Friday, July 27, 2012

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!


9 comments:

nikkipolani said...

Hurray Laura and Willow :-) As for your other fives, they are terrific. Decluttering is such a wonderful feeling. So glad you took the plunge to lead your summer group.

Gattina said...

I don't know really what this "give away" thing is, anyway I live to far away, lol!

Annette Whipple said...

We can and do give away much. It is such a dear way to look not after ourselves!

Faith said...

Yay for giving away things and for serving.....that is awesome that you chose to be a small group leader this summer. I am blessed every time my group meets and you are so right that it draws us closer to God in the Word and in prayer. Fresh summer veggies is definitely a fave here too! enjoy the weekend susanne!

Barbara H. said...

Congrats to Laura and Willow!

I tend to hang on to things too much, too, sometimes for sentimental reasons, sometimes because it would take more money to replace the thing than to keep it. But it is nice to be able to purge things from time to time.

I know what you mean by being both petrified and thrilled about an opportunity. It's often through those kinds of things that we grow and are stretched.

Brenda said...

What a thoughtful thing to do by hosting the give-away! I think giving keeps us healthy, it keeps our minds off of ourselves and makes us aware of the abundance that we have.

Jerralea said...

It's more blessed to give than to receive. I heard that somewhere :)

Anyway, thanks for serving others and especially for taking on being the small group leader. I agree, when you are leading a study, you study so much more yourself. I have to volunteer every once in awhile to keep myself in the word!

Willow said...

Oh wow, Susanne! I'm so happy! This will definitely be one of my faves for NEXT week! Thank you so much!

I love receiving and giving extra produce--if you were closer I'd share our plethora of cherry tomatoes with you :)

Lisa Spence said...

With my son leaving home in a couple of weeks and the corresponding switching around of bedrooms I've been attempting to clean out and give away also! I hate the process but I like getting rid of the junk!