"He Loves Me" Behind the Scenes Secrets (& new Video Clip)

Hey Friends ~

I'm excited to share some "He Loves Me" Behind the Scenes secrets today!  First, let's see if you can figure them out! Want to play along?

1. Where was "He Loves Me" filmed? What city??

If you guessed, Kokomo, Indiana you are correct! (Recap of why Kokomo - here)

I think Kokomo is super appropriate, especially since it it the "City of Firsts" ~ and this is my first video project! Yay, God!

And if you are familiar with Kokomo, Indiana and wonder if I saw "Big Ben" while I was there, the answer is YES! Picture below is me and Director Fred Hollis (another Kokomo native) with the historic Big Ben of Highland Park.

2. What was the first scene I had to film?

Although the promo is the first scene the viewers will see (promo here), it was actually one of the last scenes we shot. For the first scene, all I had to do was pull pedals off of a daisy and let the pedals fall to the ground. No speaking. No facial expressions. Just pull the pedals, Cindy.

Simple enough, right???

Can I tell you I was a shaky, nervous wreck?? At that moment I thought to myself, "Oh good grief, what in the world did I get myself into? It's going to be a looong 2 days. Lord help me!" Thankfully God heard my cries and helped me get through the opening daisy scene, as well as the other scenes where I actually talked. Whew! (Thank You, God!)

3. How many of my family members (from my home) participated in this video production?

If you guessed ALL SIX you are correct!

When you watch the video in its entirety, you'll see 5 familiar faces (from my home) and recognize 1 voice (besides mine). Another close family member is in the Christmas scene - but that's another secret for another day!

See if you can tell from this mini clip which family members are involved. :) 

Did you recognize anyone??? 

(Special thanks to Jeanine, RBC's Editor Extraordinaire  for coming up with the idea to have my Sarah pull the daisy pedals, and to have my Amanda's voice in the background. I love that my girls are a part of one of the opening scenes!)

Thanks for stopping by and learning some of my "Behind the Scenes" secrets. :)  Most importantly, thanks for the special role YOU have played praying on the journey! May God use this "He Loves Me" project to share hope, joy, and TRUTH with ALL who have the opportunity to view it!

Sweet blessings to you~

A to Z Memory Verse Challenge - "I" Verse & "5 pack" CD Giveaway

Hey Friends!

Welcome back to the A to Z Memory Verse Challenge 2012! I'm so glad you are here! If you are new to the A to Z Challenge, you can read all about it here ! You can join in at anytime!

Today is the perfect day to start memorizing verses with us!

Here are the verses we've learned so far....

A - As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15b
B - Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Acts 16:31
C - Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
D - Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
E - Every good and perfect gift is from above James 1:17
F - For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7
G - God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in time of need.
H - How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth.

And now for our "I" verse -

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! Galatians 5:1


Memorizing Ideas ~

* My daughter Manda likes to jump rope around the block saying her verses at the same time. (My neighbor/friend Lori saw her the other day and said to Manda, "Yes, you are your mother's daughter!)

* Don't forget the dry erase marker idea. Write the verse on mirrors in your home. (Send me a pic when you do!)

* Put it on a note card by your toothbrush. Say it aloud each morning & night when you brush your teeth.

* For families, you may want to print off a letter "I" on colored cardstock. Write the verse on the "I", and hang it on your refrigerator.

* Get crafty! My friend recently sent a pic of some fun verse cards that she recently made with her gang. So cute!

For more ideas of memorizing verses, check out this great list!

**Feel free to share your favorite tips, ideas, even pictures. I'd love to share your suggestions and/or link to you in the weeks to come!

Giveaways ~

I am thrilled to share another GREAT GIVEAWAY with you!

This week I have a "CD 5 pack" of awesome Christian music! The CD pack includes music from Planet Shakers (featuring Israel Houghton), Michael W. Smith, Burlap to Cashmere, Elevation Church, and One Sonic Society.

**A huge note of thanks to Tom Brown, music rep for Provident Music, for his willingness to share these great CD's with a *She Sparkles* friend! :)

To Win this week's Music Giveaway: Share with us who you are, where you are from, and what verse you are memorizing this week.

Extra Entries:
•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.

RULES: Starts today, Monday, April 23 and ends Wednesday, April 25th at 9 PM. Winners will be posted on my blog during the week on April 30th.

