Bloom!

The big winner of Hannah Hurnard's classic is... Sunshine! So, Sunshine, shoot us an e-mail with your mailing address at bloommag@comcast.net and we'll mail you the book shortly! It's been awhile since we've done a book giveaway, so we figured it was time to do another! See details below... We're giving away a copy of Hannah Hurnard's amazing classic, Hinds' Feet on High Places ! As described on the backcover, " Hinds' Feet on High Places is one of Hannah Hurnard's best known and best loved books: a beautiful allegory dramatizing the yearning of God's children to be led to new heights of love, joy, and victory." So, if you'd like a chance to win Hinds' Feet On High Places, then please do the following to enter the giveaway: 1. Leave a comment telling us one way you've shown God's love to someone in the past few weeks. This enters you into the giveway one time. 2. If you'd like to be entered into the batch a second...

- Wait by Russell Kelfer - Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried; Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied. I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . . And the Master so gently said, "Wait." - "Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply. "Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word. - "My future and all to which I relate Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait? I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign, Or even a 'no' to which I can resign. - "You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, We need but to ask, and we shall receive. And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry: I'm weary of asking! I need a reply." - Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, As my Master replied again, "Wait." So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, And grumbled to God, ...

We laughingly obeyed our Bible study leader, Mike, by tramping around in garden near our church building. We walked in the grass and pebbles and dirt—all this while barefoot, of course. We shook our heads in bewilderment and marched around the building, nonetheless. None of us could figure out why Mike wanted us to do what sounded like a joke or something seemingly meaningless. Once he declared that we were finished, we walked back inside the building in our dusty feet. We sat down and Mike told us to read John 13:1–17 . When I hit verse 5 , I knew why we had walked around barefoot outside and gotten soiled. I chuckled to myself as Mike got a basin full of water and a washcloth then sat down in the middle of the circle of students. With washcloth in hand, he began washing the first student’s feet. I carefully watched the entire process and as I did so, the significance of this physical act became so clear to me. Mike was actually doing what Jesus had done to His disciples, but it wa...

A few links to boost your weekend! Breezy Brookshire writes, "As a pillar in the home, you carry more weight of influence on our shoulders than you realize. The attitude of “I wish I could be somewhere else, fulfilling my dreams” is a perilous atmosphere for those dwelling inside the palace. If we allow discontentment to creep into our hearts and rot from the inside out, we cast shadows of quarreling, whining, unrest, and gloom on our families, where instead there should be contentment, industry, and joy." Continue reading the rest . Ever wish you could find articles that present science from a Biblical perspective? Well, Answers in Genesis does just that - and a lot more! So head over to their website and check out the articles, store, devotions, and everything else. AiG is a great resource for us, as believers, to find information on God's beautiful creation and to keep up-to-date on the latest findings and happenings. Stay strong in Jesus! Joanna, Jessina, and Megan

 

- Happy Valentine’s Day, lovely ladies! - Since there is no avoiding the dangling red and pink heart decorations today, I thought I should just go ahead and write about them. - Write about our hearts, that is. It doesn’t matter whether you are in a relationship or not – trusting God with your heart will always be of utmost importance. - For the record, never doubt God’s sense of humor. I’m really writing to myself, because this last week has been very difficult for me to trust God. My emotions skyrocketed for no particular reason, and I paid way too much attention to them, per usual. - What makes it difficult for you to trust God with your heart – with your dreams and hopes and future, and even the confused and hurting pieces? - Is it your dreams themselves – ones you don’t want to give up; ones you’re afraid to let go? Is it your rollercoaster emotions? Distrust of trust? Not knowing if God is really trustworthy? Fear of being hurt, again? - It has been, and still is, al...

Continuing our weekly conversations ... The deal: Each Thursday, we announce a question of the week. We seek to ask questions that spark interesting conversations, whether it simply be about books, traditions, spiritual disciplines, more theological matters, or anything related to life in general. You can join in our conversations two ways: 1. Leave a comment with your thoughts! 2. Or, if you prefer, post an answer on your own blog and leave us a link to your post so we can comment and add to the conversation. If you post on your own blog, you are welcome to use the picture above as long as you link back to us somewhere in your post. This week's question... What do you think about Tuesday's quote from John Piper? How can it change your way of thinking and what things you consider important?

You don't have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know one great thing, and then be willing to live and die for it. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing. If you want your life to count...you don't have to have a high IQ. You don't have to have good looks or riches or come from a fine family or school. Instead you have to know one great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious thing - and be set on fire by it. - John Piper

Continuing our weekly conversations ... - The deal: Each Thursday, we announce a question of the week. We seek to ask questions that spark interesting conversations, whether it simply be about books, traditions, spiritual disciplines, more theological matters, or anything related to life in general. You can join in our conversations two ways: 1. Leave a comment with your thoughts! - 2. Or, if you prefer, post an answer on your own blog and leave us a link to your post so we can comment and add to the conversation. If you post on your own blog, you are welcome to use the picture above as long as you link back to us somewhere in your post. This week's question... - In his book Trusting God , Jerry Bridges shares this (anonymous) quote: "A lesser wisdom than the Divine would feel impelled to forbid, to circumvent or to resist the outworking of these hellish plans. It is a fact that often God's people try to do this themselves, or cry inceasingly to he Lord that He ...

Books. I can’t seem to get enough of them. As a little girl, I raided the library on a regular basis, often getting frustrated that I had reached my max of checking out books (don’t worry, Mama was pretty nice about letting me use her card, too). I devoured those treasures like I was starving. Occasionally I encountered a book with something inappropriate in it. If that happened, I would set it back in my book bag and commence on another choice. My parents wisely taught me the importance of not just reading books, but reading good books. They instilled in me that every book that is good must have some of the following aspects: character, spiritual “food”, strong morals, a meaningful plot, faith, knowledge, encouragement, clean humor, lessons, inspiration, and many more aspects. Granted, not every book has all of those aspects, but each volume must have some of those, or it is entirely lacking and not worthwhile. Now, over a decade later, my love of books certainly hasn’t waned; if ...