Prayer Guide Giveaway Results

I am so excited to share the winners of the Prayer Guide Giveaway !! :)

And, wouldn't you know, those AWESOME ladies (Jennifer and Lara) at Walking with Him are donating another Prayer Guide for me to give away!! Woo Hoo!!

The THREE winners of the Walking with Him Prayer Guide are....Jill Morton, Julie from Come Have A Peace, and Sally Brown. (If I don't have a mailing address for you, could you Please send it to me? Thanks!).

And JJ, you blessed me with your comments (and made me smile!), but unfortunately your name wasn't chosen. :( (JJ and I were best friends growing up in Indiana. She has watched me journey through many bad choices, and prayed faithfully for me until I became a Christian at age 26). However, I couldn't resist, and purchased a Prayer Guide for you. Watch your mailbox!

And Crissy, blog designer extraordinaire, since you hurried and bought a Prayer Guide on your own...I am sending you a set of Prayer Cards from Nav Press that I love to use with my Prayer Guide. (Thank you again, Crissy, for all of your hard work on my blog! You are a treasure!!)

A huge note of THANKS to all who entered the Giveaway!! The Good News is that we are ALL winners ~ we can ALL pray anytime, any where...to an AMAZING GOD who desires to hear from His dearly loved children!!!
Have a BLESSED, Prayer-filled day!!

Ear tubes, missing caterpillars, and skunks

Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Today I will choose to give thanks for...

...the chance to get an ear tube placed in my ear during my ENT visit....even though it was extremely painful and my ear still feels clogged and infected. Ahhh!!! (Has anyone else had a ear tube as an adult?? Is this normal?)

Today I will choose to give thanks for...

...my dog Rocky...despite his ability to smell up my whole house after getting sprayed by a skunk at 10:30 PM last night! It was horrible!!!

Today I will choose to give thanks for...

...the ability to care for Jack and Jill (birds from Sarah's preschool class) over the summer...although they had 3 babies on Saturday and have 7 more eggs in their little love nest.

and today I will give thanks for....

...our caterpillar,who hopefully will make it to a butterfly, if he doesn't keep escaping! Look where we found him today...

Good thing my husband John has such "eagle eyes" and spotted him on Amanda's hanging art work!!

And to top it all off...I noticed I wore my shirt inside out all day long!! I think all of the medication for my ear is finally getting to me!! Oh Lord, help me!!!

And how was your day??? What are you thankful for today?? :)


P.S. I'll post tomorrow (Lord willing) the winners of the Prayer Guide giveaway!! Woo Hoo!!

P.S.S. Tomorrow night, my girlfriend Julie and I are headed off for a prayer retreat!! I am ready for some major prayer time!!!

Family Tradition Idea ~ Sundae Nights at the Bultema's!

I love to celebrate! I also love to think of simple, easy, inexpensive ways to "mark the moments" of our every day life and create fun, family traditions together.

In fact, one book I read shared that, "creating traditions for your family is definitely one of the most important things you can do to strengthen your family ties". Wow!! So I have been praying and asking God for ideas for new traditions ~ in the midst of our crazy, busy life with 4 kids!!

A few months ago we started having "Sundae Nights on Sunday Nights". Originally, the "Sundae Nights" just started because it was a Sunday night and I let the kids have ice cream sundaes. And then, as I was eating my ice cream, I had an idea! Suddenly I envisioned our backyard filled to the brim with family and friends enjoying ice cream and fellowship together every Sunday night. Unfortunately my husband hasn't caught that vision yet....but we are slowly getting there!

Every Sunday Night, our family has ice cream sundaes together. It's that simple. During the school year, Sundae Nights are a great way for our family to connect, share highlights from the weekend, and discuss important events approaching in the coming week.

During the summer, it's a great opportunity for us to invite friends and/or family to our home. Sundae Nights are simple, inexpensive, can easily accomodate a food allergy/sensitivity, and everyone likes ice cream!!

One of the best parts....it's not uncommon for my high schooler Jake to show up with 2 or 3 of his buddies to see if it's time for Sundae Nights yet. I love it! My hope is that when my kids are in college, they'll still swing home with a car load of friends on Sunday evenings to see if I still have the hot fudge and sprinkles out!!

What about for you?? What fun, family traditions help keep your family connected?? Please share your ideas ~ I'd love to hear from you!!

Picture below (L to R) ~ Amanda Bultema, Sydney Torresson, & Sarah Bultema enjoying their Sundaes! :)

God, where are You?!

If you haven't had a chance to sign up for my Prayer Guide GIVEAWAY, please join the fun! (Click here for more information). You have until Thursday night to enter. I'd love to hear from you! :)

Unfortunately, my ear is filled with fluid again! (I've been battling an ear/sinus infection since late July). Yuck! So for today I'll share one of my favorite stories of God's faithfulness in the midst of a very difficult season of my journey. May God use it to encourage you (and me!). :)

Have you ever wondered, “God, where are You?”

I mean, we learn as a small child in Sunday School that God is everywhere – but have you ever tilted your head back and asked the God of the Universe, “Where are You?”

I know I have...specifically after my fiance David was killed. You may be familiar with that part of my journey ~ on December 10, 1998 (5 months before our wedding date and 2 weeks before Christmas), David Timmer, my fiance and best friend, was tragically killed in a freak workplace accident.

Two weeks later, on a cloudy, dark Thursday morning, there I was, outside trying to shovel my driveway. The snow was up to my waist or higher, (or so it seemed) and my little blue car wasn't going anywhere until I shoveled out a path. Jake, who was in preschool at the time, was bitter cold. (You know how it is with kids, it’s fun for like three minutes and then they’re just frozen to the core and ready to be done).

As I was shoveling, I found myself asking the question- “God, where are you?”. Although actually, I think it went more like this- “OK God, where are you?! You say You’ll never leave me, but where are You now?! This is a lot of snow, God. How in the world am I supposed to shovel this all by myself? I thought I wasn't going to have to be a single mom anymore. Why did you have to take David home??!! This isn’t fair, God! This just isn’t fair! I mean, look at Jake. He's freezing ~ he has icicles hanging off of his eyelashes for crying out loud. I’m all alone, I can’t even get my car out of the driveway - God, where are You??”

I even lifted my shovel in anger and shook it at the Lord that day!

Just then, a car stopped in front of my house, and a young college kid hopped out.“Hey lady,” he called, “this looks like a pretty big driveway for you and your son. Go on in the house and let me take care of it for you.”

Tears just poured down my face as I tried to speak the words, “Thank you, thank you, thank you”.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the Israelites (and us) of God’s promise to never leave us nor forsake us. The next time life circumstances cause YOU to wonder “God, where are you?..., ” ~ Go ahead and ask Him, He might be closer than you think. :)