Giveaway/Contests

January: A Month Full of Prizes and Fun

Wow.

I just realized I have a ton of things coming up on this blog next month. Before I go any further, do you have your Outlook open? Or your desk calendar handy?

No? We’ll wait.

*whistling*

Ready? Great, here are some dates to mark down:

Beginning January 1st: Buy a Friend a Book Week

Win a FREE book at writefromkaren.com

To learn more about the program, read this page. I’ll draw a winner January 8th.

Prize: A book of winner’s choice – $15 max.


Beginning January 10th: Photo Contest: THEME: WINTER / COLD / BITTER / BLUE / WHITE / FIRE / WARMTH

Photo Contest at writefromkaren.com

To learn more about the contest, read this page. We’ll start voting January 17th.

Prize: $25 gift certificate to winner’s choice of online store.


Beginning January 26th: Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival Button

To learn more about the giveaway, read this page. I’ll draw a winner January 30th.

Prize: To be announced (and it’s a good one!!)


January 31st: First Blogger’s Best Carnival

bloggersbest1

Okay, picture this – you’re trying to entice new readers to your blog. But they only have time to read one of your blog posts. Which blog post would you direct them to? Which of your blog posts really shines and says something about your life? Which blog post are you most proud of? Now take that blog post and submit it to the Blogger’s Best Carnival so everyone else can appreciate your greatness. πŸ™‚

To learn more about the carnival, read this page.

Prize: The satisfaction of reading quality blog posts. πŸ™‚

Monday Morning Meme

Monday Morning Meme – December 15th

All you have to do is answer the questions below either in the comment section, or on your blog. And elaborate! Make these questions show your unique and special personalities. This meme entry will post at 12:01 every Monday morning and will be the first postentry listed on WFK all day Monday. (This is an all-day Monday meme, so please, play all day!)

Monday Morning Meme at writefromkaren.com

December 15th Questions:

1. What is bothering/stressing you out right his minute? Is this problem something you can solve on your own? Or will you simply have to ride the wave and see how it turns out? In the meantime, how are you coping with the stress – how do you unwind?

2. When was the last time you made a compromise with someone? Tell us about it. How did that compromise turn out?

3. What modern day convenience would you be willing to give up forever? Why would you give up that particular convenience and how would you give it up?

4. If you found yourself locked inside a public restroom stall, what would you do? Climb over the door? Or crawl under the door? Tell us about the worst public restroom experience you’ve ever had.

Monday Morning Meme Participants

1. Sue
2. Jodi
3. Thea @ I\’m a Drama Mama
4. PhoenixTheBloggingMama
5. Dawn\’s Daily Life
6. Incrementum-GiGi
7. Oregonsunshine
8. Vicki

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Christmas song #15 Christmas Lullaby by Amy Grant

Abundant Life

Teaching: What the Bible Says About Christmas

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

Much could be said about the specific origins of different holidays, be they pagan or not, but that information can be found elsewhere.

It is important to note that holidays and celebrations were God’s idea, as evidenced by His directives to the people of Israel in the Old Testament. Special days or weeks that He designated were to be times of celebrating His goodness to them, as well as times designed to help His people remember His deliverance and provision. Therefore, holidays per se are neither good nor bad. It depends on what they are for.

For Christians, as per the Church Epistles, there are no prescribed “holidays.” Every day is to be a special day as we live for the Lord. That is not to say that it is wrong to celebrate the birth of Christ, or his Resurrection. Such remembrances can be very meaningful.

β€œChristmas” definitely has pagan roots, in that late December was originally the time of the Roman festival honoring the Winter Solstice and the pagan gods they worshipped, primarily the Sun God. It was Constantine who proclaimed it the day to celebrate the birth of Christ, and his motives were probably political, and suspect at best.

Jesus was not born in December, but rather in September, as a study of Scripture shows. We have a two hour video that beautifully lays this out called β€œThe Birth of Christ”, and an article called β€œWas Jesus born on December 25th or early September?”

Does God care if Christians have a Christmas tree, give gifts, etc.? Not at all, as long as we don’t worship the tree. We can remember Jesus Christ and give thanks for his birth and his life. And we can take advantage of the opportunity to talk to people about our Savior and tell them why he was born.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page.

Thank you for visiting and God bless.

Giveaway/Contests

Twilight Giveaway

CONGRATULATIONS GO TO NUMBER 126, VICKI FROM HOOKED ON MEMES!!!

Twilight Book Winner


If I don’t hear from Vicki before 5:00 p.m. CST, December 16th, I’ll draw another winner.

THANK YOU for visiting and commenting. A special thank you to all of the Online Sweepstakes visitors!! I hope you’ll consider bookmarking me and staying in touch!

You’re in luck! I just finished reading “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer and I’m now giving it away!

So, if you’re interested in getting my copy of Twilight (it’s been read once and is in excellent condition), please leave a comment. I’ll randomly draw a name on Saturday, December 13th at 5:00 p.m.

(Open to U.S. addresses only)

Hurry! This would make a GREAT last minute gift for someone!

(Comments are now closed to prevent any confusion).

Life

Writing it Out

You know what’s great about blogging?

You can password-protect posts.

Whenever I start feeling burned out on blogging (and who wouldn’t posting two/three times a day! And you only THOUGHT you could shut me up! HA!), I write a password-protected post.

My audience shifts. I’m no longer writing to faceless friends, but to my family, to people who know me in real life. I use real names, I express real emotions and I’m free to write whatever the hell I want to write without fear of repercussions.

And it gives me a chance to slice open my heart and let it bleed. It’s messy but oh so therapeutic.

Take yesterday for example. I felt so b*tchy, so aggressive, so IMPATIENT. I realize some of this has to do with hormones but some of it … I don’t know, I felt like a tea kettle that had been left to boil for too long. I just felt tense and on edge.

So, I did what I always do – I exercised, hard. My frustrations oozed out of my pores and it felt good, really, really good.

And I watched “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” on the treadmill.

It wasn’t the story, per se, that had me bawling my eyes out, but the friendship factor. I’ve never had that. And will likely never have that closeness with another female. I don’t know. I’m different – females GRATE on my nerves for some reason.

But I’m not here to analyze why I think I’m like that – I wrote that in my password-protected post. I’m just here to say that ever since I’ve been writing these private posts? I just FEEL so much better. I feel … more exposed, in a secret sort of way.

I know it doesn’t make sense. But that’s about the only way I know how to explain it at this point.

I’m not stifled, I don’t feel suffocated, I can just BE me.

So, if you’re feeling the blogging-blues, write a private post. Say what you WANT to say as opposed to what you THINK others want you to say. It’s cathartic.

And I’m betting it helps you get over the blogging-blues.