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@gmail.com with the subject "Giveaway".

If you are a blogger, please leave your blog address in the comment section. What fun to blog hop and see how you are implementing the verses. Friends, if you are able, please stop by and say hello to these fun A to Z Participants too!!!!

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*. Happy Memorizing!


P.S. Verseability has also made a custom A-Z Versepack that contains all 26 of the verses for the year. The Versepacks are business card sized and perfect for carrying in your purse or pocket and are available for a special price of $ 5.00, plus shipping. You can order them by e-mailing: darlenedykstra@yahoo.com. Be sure to mention *She Sparkles* to get the special rate.
Disclosure: I was not provided with any financial compensation for this giveaway, and as always, all opinions are mine.

TobyMac Concert - Woo Hoo!

Hey Friends :)

Last night was the TobyMac concert! What a GREAT show!

My kids were all very excited for the "Meet and Greet" with him before his concert. (Um, well I guess, not just the kids. Lindsey & I were a teensy bit excited too!)

When the time came to meet TobyMac, he could not have been any nicer. He asked the kids their names. He talked to them about our Spring Break to Washington DC (he's from Arlington). I talked with him about his "The Bomb Mom" clothing line. He chatted with John about what band members would be playing.

Even though he was late for the start of the show, TobyMac never seemed in a hurry and couldn't have been more gracious. What a blessing!

(Family pic with TobyMac below. My son Jake had hockey practice, so we brought along Benj's best friend, also named Jake).

Of course, my girls may never wash their arms again. :)


TobyMac: A Night of Unplugged Stories & Songs is unlike any concert I've been too before. The stage was set up like a living room, and it felt as if we were just hanging out with TobyMac and his musicians.

They would sing a song or two, tell some stories, introduce what the lyrics meant to the song, as well as share how God had handpicked each of the singers/musicians.

The concert was worshipful, yet rockin', prayerful but also powerful, and overall just an amazing time. We all agreed it was one of our favorites!

TobyMac shared the theme of his concert was the importance of surrounding yourself with good friends and good people that will help you be more Christlike.

He shared how he prayed specifically that God would bring people into His life that loved Him even more than he did, to inspire and encourage him and keep him on the right path. What a powerful reminder!

We left the concert excited, refreshed, fired up and thankful for a great night of amazing music and a life-giving message. Woo Hoo!

Here's a little TobyMac for you to start out your weekend!



Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! May your weekend be filled with much joy, laughter, and fun family moments!

P.S. To see if TobyMac's show is heading to your town, you can check here. I'd highly recommend it! :)

"He Loves Me" Video Debut :)

Hey Friends!

It's Thankful Thursday! What are you thankful for today???

Although it's been a bit crazy this week, I'm choosing to be thankful! :)

I'm thankful my family is healthy (woo hoo!), lice free (yay!), we're going to the TobyMac concert tonight (double woo hoo!) and I'm thankful for the chance to share another video clip with you from my story. Yippee!

Since you have prayed for this project so faithfully (remember my big plea for prayer here), I wanted to give you, my sweet *She Sparkles* friends, another special "sneak peek".

This portion of my story I am sharing was the hardest to film for a bzillion reasons (trust me, since I don't like video cameras, the whole project was hard!).

Not only am I talking about a very tragic part of my journey (my hardest, saddest day ever), portions of this clip were filmed at my parent's home (where I originally received the devestating phone call). Reliving December 10th, 1998 at my parent's home was beyond difficult, but yet, at the same time I had so much peace.

Your prayers made a HUGE difference, so I thought I'd start with this piece of the story to share. It's 3+ minutes long. Here goes...



I was telling some friends that I feel like I'm "standing before you in my underwear" as I share my story through video. There's nothing like bringing all my past, fears and insecurities right to the forefront!

It's still painfully hard for me to watch and to share - but you are a perfect way to practice. :) I am SO THANKFUL for YOU and your encouragement and support. Thank you!

It's Thankful Thursday! What are you thankful for today??? I'd love to hear from you!!

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! God's richest blessings to you~


P.S. As you probably remember, Mother's Day is the official air date of my full 30 minute program on Day of Discovery (local schedule here).

If you like what you see, please continue to visit Day of Discovery here or here and thank them for their hard work and investment in this project!