Congratulations to Steven Weber from Wisconsin, the winner of the $10 Starbucks gift card in the Oh! The Places You’ll Go! blog hop!

 

As a child, I looked forward to the first day of school every year. I was one of those rare kids who absolutely loved school. For me, the start of school signaled several things: friends; sports; sweater-weather; learning more cool stuff; and my birthday, which was always on or around the first day of school. Even as an adult, I’ve continued my life-long love of learning by earning advanced degrees and attending workshops and webinars as often as possible.

To celebrate going back to school, I’m joining The Kids Did It blog and The Mommy Island blog to participate in the 3rd Annual Oh! The Places You’ll Go! Giveaway Event, which runs from September 4-18, 2018. The winner of this giveaway will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card. 

Enter through the Gleam form below for your chance to win!

One entrant will be selected to win a $10 Starbucks gift card. Open for entry in the Continental US/Canada Only, 18 years and older from 09/04/2018 through 09/18/2018 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will have 24 hours to respond to notification email to claim their prize or a new winner will be selected. See Gleam form for official rules. Event hosts and participating bloggers are not responsible for fulfilling prize obligations from sponsors or self-sponsoring bloggers.

Staci’s Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Giveaway Hop

Echoes of Joy: 30 Days of Experiencing God’s Grace

Blurb

In Echoes of Joy: 30 Days of Experiencing God’s Grace, Staci Mauney chronicles her adventures with her sassy Yorkie, Lilly, and her loving and sometimes quirky family. This 30-day devotional contains entries adapted from her blog Echoes of Joy. By focusing on joy as a theme, these messages will encourage you in your walk with Jesus Christ. In each entry, the author connects regular, everyday life to spiritual truths and lessons learned about overcoming fear, embracing change, and building up others. Through it all, God guides her into a deeper relationship with him by revealing spiritual truths through her interaction with those around her.

Excerpt

Day 19

What If We’re Honest?

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” (Gen 3:8-9)

When I get ready to leave the house, Lilly tries to hide. She knows my routine. When she sees me walk down the hallway, she heads for one of her hiding places, and she has plenty of them: squeezed under the recliner, buried under the quilts of the quilt rack, or concealed behind the computer desk.

I walk over to her hiding place, only to have her slip through my grasp and run to another one. She is much faster than I am, and we go through this two or three times. Finally, she accepts the inevitable and rolls over so that I can scratch her belly.

All too often, we try to hide ourselves away. Whether we’re trying to hide our real selves from those around us or hiding from God, we become experts at concealing our true identities. We don’t want those around us to know that we’re suffering, so we put on a brave face and act as if nothing is wrong. But what if we were honest and told people that we’re hurting and could use some help?

We don’t want others to know that we’ve made mistakes, so we cover them up. We pretend we have a perfect life, all the while knowing that no matter how hard we try, we can never be perfect. What would happen if we dropped the façade and let people in? If we revealed that we’ve messed up, but we don’t have to be perfect because we know someone who is?

The Lord will meet us no matter where we are – and no matter how hard we try to hide from him. He always knows where we are. We don’t have to be perfect to come to him; he accepts us just as we are. He will cover all of our pain and mistakes with his love, and he will bring us out of hiding and into the light of his love so that we can experience the joy that is only found in him.

Dear Jesus, thank you for accepting me as I am, imperfections and all. Help me not to hide anything from you. Please bring every part of me into your light so that I may experience the joy you have for me. Amen.

Buy the Book!

Thanks for stopping by and reading a little of my devotional. Remember to visit the other blogs listed below that are participating in this hop and enter to win more wonderful prizes. Good luck!