The Good, the Bad, & the GIVEAWAY! :)

Hey Friends!!

I wish we could have coffee together and you could tell me all about your weekend!! I hope it was life-giving, refreshing, and fun! :)

As you know, I desire for my blog *She Sparkles* to be a joy-filled, celebratory place...so I'll start with my good news and updates! :)

* We had a fun Groundhogs Day! 17.2 inches of snow couldn't keep us from celebrating! :)

* The kids enjoyed 3 snow days filled with Snow Day Shuffles, sledding, hot chocolate, games with mom, sleepovers, more games with mom, and fun! :)

* Last night we enjoyed a fun Superbowl Party. Not that I'm a football fan...but when I saw a Snickers ice cream pie shaped like a football ~ I couldn't resist throwing a celebration! Such a blast filling our home with food, friends, fun, and yes, football! :)

* I spent the weekend at a Women's Leadership Conference with keynote speaker Carol Kent. I was able to reconnect with dear friends....like Carol, Donna Fagerstrom, Jennie Dimkoff, and more! (And just between us....Carol Kent asked me to teach a workshop at her Speak Up with Confidence seminar this summer. Woo Hoo!)

However, please don't let my nice cheery updates fool you....most of last week I looked like this ~

Yes, if the woman above had red hair (and was wearing something sparkley) ~ that could be me! I was definitely ready to pull out my hair last week!!

I won't bore you with the details...just trust me on this. Having all 4 kids home for 3 full days was not part of my plan.

And isn't interesting how the enemy goes right for our mind in his effort to rob us of our joy and peace? Suddenly not only was I overwhelmed by the work I needed to do (but would have to put on hold) ~ my mind was filled with lies like...

*bad mom (for not being excited about the snow days)

* failure

* in over my head, defeated

I could go on and on...

Add the stress, plus the lies, and more challenges with one of our dear kids....it was a recipe for defeat. Thursday afternoon, after another round of battling with this child, I couldn't take anymore. I threw myself on my bedroom floor, bawled like a baby, called John in the middle of my ugly cry, and poured out my fears, stress and concerns.

Why do I share all of this with you, my dear bloggy friend?? (Trust me, it'd be easier for you to think my life was all "roses" and parties.)

I think as women there's something freeing to know we all have struggles. None of us have it all together. Now my pain is not your pain, I get that. And having a difficult, strong-willed child is not the end of the world. I get that too.

Someone said to me last week after reading this post, they thought my friends in Egypt had a harder week. I understand their point, and yes, our Egyptian friends did have a very challenging week (but their faith is strong, I just talked to them. Another post...)

And I am realizing my faith is small. Sorry, God...

Thus the reason I am bringing along my Verse Cards everywhere I go. If I'm going to live in victory, truth, and joy ~ I MUST constantly allow the Word of God to dwell richly in me. I must.

And as I shared last week, my dear friend Darlene (the founder of Verse-ability) and the creator of my personalized verse cards, would like to share the gift with others.

In fact, she is offering to giveaway 10 personalized gifts to 10 blessed *She Sparkles* readers. Woo Hoo!!!

You can choose from a personalized Verse Pack (business-card sized Scriptures, packaged in a custom woodgrained pocket box).

Or a Promise Verse Book (32 paraphrased Christian Scripture verses personalized with your first name. The books are coil-bound and have easel backs).

I am so *THRILLED* to be able to share TEN of these awesome, power-packed resources!! Yippee!!

To Win my Verse-ability Giveaway:

Leave a comment in the comment section answering this question:

Why would you like to win this Verse-ability Giveaway??

Also, would you prefer the VersePack or Verse Book?

(And if you would like to win this for someone other than yourself, please be sure to share the name you would like personalized. You can even hop over to Verse-ability and pick your favorite color and format. If you could pick one ~ which would it be??)

RULES: Starts today, Monday, February 7th, 2011 and ends Thursday, February 10th at 9 PM. Winner will be contacted via e-mail.

Extra Entries:

•Post this Giveaway on FB
•Follow *She Sparkles*
•Subscribe to *She Sparkles*
•Add my *She Sparkles* button to your blog
•Tweet about this giveaway including a link to this post

Please be sure to leave me a comment to let me know your extra entries.

If your email address is not connected to your ID please leave your email address with your comment or email it to me at cindy.bultema@comcast.net with the subject "Giveaway".

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! Have a life-giving, Truth-filled week!



P.S. A HUGE THANKS to Darlene for your very generous GIVEAWAY gift! I love, love, love being able to share TRUTH with others. Thanks, Darlene, for making this possible! :) May God bless you for your generosity and graciousness! :)