“My husband is in Afghanistan and a few ‘favorite things’ would brighten my day!”
How about that, Sisters?!? OK, Edie, please contact Living Proof Ministries at toll free (888) 700-1999 and give us an address. Please ask for Kimberly or Susan. Knowing what we now know, all of us here would want so much to send you to the beach…but, instead, we’re sending the beach to you. ENJOY!!!
PROCEED WITH CAUTION: this post will embody most everything you anticipate and perhaps even despise about women’s ministry. There will even be pink nail polish. As the great Professor Thornbury said a few weeks ago on the Twitterverse “something is not a stumbling block if you can see it coming.” So, consider yourself warned.
Colin and I just returned from a week at the beach in Mexico. It was crazy fantastic. I slept. I read classic literature. I also swam with a dolphin named Duey. And on the day I returned home I was greeted abrasively by a stomach bug and a crick in my neck so bad I could barely move my head. Oh, and then my 100 lb puppy Winston ate my over-priced prescription eye-glasses. But how can I really be frustrated with this bad boy?
Anyway, since this weekend was the Memorial Day holiday I scrolled through numerous tweets from people who were somewhere fabulous while I was at home with a bag of frozen corn under my neck. And I began to weep for the serenity of the ocean and my dolphin Duey.
But enough about me.
I want to talk about you.
I got to thinking that there may be some of you who won’t get a break this summer. While nearly everyone you know is off to some fabulous island, you won’t get a moment’s rest. For whatever reason, you won’t be able to retreat to the beach or the mountains or to wherever else makes your heart happy. We want to send a little fun and lots of love your direction so we’re doing a random give-away. And it will not include commentaries, concordances, or anything super useful or meaningful.
This giveaway is simply full of some of my personal favorite summer things including: Bobbi Brown Beach parfum (seriously smells exactly like the beach!), classic Ray-Ban aviators, Votivo Candle in White Ocean Sands, a pair of bright yellow Moleskine notebooks, Tea Forte’ Pomegranate Blackberry Iced Tea, and America’s Test Kitchen Best Summer Dessert recipes. See the contents below:
There are really no conditions for this giveaway. My hope, of course, is that this gift makes it into the hands of someone who simply can’t get a break this year and not someone who is heading to the Maldives or Bora Bora next week to stay in one of those little huts with glass floors sprawled across sparkling turquoise waters. But truly, if this gift brings a big smile to a single one of your faces that is quite enough for me.
So, please enter your name in the comments section if you could use a little sunshine in your world. We’ll do a random drawing and announce the winner at noon on this Thursday the 31st.
You are loved.
Melissa
Oh this post made me happy even if I don’t win!!
You are so thoughtful Melissa!
Blessings,
michelle in VT
What a wonderful way to brighten someone’s summer. I really enjoy reading the posts. There are days that they seem like they are just for me. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and love for others and the Lord.
Wow! What a fantastic giveaway! I will not be traveling this summer… I have many responsibilities her at home! Thanks for the contest! Very fun!!
Melissa,
First, I love Winston and who could be mad at that face? :)) This is a fun giveaway! Thank you!
Much love to all and give Winston a hug from the Siestas.
Patty
How sweet of u. Many thanks. Wishing all a blessed summer.
I could use a little happy!
I want to give this to my Sarah–a fantastic single-mom, a dedicated school teacher,and a loving daughter!
Thank you so much for doing this! What fun stuff!
What a sweet idea!
I hope you are feeling better. 🙂
Penney Siddiqui
What a sweet summer surprise !
It actually snowed here last week so I could really use some (warm) sunshine! I could maybe imagine I’m at the beach – LOL
What a sweet bunch of goodies! Thank you for sharing your favorites! What a blessing for someone to win!
It all looks so lovely! Margo Laug
Delightful!
I would love a little sunshine in my life this week! Thanks!
Thanks so much for the chance!!
Bring on summer! 🙂
You always make me grin!
Hope I don’t win because I am not a girlie girl but you still make me grin!
New mommy to a sweet, sweet 5 month old little boy. I need a little summer pick-me-up to revive these sleep-deprived eyes! 🙂 🙂
This is my entry!
-Susan 😀
Such a great goody bag! It’s been 5+ years since I’ve seen the ocean. 🙁
What a thoughtful gift! I work for a non-profit agency in child abuse prevention with a busy work schedule through the summer. Though I do get a few days off this June to celebrate my 30th birthday, my triplet siblings and I aren’t planning any thing extravagant! We hope to celebrate with some friends and family close by. I am saving towards my seminary classes and a possible mission trip in the late Fall. I’d be okay with my name entered as well. 🙂 – LC
Oh how sweet of you to put this together. What a great idea.
