Winner Plus Summer Photo Fun Kick-Off: Caption This

IMG_5442 Hey everyone, I’m back! And to start things off with some smiles, I’m announcing the winner of my Mother of the Bride Book Launch Giveaway plus kicking off my annual Summer Photo Fun here on the blog. Good times, huh?!

First things first—time to announce a winner! The winner of the gift assortment  including a signed copy of my book Mother of the Bride as well as some other special items is . . . Susan Best! Congrats, Susan! Hope you thoroughly enjoy each gift!

And now for Summer Photo Fun: For those of you who may be new here, each year during July and early August, I feature some fun photo posts rather than my usual inspirational/devotional style posts.

This part of summer is always topsy-turvy for me since my husband is on his break from teaching so I try to take a more casual approach to blogging for a few weeks. Since photos can really brighten our days and since I’ll also be including a verse from the Bible, my hope is that you’ll still leave here feeling refreshed or nourished in some way.

Let’s start with some Caption This fun. The photo above is of one of my twin grandsons (Isaiah) after enjoying one of Grandma’s love-filled chocolate chip cookies. The rest is up to you—how would you caption this photo?

Thanks as always for stopping by, friends. I hope my sweet Isaiah put a smile on your face today!

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us,” Psalm 67:1

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early August. Sign-up is free and to the right!

*My photo

Book Launch Giveaway for Mother of the Bride!

IMG_8433The official launch day for my book Mother of the Bride is finally here! The book has been available in limited supply on online sites already, but with the arrival of July 1st, it will now be widely available both online and in stores. I’m so excited!

To celebrate the launch of my dream come true, how about a super fun giveaway? The winner will receive a signed copy of the book as well as some other special gifts—a to-die for Peppermint Latte bar of Beigetone Soap (hand-made by my friend Nancy Douglas), a jar of True Blue Spa 60-Second Manicure Hand Scrub from Bath and Body Works, a bottle of OPI Nail Polish in the Hawaiian Orchid shade, a beautiful Butterflies Journal by Peter Pauper Press, and also the decorative container pictured above. You certainly don’t have to be a mother of the bride to win this giveaway, but I’ve designed it in honor of all mothers of the bride out there who deserve to be pampered in the midst of all their wedding planning.

But first, here’s a brief description of Mother of the Bride:

Mother of the Bride will help MOBs step away from the hurried pace of daily life complicated by a demanding new role. It will offer them the refreshment found in discovering community as they take time for themselves time to be encouraged, to gain helpful insight and practical tips, and to enjoy the feminine beauty of a book designed just for them.

Through essays featuring relevant quotes or Scriptures, personal stories, nuggets of wisdom, simple suggestions for personal pampering, journaling opportunities, communication aids, and practical tips for wedding planning, Mother of the Bride will nurture the all-important but too often neglected mother of the bride.

Mother of the Bride is the perfect gift and resource for mothers of the bride. The vendor worksheets alone (found at the back of the book) are themselves worth the price of the book. Why not make it your go-to gift for mothers of the bride you know—both now and in the future!

You may buy the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Christianbook.com, and it will be available in bookstores as well. To find out more about the book, check out MotheroftheBrideBook.com.

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Now for the giveaway. Here’s how it will work:

*1 entry for leaving a comment on this post here on my website. The ones on Facebook are greatly appreciated, but to be entered in the giveaway, you must leave a comment here.

*2 entries for Liking my Cheryl Barker, Writer Facebook page (tell me in the comments.) If you’ve already Liked the page, just say so. That definitely counts!

*3 entries for sharing the giveaway on Facebook or Twitter (tell me in the comments and include the link where you shared.)

*4 entries for subscribing to Life Notes, my free quarterly inspirational newsletter (tell me in the comments but be sure to confirm your subscription when you get a confirmation email.) Sign-up is to the right under “Free For You”. If you’re already a Life Notes subscriber, you bet that counts. Just mention it in your comment.

*Giveaway is open to US residents only due to customs and mailing costs.

*Drawing will be done by Random.Org.

Enter by noon CST July 20th, and I will announce the winner in my July 21st posts here and on my Mother of the Bride Blog as well.

I won’t be posting here again until July 21st. Yes, that’s a long blogging break, but I want to leave this post front and center for a while so everyone will have a chance to see it and enter the giveaway. Plus, I will also be taking a trip with my sisters—a first for us!—so I want to concentrate on enjoying that special time with them. In the meantime, why not enjoy some of the inspiration and encouragement found in previous posts? Look under Favorite Posts to the right for some posts you might especially enjoy.

And now, good luck to everyone! I will see you here again on July 21st!

