Bloom!

Here's a few links from our footprints around the web this month! Summer Reading Ideas If you're wanting to some good reading this summer, be sure to check out the discussion on The Rebelution here !  After all, summer is a great time to get in some wholesome, encouraging reads and encourage yourself in learning, growing and getting closer to Christ. This is What Working for God in the Middle East Looks Like I really appreciated Ellie Montgomery's thoughts in her post about living as a worker for Jesus in the Middle East.  If you're curious on what life can be like there, head on over! God bless! Joanna, Megan, Krista, Emily & Victoria

Dear Sisters, Over the past year God has been teaching me more than I can write in one letter, which does not mean I’ve fully matured or reached a benchmark in sanctification. It’s more like I’ve been relearning the gospel as I struggle to accept grace and truly agree that what Christ has done is enough. It’s easy for me to get distracted or absorbed by my thoughts, feelings, and actions. God has given me a sensitive spirit; however, because of my sin nature, this also means I can become both self-reliant and self-absorbed.  While I want to enjoy and glorify God, I often become so preoccupied with trying to fix myself that I approach Scripture and prayer more like a self-help blog or to-do list instead of the living, breathing, and active Word of God, the story in which He is the main character (not me). This often leads to despair. About two year ago, I came across a quote by A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God  that, although convicting, is another comforting affirmation th

This post was first published over three years ago and has become one of our all-time most popular posts, so we wanted to share it with you all again.  May it encourage you today! We hope you'll be encouraged by this interview with Emily, Bloom! Photographer and Designer, about her heart surgery years ago and how the Lord has been using that in her life. Tell us a bit about your heart issue. I was born with TAPVR (Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return). The pulmonary vein that should have taken oxygen from my lungs and sent it through my heart to the rest of my body was connected to the wrong side of my heart. Therefore, I could not oxygenate my body at all. Within a few minutes of my birth I started turning blue.  I was quickly flown to Dallas Children’s Hospital where I had open heart surgery at barely a day old. So you had heart surgery. You were a baby and won't remember it, but what have your parents told you about it? I have heard the story  so many times that

Dear sisters, My trip back to the States was quite eventful - having an allergic reaction on my 12 hour flight and realizing the only thing I could do was lean on Jesus and ask for Him to intervene.  He did and I was fine.  It's moments like these when I realize that He's really the only One I can hold onto, the only One I can trust - then and now.  He proved himself faithful again. Then I was sitting on the runway for 1.5 hours because there was no open gate, running through the airport only to miss my flight by minutes and trying to convince the airlines I needed to get another flight booked ASAP.  I found myself in the restroom, sick from the airline food.  Then another run to my newly booked flight and almost missed it, too.  Made it with a minute to spare! When I arrived at my final destination, of course my luggage hadn't made it.  But I wasn't really thinking about that - I was thinking how God had guided my day, even through all the mini disasters, and b

A heroine is defined in the dictionary as a woman who is well-known for courage and daring action. It's further described as someone who is noted for a famous achievement in a particular field or situation. In our Christian faith, we come across stories of women whose testimonies and actions have radiated Christ in their own lives and have inspired others to see that Light as well. The beauty is that these faith heroines point us to Christ and encourage us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received. By Krista Rodriguez Elizabeth Gurney-Fry was born in May 21, 1780 in Norwich, England. She grew up in a home of a prominent Quaker family where her parents were both bankers. When she was 18, she was motivated by the preaching of an American Quaker, William Savery. With this, she grew an interest in serving the poor, the sick and prisoners by collecting used clothing for them, visiting them and teaching children in some neighborhoods how