What a thoughtful givewaway!
Thank you Melissa for thinking of us who are not able to take a trip this summer. As a single mom I’ve missed a lot of summer trip taking. Even though my daughter has moved out I still pay some of her bills and I found out this weekend now she is pregnant. Hope every one at LPM have a wonderful summer.
FUN! FUN!! Thanks y’all for doing this. So fun!!!
Pick me! Pick me!
I’d love some sunshine!
My summer plans were derailed by two real estate appraisers I’ve never met. We are unable to refinance our home loan last month because two separate individuals couldn’t verify a reasonable value for our home. It’s downright hurtful to think that my priceless home in which I raise my family cannot get a reasonable value from an anonymous appraiser so that the bank can refinance my loan.So what’s a girl to do? Heartbroken,I’m praying that something good is coming from this frustrating mess. My hope of a vacation is gone for at least the next year. I don’t mind staying home, truthfully, but a little extra something to splurge on myself is appreciated. Gods peace and blessings to the winner, wherever she may be.
Will be home most of the summer…no vacation this year due to family commitments. Would love a little bit of paradise in the midst of the chaos! Fabulous idea btw – love it!
I don’t know why I got teary as I read this. Maybe the thought of actually being at the beach? Maybe because I crave that experience so? Maybe because it’s the end of the school year, and this teacher is bone tired and can’t smile one more day, one more minute, at students without begging the Holy Spirit to fill me up just one more time…gosh, I’m rambling.
Thanks. And may God bless you for blessing the winner of this package! 🙂
Lots of family drama here…not sure what the summer holds. Please put my name in the hat! Thanks.
We hope to go on vacation at the end of the summer, but with our new adopted daughter and her health issues we are just not sure. Since being home with her we have been in and out of hospital and numerous doctor visits. We do not plan too far ahead with her. I would love a little respite at home.
Love this package!! I have used Beach perfume before and it DOES smell exactly like the beach!
I am going to Panama City Beach this summer with our youth group on a mission trip. We always have a blast!
Lots of family coming in and no vacation this summer. Would love a little bit of paradise in the midst of the chaos! Great idea – love it!
Melissa, thank you! I hope you recover stocky from the virus and the crick in the neck.
I was hoping for you would include a book or a little concordance (if there is such a thing).
We are paying for tuition for our two sons right now (one in college and the other in middle school). Going on vacation is not even in the near horizon until son#1 graduates.
Again, thank you for the goodies.
Fantastic goodies! Who wouldn’t love a mini summer escape from the comfort of home!!!
What a fun giveaway! A beach perfume sounds fabulous.
Had to spend vacation money on car repairs. Of course, I’m glad to have fixed my car, but still…
Such a precious gesture. I am so glad that you had such a wonderful time on your trip. 🙂
Melissa- I’m so sorry to hear about the rough patch you’ve experienced on your return 🙁 I pray you feel better soon!
I’m not really looking to win anything but I thought it quite fitting you posted this because I’ve been working full time on my MDiv this past year, and knew when I accepted God’s call to this, one of my sacrifices would be the ability to afford almost any kind of traveling/vacation/getaway. Since I’m infected with the travel bug, I’ve thought it best not to allow myself to even dream of them so I would not become discontent. However, in a rare moment the other day I let the dream surface and even spoke it aloud! So I just wanted to say thanks for thinking of all of us out here glued to ground of our daily (but blessed) work turf and God bless!
This just makes me happy — makes me feel beachy just looking at the photo of the collection! Thank you . . . .
I love this! everything is so cute and moleskin notebooks are my favorite ^_^
Sounds amazing!
Oh yes! I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to receive this give-away! I work at a ministry and we are in the process of welcoming 16 – 18 Interns to our Summer Program; which means we are not allowed a day off until they leave in August! (This IS NOT a whiny complaint! … just the facts, babe! What an awesome time we will have!) Thank you all for all you do “there in Texas for us’ns out here”.
Melissa, You guys are fabulous! Count me in. Love ya, Lynda
Would like to share this with my daughter 🙂
I have a fun summer serving kids planned.My husband & I hope to have children become more like their Creator this summer,so even though we don’t have children of our own, this is a way God gave us to serve him.
Whoever wins this will hsve a nice treat.
Count me in! Thanks Melissa. I don’t see a summer vacation in our future for this year but I’m glad you got to get away with your husband. Everyone needs a vacation like that once in a while!