Thankful Series: Day One (HUGE Giveaway News!)
I can’t believe it’s November. I also can’t believe this is most likely the ELEVENTH year I’ve presented some form of a thankful series on my blog during this month. This year I’m taking it back to the beginning where I posted for 30 days. I did it back then as part of NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. Now I’m doing it because I love being thankful and it leaves me time to work on NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. 50 k words in 30 days. Eeek!
Anyway, there is so much I’m thankful for and I’m going to dig deep at times, and other times, be a little superficial. All of it, I believe, is ok in the praise department. When praise is going on, there can’t be dark thoughts. And I’ve been there.
This doesn’t have to be a place where I’m the only one being thankful. I LOVE to interact with readers, and I find the best place to do that is on social media. You can find me pretty much anywhere from Facebook to Snapchat as @JulieArduini. Let me know what YOU’RE thankful for.
Ready?
Let’s do this.
I could give the Sunday School answer where every answer, no matter what the question, is “Jesus.” And I am. And I don’t take that lightly or flippantly. But today I am thankful for blogging.
I don’t feel it is the star it once was, but I also believe everything comes back, so I’m not giving up on this. Blogging was the first avenue God showed me to test the writing waters. Everything about me is surrender oriented, and back then, fear paralyzed me. Fear of man, to be specific. I was so afraid of what people would think that I didn’t write for YEARS.
When I felt the stirring to write that would not stop, I knew I had to surrender the fear. I know this post is short compared to the level of fear I had to let go of. I prayed, I vented, I cried. I sought advice, and I received a mantra of sorts that I keep before me to this day. It set me FREE.
“Have the heart of a dove and the skin of a rhino.”
I’m a tad dramatic and a whole lot about giving God credit, so I went to blogger and started an account on December 31 at 11:30 PM. That little blog has changed to wordpress and seen lots of changes over the years, but one thing hasn’t changed. I love blogging. I love sharing my heart or what I’ve learned in order to encourage someone else. I love showcasing authors and organizations I believe in and I want people to know about.
Blogging changed my life, and I’m so thankful God gave me this vehicle to start with. I never thought when I hit “create” that not long after I would be an author. Now reviews are part of my life and although I don’t love low reviews, they don’t define me. God has done an amazing work in me, because that fear used to emotionally cripple me.
So, that’s what I’m thankful for.
How about you?
Let’s have fun! All this month I will be watching on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and my new subscribers for my monthly-0r-so newsletter. If you tag me @JulieArduini and tell me you’re #thankful or #juliearduinithankful, I’ll enter your name to win a copy of my fiction books. This includes Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged, You’re Beautiful and the boxed set of A Christmas to Remember (only available as eBook.)
If you live in the United States, you have the choice, if you are the one winner randomly chosen, of print (except A Christmas to Remember,) or eBook. If you are outside of the US, it is automatically eBook.
I’ll add your name once a day for each shout out I receive (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, plus one total entry if you are a new subscriber to my newsletter.) You may or may not receive confirmation from me for those entries, and my random draw is final. If winner doesn’t respond after 30 days, I will choose another. I’m thankful for you.
