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Friday, September 9, 2011

So Blessed.... Again! (And a give away!!!)

There are three things that I truly cherish in my life.... my faith, my husband and my creative side!  While I try not to push my faith on anyone, from time to time I like to share with you (my readers) how blessed I am.

And while I try not to go on and on and on about my husband, who is also my hero, from time to time I like to share some things about him too!


And well, we all know I LOVE TO SHARE about my creative side!!!  Most of the time this blog is dedicated to my life as a scrapbooking cutter designer but today, well today I am going to talk about the other two blessing in my life!

When 9/11 happened Andrew and I had just gotten back together after a short separation (he was scared of commitment it seems LOL).... and when he got the call to be activated and shipped out I had no idea how long he would be gone, or where he would even be going.  You could say this was my first clue that military life was going to be tough!

When Andrew proposed a few months later - I have to tell you - I flat out said, "You know.... you need to decide what you want to do with your life... because I don't want to be an Army wife!"  To which he reassured me that he wasn't going to go back into the active Army, instead he would just finish out his time with the National Guard, and hey.... that was only one weekend a month, and two weeks a year!  YEAH RIGHT!

Four deployments later (can you say bait and switch?!?!), a job where he puts on ACU's everyday, and more than five and half of the nine years we have been married spent apart, there is nothing in the world I can image myself being other than an "Military Wife"!

I have to tell you the one true thing that has helped me survive life as a military wife has been my faith. Without that..... well I can't even image what life would have been like!   Being a military wife is hard, being a military wife without faith.... I can't even fathom!!!

Everyone needs encouragement now and then, and sometimes we need it more than we know....  It is during these times I am so thankful that we have creative minds and creative writers like Jocelyn Green!!!!

You may recall in Oct of 2009 I was honored to be asked to review a book called "Faith Deployed"...  I was totally in awe of how these people "got" what my life was like!  They understood and "knew" what I was going though.  And I have to tell in in the two years since reading this book, I have actually used it as my daily devotional more than a few times!

Thus I have to tell you I felt blessed that Jocelyn contacted me and asked me to review her new book "Faith Deployed.... Again"!!!


I was NOT disappointed!  Once again each day spoke to my heart and each story seemed to come at just the right moment to help me though the difficult time or problem I was struggling with!  Again... I was struck by the honestly and willingness to talk about real issues and real struggles that military wives deal with day in and day out....  and then to be able to discuss those issues from a Christian point of view and to back that view up with scripture!  Wow!

If you are a military wife I can not stress enough to you how important it is to read this book!!!  Each entry starts with a scripture, then flows into a story, which is then followed by a question or thought to ask your self and then is finally summed up in a short prayer! 

As military wives we can't live day in and day out (being in the middle of a deployment or not) alone and this book was an awesome reminder that we are not alone, there are others going through the same thing we are and God's presence is with us all!

I would highly encourage anyone who is a military wife or even a military mom to go out and purchase this book!  BUT before you do.... Jocelyn was kind enough to give me a copy to give away to one lucky reader of my blog!!!!!!  Whoooo hooooo!!!!!! (Thanks Jocelyn)!

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment here on my blog.... that's it!  On Monday I will hold a random drawing and one lucky reader will win a copy of "Faith Deployed... Again"!  And as I said before if you are anyway "related" to the military (or know someone who is), you will NOT be disappointed in this book!

Please make sure you tell your friends about the giveaway and send them here to sign up!!! (Hey we military wives/mom's have to stick together you know!!!)

I hope you have a great weekend,  and please take time out to remember all those who gave their lives on 9/11 and all those who go out daily to fight for our safety and our freedom!!!!!  Don't forget to come back on Monday to see if you are the lucky winner!

Until Next Time!

Cya~


Lori McDonald, Designer

My cutter files work on many machines. Some examples are the: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the most common softwares involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create and Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, and Robomaster. These file are available exclusively at: VDBC!!! We also specialize in original photo keepsakes(including our one of a kind photo Stars). Additionally we are in the process of adding a new "Honoring your Hero" line of products. Make sure to visit our
Store!

Don't forget to check back often as we host our scrapbooking digital cutting file freebies at least once a week!!!

4 comments:

Barracudasue September 9, 2011 at 5:27 AM  

What a wonderful post, Lori! I cannot fathom what you and other Army wives have been through or are going through but I'm thrilled beyond words you have your faith!

Don't put me in the drawing because I don't want to take this book away from anyone who needs to read it but I had to comment on your post!

God bless you and ALL those Army significant others! Man, woman or child....I can't imagine what you go through on a daily basis!

Chalouxs girl September 9, 2011 at 11:03 AM  

If it wasn't for Army wives, I would have crawled under a rock and cried until the deployment was over! I had no idea what to expect, until army wives became my army sisters...he volunteered to leave again...and at least I know what to expect this time...I think! Unless your a military family, you have NO IDEA! It's a love/hate relationship~!

Anna September 9, 2011 at 11:09 AM  

What an awesome post that made me cry. You are such a bubbly person I didn't even think you would ever feel anything but happy. You are a blessing to us all and God bless our troops and families. My Son in law is in the Air National Guard. It is such a scary time we live in right now. God bless you and yours. I enjoyed reading so much another part of your life. It touched my heart. Thank You!!!!

Tonya September 9, 2011 at 4:14 PM  

Wonderful thoughts .. My godson and family (marine) is stationed up in the sierra mountains raising three small ones. My heart and thanks goes out to all of our branches of military.

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