Friday's Fave Five #201

It's #201 of Friday's Fave Fives.  Welcome everyone.  Thanks for joining me even in the midst of your summers whether they be lazy and hazy or busy beyond belief with the making of iced teas and attending pool parties or somewhere in between.  It's always a good time to remember those things we are blessed with throughout out week.

My very first has to do with last week and that would be

1.  Giveaways.  I love winning giveaways and I also love giving away gifts too.  And this week it's my turn to give.  To celebrate my 200th post last week I offered two Starbucks gift cards to two participants in the FFF last week.  I wish I could give everyone one who has joined me in FFF over the years.  It's been so much fun.  But two it was and those two winners are:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7
2

Timestamp: 2012-07-27 04:44:03 UTC

Congratulations Laura @ Outnumbered Mom and Willow @ Willow's Cottage!  Drop me a line with your snail mail and I'll get those out to you.

2.  Giveaways of stuff I no longer need to a worthy cause.  Even though I had a yard sale a in June I still found more stuff I didn't need so off it went to a yard sale raising money for our church's building fund.  I find it actually quite freeing to get rid of stuff just hanging around.  We tell ourselves we might need it one day but that day never comes.  Sometimes it's hard to loosen my grip upon these things, but really, if I haven't used it in the last 3 years what is the likelihood I ever will.  Goodbye stuff cluttering my house and garage.  Hopefully you'll find a good home where you'll be well loved and used to your full potential.  Hello room to breathe.

3.  Giveaway of time to lead our ladies group for the summer.  Our regular leader is on sabbatical for the summer months so I was asked to take over for her.  The thought petrified and thrilled me both at the same time. One of the hardest things I struggled with in saying yes was knowing the time I would need to put in to put extra effort into studying the lessons each week   But it has been a blessing in more ways than one.  I find with the extra discipline I feel closer to the Lord because I'm in the Word more and because I'm praying more.  And somehow I feel closer to the ladies in the group too.  It's a privilege and honor to meet with them and have them share their lives with me each week.

4.  Giveaway of service.  Our church takes a turn serving at the soup kitchen on a Saturday once every 2 months.  To me it is such a blessing to meet with others from church to set up, serve and clean up lunch for that day.  It's such a small thing out of my life but reaps such warm benefits back towards me.

5.  Giveaways of fresh garden vegetables.  Now I don't have a garden but this last week I was very blessed to be on the receiving end of early summer onions, sugar snap peas, parlsey, dill and tomatoes.  So delicious.

What have been your favorites from this last week?  I encourage you to take a moment and find them.  If you share them in a post, please feel free to sign on to Mr. Linky.  Don't forget to try and visit some of the other participants.  It's a great way to make "bloggy" friends.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!