Archives for November 2014

With Thankful Hearts

November 24, 2014 by 6 Comments

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*I’ll be skipping my midweek post as we all celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. See you next Monday!

With Thanksgiving week upon us, everyone is busy getting ready for the holidays, whether with Thanksgiving dinner preparations or with Christmas shopping and decorating. As for me, I’m still busy (and will be for a good long while) caring for my husband as he recovers from the spinal fractures he sustained in his fall from a ladder.

But in our busyness, whatever it may entail, let’s not fail to experience true thanksgiving of the heart. I don’t know about you, but I have much to thank God for. He is worthy of all my thanks and praise. May this little poem help you express your heart to God today. Happy Thanksgiving!

With Thankful Hearts

With thankful hearts we come to you
With thankful hearts we bow,
You’ve blessed in double measure, Lord,
You keep giving even now.

Your goodness overwhelms us
Your love it doesn’t fail,
You walk with us through good and bad
Over every hill and vale.

And in return we give to you
Hearts filled with thanks and love,
And ask you, Lord, to pour them out
As gifts to others from above.

“let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” Hebrews 12:28b

*What are you especially grateful for this Thanksgiving week? I am beyond thankful that my husband can still walk after a serious spinal injury and am so thankful for the way God has been strengthening us and meeting our needs.

*Flickr photo by spaceamoeba, Creative Commons License

*It’s not too late to receive the current issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Filed Under: holidays, poem, praise, prayer, thanks

A Mother of the Bride’s Thanksgiving Prayer

November 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

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*I’ll be skipping my midweek post this week since we’ll all be celebrating the holiday with our families. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

May this Mother of the Bride’s Prayer of Thanksgiving help you express to God what’s in your heart this year, dear MOB!

Dear Lord,

My heart is filled with thanksgiving this year as I help my precious daughter prepare for her wedding. These are once-in-a-lifetime days, and I’m so grateful to be sharing such an exciting journey with her. Thank you, Lord, for granting us this amazing time together.

Father, as I see my sweet girl take on this new role of bride-to-be and soon-to-be wife, my heart swells afresh with love for her. Not only has she grown into a beautiful woman, she has become a funny, smart, kind, and loving person. I am so very proud of her and I thank you, Lord, for allowing me the great privilege of being her mom.

And how can I ever thank you for bringing such a fine young man into her life to be the love of her life and share the rest of her days with her? I pray that you’ll draw them even closer to one another in these months preceding their wedding. Help them form a bond that nothing will ever break, and help them to always look to you and desire to honor you in their marriage and in all that they do.

Lord, help me to be a mother of the bride who is truly helpful and encouraging in every way. Help me to be the support that my daughter needs now and help me to develop a sweet and loving relationship with my soon-to-be son-in-law. I pray I will be a mother they can always count on and a friend who will walk with them through whatever the future may hold. Help me to be a blessing to them, Lord!

Yes, Lord, my heart is filled with thanksgiving this year. How I thank and praise you!

“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3

*Flickr photo by JFXie, Creative Commons License

*You might also like to read Spirit and Soul Refreshment for the Mother of the Bride. And from my home page, you might like A Prayer for Couples You Know.

*It’s not too late to receive the current issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Filed Under: holidays, joy, Mother of the Bride, prayer, thanks Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Wedding Favor That Pampers: Beigetone Soaps!

November 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment

XPRO8554-2 (2)Mother of the Bride, if your daughter loves all-natural products or likes to pamper herself with luxurious soaps, have I got the perfect wedding favor for you to suggest to her!

Beigetone Soaps are fragrant, all-natural soap products handmade by my friend Nancy Douglas.  They come in 1 oz or 5 oz bars and a variety of luscious scents. Most are a creamy treat for the skin while others offer exfoliant action. Nancy offers a few other specialty items as well. Pop over to Beigetone Soaps on Etsy to see her current inventory. I guarantee you’ll be intrigued by what you see.

So why not treat your guests to a little gift from Beigetone Soaps, MOB? Nancy’s Wrapped Favors are 1 oz hotel size bars that last for several days. They are perfect for travel and also work beautifully as sachets and room fresheners. She will personalize the wrapper with the message of your choice as long as it fits comfortably on the label. You could feature a message of congratulations (as seen in the photos above and below), or the name of the bride and groom and the date of the wedding would be a perfect choice, too.

For wedding and other party favors, Nancy asks that you allow four weeks for delivery. Since these are custom orders, time has to be allowed for the soap to cure, labels to be made, and the bars to be wrapped and mailed.

Beigetone Soaps Wrapped Favors will definitely tickle your wedding guests’ favor fancy, MOB. Suggest them to your sweet girl—and then pamper yourself with a few before the big day!XPRO8522-2 (2)

*Find Nancy’s Beigetone Soaps on Etsy and keep up with current news, products, and specials on Beigetone Soaps Facebook page.

*Photos compliments of Nancy Douglas

*You might also like to read Edible Favors—Yes, Please!

*It’s not too late to receive the current issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Filed Under: body, bride, favors, Gift, Mother of the Bride, refresh

Midweek Morsel: The Riches of God’s Children

November 20, 2014 by 4 Comments

145301371_80798ee47a_o(FYI, I missed my first-of-the-week post because my husband was in the hospital after falling from a ladder on the weekend. He sustained serious injuries so we’d sure appreciate your prayers. Will be a challenging time for both of us. May the verse and message below, written before the accident, speak to our hearts today!)

“. . . you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.” Psalm 73:23b-4

The riches we possess as children of God outshine anything the world has to offer. We could write a mile-long list of all the blessings that are ours as God’s dearly loved children, but notice how the short passage from Psalm 73 above seems to summarize most of our riches perfectly.

Just look what God does for his children:

1. He holds us by the hand—we are never alone, he is with us in every situation.

2. He guides us with his counsel—he shows us the way to go, we can depend on his wisdom.

3. He will take us to heaven after life here on earth is over for us—we will be with him in glory forever.

Ah, the riches of being a child of God! The world can’t come close to matching these awesome blessings of God, can it? Let’s start Thanksgiving early and shower our Father with thanks today!

“O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.” Psalm 30:12b

*Which of these blessings of God means the most to you in your current season of life?

*Flickr photo by Suriani, Creative Commons License

*It’s not too late to receive the current issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Filed Under: blessing, family, heaven, help, thanks

Inexpensive Bridal Bouquet Idea: Baby’s Breath!

November 13, 2014 by 1 Comment

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Mother of the Bride, baby’s breath often accents flower arrangements of all sorts, but has your daughter considered using it for her bouquet? If you show her the photo above, she may just decide to let it be the star of the show!

Not only will a baby’s breath bouquet be a more affordable option, it can be quite elegant-looking as well. Isn’t the bouquet pictured above gorgeous? The green of the stems adds such a nice contrast, but I think a ribbon-wrapped bouquet with a brooch attached would be stunning, too.

Baby’s breath can also be used for the groom’s boutonniere, along with the bouts for all of the other men in the wedding party. Again, it would be a less expensive way to go but look classy all at the same time. If you’d like to see an example of how baby’s breath would look for bouts, check out my “Weddings This and That” Pinterest board. You’ll find a great example there.

I love passing along inexpensive yet beautiful options when I see them, MOB. Hope you find several on your journey as a mother of the bride!

*You might also like to read Savings Tip for Bridal and Bridesmaids Bouquets and Bridal Bouquet Idea: Add Some Sparkle with Gemstones.

*Flickr photo by Jin.Dongjun, Creative Commons License

*It’s not too late to receive the current issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Filed Under: beauty, bride, flowers, groom, money, Mother of the Bride
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