Pinterest Pin - Perfect Gift and Resource

Giveaway Celebrating Launch of Mother of the Bride!

Pinterest Pin - Friend for the JourneyThe official launch day for my book Mother of the Bride is finally here! The book has been available in limited supply on online sites already, but with the arrival of July 1st, it will now be widely available both online and in stores. I’m so excited!

To celebrate the launch of my dream come true, I’m doing a giveaway for a signed copy of the book as well as some other special treats. See all the details and enter on my home page giveaway post by noon CST July 20th, and I will announce the winner in my July 21st posts on both blogs.

Also, fyi, I won’t be posting here again until July 21st. I want to leave this post front and center for a while so everyone will have a chance to see it and enter the giveaway. I will also be taking a trip with my sisters—something  we planned long before I knew the launch date for my book—so I want to concentrate on enjoying that special time with them. In the meantime, scan the blog post titles in the archives to find just the help you might be looking for right now, MOB. You will find a wealth of ideas, tips, and advice there.

But first, MOB, head on over to my home page and enter for your chance to win a copy of Mother of the Bride. If you don’t happen to win, you’ll have to be sure to treat yourself to a copy. I hope it will be a wonderful encouragement, help, and blessing to you!

*See sidebar for links to buy the book!

Midweek Morsel: Loving Others, Showing Them God

7452197640_7c4d4e9aea_zDid you realize that when you show love to others, you are in fact showing them a bit of what God is like? Since the Bible tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8b), it follows that God can be reflected through our loving acts and words towards others.

In the book Bittersweet—Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way, author Shauna Niequist points out this truth especially as it applies to loving the heartbroken. Consider these words of hers and recall if this has been your experience as well:

“I believe deeply that God does his best work in our lives during times of great heartbreak and loss, and I believe that much of that rich work is done by the hands of people who love us, who dive into the wreckage with us and show us who God is, over and over and over.”

What a privilege to show God to a hurting soul, huh? Let’s remember that our expressions of love to the heartbroken can have deep and even eternal impact. Let’s show them love. Let’s show them God.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” 1 John 4:7a

*During your times of heartbreak, has someone reflected God to you through their loving deeds?

*Flickr photo by lucidtech, Creative Commons License

Dream Like Crazy

13026914033_d92fcaf0b0_zDo you have a dream? If so, be encouraged by my post today. Over seven years ago I wrote a piece called “Dream Like Crazy” for my very first Life Notes newsletter, and the dream I shared in that piece is in the process of coming true right now. That’s right, my first book will be released on July 1st!

So won’t you read “Dream Like Crazy” today and rejoice with me at how God is honoring the dreams of little ordinary me. Hope it encourages you to pursue those dreams of your own!

Dream Like Crazy (written in November 2008)

Are you a dreamer? I am. When I sleep, I dream like crazy, but for the past several years, I’ve become a dreamer of a different sort. I’m a writer now, and writers have to be dreamers. Not only do we have to dream up ideas and words, we must have vision—dreams and goals—if we hope to have our work published.

My writing dream didn’t start until I was 40 years old. Just as the world was telling me I was over the hill, I saw a new hill to climb. And even though I’ve had to take a couple of detours along the way, I’ve been climbing slowly but surely ever since. One step at a time.

The dream to touch other lives through my writing has grown over the years. When I began, I just hoped to have some articles and poems published, but within a few years, a desire to write a book took root as well. Now I have more than one book project tumbling around inside my mind and out onto my keyboard. I continue working at my ongoing goal of having more of my work used in various publications, compilation books, and on greeting cards, but now my dream encompasses seeing books of my own published as well.

A book sounds like a pretty big dream for a small-time gal like me, doesn’t it? Especially given the fact that my over the hill 40th birthday is now a distant memory. You know what keeps me pressing on, though? I believe God has given me my dreams and called me to write. I’m just following his lead.

As far as traditional book publication goes, I know the odds are stacked against me. In the publishing world, the market is more competitive than ever before. Some might say, “Why bother? Why go to all that effort? You’ll probably never get a book contract.” And you know what? They may be right. If so, I’m okay with that. I still feel incredibly blessed to have any of my work out there touching the lives of others.

Even so, I’m not ready to give up my dream of book publication. Those voices could be wrong. Jesus said, ‘”…with God all things are possible…'” (Matthew 19:26), and after all, God is the One who has given me my dreams as well as the ability to write. I’m just getting ready for his blessing. Just doing my part to see my dreams become reality!

*Do you have a dream? Take it to the Lord and get ready for His blessing!

*Sign-up for my free Life Notes newsletter is free and to the right!

*Flickr photo by Moyan_Brenn, Creative Commons License