The Other Mama's Birthday Bash- Day 4- A Basket of Hope Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed. Random.org chose commenter #55- Kera from the Honea Bees. Congrats, Kera! I'll e-mail you with all the info! So excited for you!

You know I was a cheerleader, right?

A high-ponytail-wearing, short-skirt-flaunting, dater of jocks. And while we cheerleader types might have a negative stereotype in almost every single teen movie, we really aren’t that bad. One thing I learned as a cheerleader was to never let go of hope.

On rainy fall Friday nights, we could have been down by 42 points in the 4th quarter, but our squad would still cheer, “We’ve got spirit, yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how ‘bout you?” to the 12 parents left in the stadium. We giggled the whole way through it, but we never gave up. There was always a chance for a comeback.

After some adventurous party days in college, I felt drawn to a certain group of girls in my sorority {yes, I am that girl, too} who knew God. They were so cute, spunky and knew how to have fun- just pure fun- and they had a sparkle in them that I wanted. While I had always grown up in church and knew about God, I didn’t know Him personally. I slowly took those first steps to learning to love God, to love His Word and to know {and hopefully know how to emulate} His personality.

I go through peaks and valleys {like I think most people do} in my relationship with Jesus, but one thing that remains constant in my outlook is hope. I think some people mistake it as happiness, optimism or a glass-half-full view of life- and those things are great bi-products- but Hope is knowing that there is a God in control; knowing- with complete confidence- that God has the best things in your life already penned.
He is The Creator, The Sustainer and The Redeemer. You just need to stick with, follow, lean on and rely in Him to get through the bumps.

My trouble spot is worry. Anybody else? I get caught in spirals some days of worrying that my sweet hubs will die on the way to work or that one of my children will be critically ill or I will never be able to get it all done. {That last one is true, so I might as well go ahead and quit worrying about it.}

I believe worry is genetic and I come from a long line of worriers. I’ve learned, though, when lured into that slippery slope to say out loud, “God, take this worry from me. I know You will work it out so that You will be glorified”. PERIOD. And I mentally walk away from it. And it’s hard and takes practice, but it releases my mind from the worry and fear.

I’ve always prayed, but I recently have heard {twice in one week},
“If you worry, why pray? And if you pray, why worry?”

There you have it. Simple enough for me to understand.
I know the Boss and He’s got my back.

So, as I turn 31 today, I’m going to pray to have a year full of turning it all over to God.
A year full of fewer worries and more trust.
A year that is full of laughter, love and just pure fun- with you: my friends and family.
A year to live out hope in attitude, decisions and faith.

You can have hope and a chance for a comeback, too. Wanna come along?
I’ve still got a good cheer or two up my sleeve, but I hate to tell you that my hurkey is gone… so gone. My ponytail is much lower, though, so I think that makes me tolerable. Most days.

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For anyone who loves hope or needs hope some days, today’s giveaway is for you!
I’m so excited to share so many great and inspirational prizes with you today!

Today's giveaway is a Basket of Hope from some of my favorite people!

* First is my friend Holley Gerth’s 40 Day Devotional Rain on Me.

Holley writes for Dayspring {Hallmark’s Christian line of cards}, writes a blog {Heart to Heart with Holley} and manages the wonderful (in)Courage website. Smart girl, dontcha think? And she also happens to be warm and funny, too- my favorite traits.

Here is an excerpt from her devotional:

HOPE is more than just a word—
it’s a state of being.
It’s a firm belief
that even if you don’t know how,
even if you don’t know when,
God will come through
and better days are ahead.
Life sends rain...
Hope dances in the puddles
until the sun comes out again.
Rain on Me by Holley Gerth

I love it! I know you will, too!

* Next in the package includes several things from the Layne James store on Etsy. Everyone loves Etsy because it supports and encourages hand made items, but I specifically love this store because my friend from high school, Lydia is the owner! {Lydia also writes a wonderful blog called Being Particular.} She has generously offered one hand-stitched cross bookmark

and a choice of one adorable pillow.

Her grandmother makes the pillows; aren't they amazing?! What a blessing to be able to work with your grandmother!

Lydia also wants to extend a 15% off discount in her shop to anyone who uses the code OTHERMAMA at checkout. How fun! I can't believe I'm a code!!

* Last but not least, I am adding a new Bible for you to enjoy.

Sometimes, even if you have a wonderful written in, worn and used Bible, you need and new perspective. This Bible is called The Books of the Bible and is written like The Message {in modern words and without chapters and verse numbers}. What's different about this one is that it's laid out chronologically for you to better understand the flow of the books. More information is available at the International Bible Society website {the publisher} if you are interested, like I am. Our good friend Larry {who also leads our Sunday School class} introduced me to this recently and I'm enjoying it. It's like reading a novel!

So a great basket to one lucky winner out there: A devotional, a cross bookmark, a pillow and a new Bible!

You knew it was coming, right? There have to be rules. I'll make them tiny this time, though.
To enter to win:
* Leave a comment in the comments section. You don't HAVE to say Happy Birthday, but it IS my birthday and all. :)
To do this, click the word "COMMENTS" directly below this post. Then type in the big blank section on the top right and click Publish Your Comment. Easy peasy.
* You have to leave your e-mail address with your comment. If you know your e-mail is attached to your Blogger account, then that's fine, too. Want to do this and don't know how? Read my quick tutorial on it here.
* One entry per comment.
* But you can gain another entry by becoming a blog follower and then leaving a comment to tell me so. If you already follow this blog, then you can click for another comment to let me know that. Please read my view of becoming a blog follower and what it is if you have any questions.
* Or you can Tweet about this giveaway and reference the post and leave a comment to tell me you did. I'm @theothermama and Holley is @(in)courage just FYI.
* Or you can write about it on your blog and link to this post and leave a comment to tell me you did. {WOW that's FOUR ways to enter!!} {And a max of 4- not 4 per day.}
* One winner will be chosen at random on Sunday at noon and will be notified via e-mail.
* Please let me know if you have any questions at all about entering.
* Each giveaway is separate, so if you entered Monday's great Homemade Gourmet giveaway, Tuesday's awesome Lisa Leonard giveaway or Wednesday's exciting Design Chicky giveaway, you need to also enter this one separately. The Homemade Gourmet giveaway will close today at noon {CST- God's time}, so I hope you got in! The other giveaways are still open until, so head on over there and sign up, if you haven't already!

Have a fantastic and wonderful day on my birthday! Thanks again for playing along. I am having an amazing birthday week with you!