“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
Enter me – Alicia Reagan!:)
So good to know you’re not the only one home! Thank you so much for the joy-
Hello my name is Monica Hart-Atwood. Hope I win!
Because of surgery and medical expenses, my summer vacation, which was really just a trip to see my sister and 2 brothers, isn’t going to happen. i had to tell my sister today. we both cried! i sure could use some sunshine!
jackie
I’d love for one of my favorite military wives to receive your gift: Shannon or Marinell from Ft.Riley, KS. Or my friend Jody in Phoenix,AZ who has a husband dying from a fatal disease. Or my favorite pastor’s wife Olivia in Belton, TX…..they are the deserving ones!
Kelli Combs
Chattanooga, TN
Thank you!
What fun! Gave me a good smile, even if my name isn’t picked – thanks! Rebecca Anderson, Phoenix, AZ
Ooooooooo!! Pick me!
Very fun!
This is super cute. My “break” is helping my sweet sister with her newborn who will make his debut in early July. This is the first little one coming to our family. I’m super excited to be an aunt.
I am living in Kansas and will be blessed to spend my summer in beautiful Colorado. If you pick my name, I’ll be giving this to a friend of mine who is going through a really rough spot both financially and emotionally. I’ll send you her name and address if I win so you can send it directly to her. God bless you for all you do.
Rebecca Gooch – some super cute gifts you have there! x
Shelley Grant
What a fun bag of summer goodies!!
What a fun idea—will use this idea in a smaller version for a fun giveaway here in my small midwest town. Thanks for all you do to inspire us! Count me in!!
What a fun post!!!!
How fun, what a wonderful gift to give away! Thank you! I am sincerely missing my Jersey Shore (the actual shore, not the reality-show-type bars LOL!) right now.
Just graduated my baby girl from high school and now it’s time to relax and embrace the changes.
This would be great way to start! Thank you!
I’m longing for a beach getaway soooo bad right now. I just don’t know if it will happen this year. 🙁
What a fun idea!! Thanks.
I was near the beach this winter…unfortunately poor timing as it was just too cold! Oh well, will have to settle for the city pool this summer. Not quite the same, but I plan on getting a tan nonetheless!
Yep. That goody bag is as close to a beach as I’ll get this summer unless God surprises me! I would love to win!
Cool contest!
I love your dog! Rotts are the best. My brother had one. He also had zero drinking glasses in his cupboards because his loving dog had eaten all of them while he was at work one day. Greeted him at the door with a bloody mouth and a trail of glass throughout the house akin to a bread trail in the woods. 😀
Cute bag!!
Such a fun give away. Thanks for entering me!
What a wonderful idea. For me my summer is all about baseball for my two sons, 11 and 6. As well as preparing for the departure of my 18 year old son to college. Sniff, sniff. Thank you for thinking of us who are too busy or even financially not able to.
What a great give away basket! Such fun for summer!
I would love these items. Thanks so much!!!
Beautiful blessings,
Tammy
Awesome! So thoughtful! 🙂
What a wonderful gift!!
What a fun little blessing!
Thanks for sharing some great summer gifts.
This is so sweet. Thank you for thinking of us.
~Christina Luther
Very fun!! No vacations for me this year, but thats okay!
Would so love a bit of beach fun! We live in Colorado…no beaches. 🙁 Plus, working all summer and my hubby in management training. It will be worth it by the fall though!
Such a fun, peaceful bag of goodies. I can seriously smell the beach. I wont be able to vacation this year but am praying for some relaxation. 2011 kicked my behind!
Would love to bring the beach to Tennessee! It would be such a blessing!!
I would love to win that. Thanks for sharing. We go camping in July, but no vacations or anything else for me. We can’t afford it, and I am pregnant, so even a visit to the local amusement park is out of the question.
Would love to get away…maybe next summer!
Julie Lombardo – lacking in vitamin D and could use a pick me up.
Worth a shot! 🙂
I enjoy the blog.
God bless
My sister-in-law is battling with Lupus, Fibromyalgia and she can really have a blast and be surprised to receive a gift for NO REASON!!!
Long story, this would really help. Enjoyed your and your Moms James . Thank you both!
So wanting to go to the beach this summer…don’t think it is going to happen. A little too much strain on the budget. Thanks for being creative and blessing someone 🙂
I’m weeping with you! I spent the weekend in bed with a high temp and bronchitis. Yuck! I missed all the fun bbq’s and weekend plans we’d made including a surprise 50th for a family friend and a 60’s hippie game night.
It was even a lovely weekend here in Seattle. A non-rainy Memorial Day weekend is cause for celebration. I ate popsicles. So, when I opened your blog today – I sighed outloud. Whether I win or not, God ministered to me just by thinking about the cute sandcastle sign and pink nail polish! Bless you for following the Lord’s leading! 🙂
Kim Smith – Edmonds, WA
What a blessing this would be….you must have heard my prayers!!
We had to cancel our summer plans because my elderly father (who lives with us) fell and broke his humerous and 4 ribs, then he developed a blood clot in his arm. It will be a 3 month process before he is completely healed.
My summer will be filled with appointments for blood tests, ct scans, x-rays, physical therapy, and doctor visits….no breaks for trips to the beach or to the mountains this summer.
But there will always be more opportunities for trips in future summers. For now, we’re just trying to cherish the time we have left with my father….
I love this blog. I was a Christian for over 20 yrs before I attended my first women’s Bible study which Beth taught (video)….it was refreshing and just what I needed. Not that I “need” these give aways in the same way, but I would LOVE them! Summer get-away has not been possible for us for a number of years!
I would love to win this to give it to my friend, who has had to stay home instead of going for a well deserved but elusive vacation this year. 🙂 I get plenty of breaks from ‘life’ but she seems to always have the ‘weight of the world’ placed upon her shoulders. She doesn’t complain, just bears up under it, but I know she is weary and could really use a break. So if I win this giveaway, I’m going to GIVE IT TO HER! 🙂
Tanya Pettit
That is awesome! My whole summer will be baseball for my boys!