This blog is less than a year old but already shows such a tremendous capacity to bless. You just can't wait to see where she'll go from here!

The rules are:
Each household may only nominate once.
The nominator must be at least 18 years of age.
You cannot nominate your own blog.
You must provide all information requested for your nomination to count.
You must provide the URL of the blogs you nominate in order for them to count.
You must submit all of your nominations at one time.
Blogs must be written by a Christian author. We reserve the right to refuse to include any blog we feel is not supportive of our biblical, Christian beliefs.

Remember to head on over to the Internet Cafe to nominate your favorite blog in each category.

In the Key of HE,

LauraLee's Lifesong 100th Post Giveaway

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It's time to announce the winner of:

WEll, it's my 100th post, and I'm so excited to spend it giving stuff away. Thanks so much to all who not only entered the contest, but took the time to share their lifesongs with me and others. In all, fourteen people entered. Cool!

If you'll recall I mentioned that anyone who would post a testimony about a song that had greatly impacted their lives and how, would be qualified to enter. Whoever posted it on a website, blog or other public forum got his or her name in the hat twice. Whoever posted it as a comment or by way of email, once. So in all, there were 26 names in the hat--not bad, eh?

Here's my son Austin after mixing up the names in the hat before the drawing:



He mixed the names around really well and held the hat up high while I chose the name. I would've taken a picture of it except that he was holding the hat, and I was drawing. Besides that, I'm not picture-worthy today. LOL.

Soooooo, without further ado, here is Austin after I drew the name, literally chomping on the results:



Let me introduce you to Leah Orcutt. She is a fellow Faithwriter with an incredible gift for writing, and though I don't know her personally, her beautiful heart is quite evident in everything she writes. You can see her Lifesong Testimony by clicking here:

Walk By Faith

Congratulations, Leah. I'll tell you what you've won in JUuuuuust a minute.

To the rest of you who posted your testimony, I would like to offer you an opportunity to have it included in something new I'm going to try out on Saturdays called "Lifesong in the Limelight." I will have a guest blogger in a post that day sharing a testimony of some kind, either about a song or music, or even just a way that the Lord worked in his or her life recently.

Would you consider letting me post it here and refer back to your blog or webpage? If so, reply to me on this post and let me know. I truly believe there are fewer tools more powerful for evangelism and teaching than someone's testimony. Thank you for participating and for considering this!

Okay, I'm hearing the game show voice: "TELL HER WHAT SHE'S WON, BOB! er um LauraLee!" So are you ready?

First, I wanted to give Leah a copy of a book that is very dear to my heart (although I was going to come up with a different one if a guy won, LOL). I contributed six pieces to this book, and there are 25 other contributing authors. It is Women of Passions: Ordinary Women Serving An Extraordinary God by Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade. It is rich with testimonies and stories...women sharing their Lifesongs. I hope you'll enjoy it, Leah.



Also, I promised some music, so I want to offer Leah the choice between these CDs:


Hillsong's "This is Our God"

Bart Millard's "Hymned Again"
or Casting Crown's "The Altar and The Door Live"

Again, I am so thankful for all of you. You've blessed my week with your testimonies. Thank you!!!!


In the Key of HE,

For My Friends, Family and Fellow Bloggers

Yes, a post just for you. And the reason is because no one else would care, but I KNOW you do (wink, smirk), so here's all my random stuff to say, tell, share, sing, forward, promote, etc...

First of all, I WON A BLOG GIVEAWAY TODAY!!!! I've never won a giveaway, ever never ever, so I'm so excited! I thought for sure after I offered to bribe Kim from Homesteader's Heart, that I would be immediately disqualified. But she left me in the mix, and her husband drew my name. Isn't that cool? She is making me one of her fabulous purses, and I even get to choose my color and my fabric. She showed some of the gorgeous designs on her blog, so go check it out if you get a chance. Thank you so much, Kim. What a neat way to make someone's day.

And because it was so fun to do AND I think it is an incredible thing that CWO does for bloggers, I want to show you my interview with Christian Women online.
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And while you're there, look right above me and see my friend Patty's. Her testimony always blows my mind. We didn't even know we were doing the interview at the same time. Isn't that cool? Had to share that.

A couple of other cool dealies. Did you know that there is a blogging network on Facebook? You can actually list your blog there and find some other great ones as well. I found a couple this morning through my search of Christian blog networks that I had never seen before. LOVE them. They are the following:

One is Daily Writing Tips, and wow, do they have a good post on there about the importance of blogging for writers.

Oh, and this one: Light for the Writer's Soul--Definitely will be visiting this one frequently from now on...

What an incredible opportunity to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in a place where thousands may go to look for answers. THAT is the reason I joined Facebook in the first place. Though I enjoy keeping track of friends and tossing a line back and forth from time to time, I'm wayyyy more excited about the potential of Jesus's face being seen when people come to look for answers. Believers and non-believers alike. If you want to check out my Facebook blog network, click here:

Blog Network:

Name:
LauraLee's Lifesong

Topics:
christianity, religion, family

Join my network

Blog Networks

***One exciting thing in the world of writing for me is that I was published in Just Between Us magazine this month for the Fall 2008 issue. This incredible publication started by Jill Briscoe with Shelly Esser as Editor is a valuable resource for women serving in ministry leadership of any kind. I highly recommend it, and not just this current edition, but all of them to follow. I have been blown away by the wisdom and depth of its contents.

AND ONE LAST ANNOUNCEMENT:
On Monday, I will be hosting the "At the Well" meme from Joyfully Living (listed on my sidebar). If you want to think ahead in terms of topic, here is the info:

Discussion Questions:

A “Call to Worship” is usually at the beginning of a church service to prepare hearts and minds for worship together. What do you do or think you should do at the start of each day to prepare your heart and mind as a woman living a life of worship?

If you were to gather at the well with women younger than you in the faith, what would your call to worship be for them?

(optional question) If your life, worship-wise, could be defined or with a song, which one would it be (or which one would you wish it to be)?

Give it some thought, and maybe even join us At the Well if the Lord leads you...


Okay, so that's a bunch crossed off my to-tell list, but I hope you learned a bit or two of something useful. Keep your eyes open for a giveaway announcement from me very very soon. Love to all of you, and thank you for all the ways you love me, challenge me and help me be a more Godly daughter of the King.

In the Key of HE,