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For You, Netizen (+ giveaway winners)

For You, Netizen (+ giveaway winners)

Last updated on: December 15, 2012 at 5:14 pm by Grace Sandra

For You, Netizen (+ giveaway winners) 2012-12-15T17:14:57-04:00 Grace Sandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

netizen |ˈnetəzən|

noun

a user of the Internet, esp. a habitual or avid one.

The one that helped me want to snuggle R1 & R2 a little bit longer:

“It hit me in the darkness of his cluttered room that these days are numbered. Some night in the future, Little Dude will ask me to snuggle with him before he falls asleep, and I will have no idea that it will be the last time. I won’t know to pay attention or to try to commit every minute to memory. Days or weeks or months later, I will try to recall when that last snuggle happened. I won’t be able to.”

-from The Last Time – A Must Read on Motherhood

The one that I relate to as an adult survivor of sexual abuse. On harboring hate & learning forgiveness:

I used to think learning to love my enemies meant being silent about how they had hurt me. Now I know it actually means the exact opposite. Learning to love our enemies comes in tandem with a willingness to speak up.

-from Learning to Love Enemies: A Broken Hallelujah

The one that captivated me. A mother finds out her baby boy has cancer from NOT seeing red eye in his Christmas photo:

Our old Christmas photos leave us with lumps in our throats and new ones are closely inspected, not just looked at. And I continue to struggle with the daily realities of my son’s medical history—the constant reminders that cancer sucks and it’s a fallen world. They remind me that I am still waiting.

-from A Christmas Snapshot over at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

The one that made me proud of women pastors, and in particular this one whom I happen to know & love:

And so, that question on the first day of college planted the seed toward questioning my evangelical identity as it came up over and over again. My Bible and ministry professors were all conservative men. I remember my Gospels professor saying to the class “Women, you can tune out for a minute I’m going to talk to the men who are going to be ordained.” Again, a big WTF, but being the good evangelical I was I kindly raised my hand and told him that he was talking to me too and not just the men. (Hutzpah baby.) Sure it was scary as I said it, but I assert my voice, even if it’s trembling.

-from Jes Kast Keat’s Stories of Faith Series, Part 1

The one that made me feel frustrated but proud to be on a journey of learning to love the hair I’m in. On a black woman who was fired over defending her short, cropped natural hairstyle:

I am very proud of my African-American ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn’t grow downward. It grows upward. Many Black women use strong straightening agents in order to achieve a more European grade of hair and that is their choice. However in my case I don’t find it necessary. I’m very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. Women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty. Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society. Little girls (and boys for that matter) need to see that what you look like isn’t a reason to not achieve their goals.

Conforming to one standard isn’t what being American is about and I hope you can embrace that.

-from Curly Nikki

The one that challenged my assumptions about what I’m doing out of obligation and what I’m doing from my heart:

What would happen if we were brave enough to listen to our own desire? What if it was God’s idea from the very beginning to give you particular desires for particular things to fill a particular purpose? What if ignoring the voice of your desire is actually ignoring the voice of God?

-from We Don’t Want Your Obligation over at, Chatting At The Sky

The one that made me want to keep writing, keep telling important stories. On story telling for change:

Story is the pathway to connection. Give me a stat, and I don’t give a damn. Tell me a story, and I weep like a baby. (If you agree, you might want to tweet that.)

We are most alive when we live in the midst of great stories. And this is why art has been thrust back into the forefront of humanity, why we are seeing a resurgence of world-changing movements catalyzed by creativity.

-from Can Stories Really Change The World? over at Jeff Goin’s blog.

The one that encouraged me to take an action step on my dream. Even if it was just one. On action beating intention:

“If you have a chest full of clothing, and leave it for a long time, the clothing will rot inside. It is the same with thoughts in our heart. If we do not carry them out by physical action, after a long while they will spoil and turn bad.”

I hope you have intentions. I hope you have a million dreams. But above all, I hope you don’t let fear convince you to keep that chest of ideas locked and hidden under your bed.

-from Action Always Beats Intention over at Jon Acuff’s blog

The one that challenged me about what I’m going to do with my money during this Christmas season. On the demonic nature of spending far past need:

Before you get weirded out and click off this blog to play angry birds, ask yourself: why would people trample a man to death to get a few dollars off of a TV? What is it that makes me obsessively check amazon.com for deals on things that I’d like? What is it that though I have enough makes me feel like tiny tim before Scrooge saved the day and brought in the giant goose? Is there something in this world that would make generally kind people do crazy things for money and stuff?

I do believe in the reality of demonic powers. And because of my line of work as an evangelism consultant with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, I often get a front row seat to the battle that goes on in hearts to follow God and trust him with money.

-from My Heart is So Easily Trampled over at Jessica Fick’s Sidewalk Theolgian blog.

The one about how a lot of work-at home-Mama’s work in the midst of the craziness of parenting. And even though I now work out of the house, I relate to this so much as I write mostly from home. Complete with video compilation, on the spaces where Mama’s work:

I mother and I write and often the two are all beautifully tangled up in one another. My writing happens in the middle of my life. My desk sits in a corner of the kids’ small room for playing. In this house there is no “room of my own” – rather everything is shared. My body, my space, my time, my energy, my creativity. As much as I might hope to cup corners of my days into neatly tied pockets of time, children spill into everything.

-from When You Wish You Had A Room Of Your Own: A Tribute To Where Moms Create over at Lisa-Jo Baker’s, Tales From a Gypsy Mom blog. (maybe one of my new favorite blogs ever).

The one that encouraged me about being a total loser & God still choosing to use me. On NOT disqualifying yourself:

But I will tell you I’ve never been more excited at the idea of God getting angry at me. I chuckle just picturing myself standing before God with the above list, rambling about why He can’t use me then Gods anger burning against me.

-from Sammy Adebiyi’s, How Much Does God Weigh blog.

The one that challenged me to really think through how to show my kids I love them instead of just telling them. On showing not telling:

Chances are you already do this, but not in a desirable way. Most of us are really good at showing when we become angry.

-from Living Better Stories

-One of the most beautiful & touching Christmas poems I’ve ever read from one of the most poetic people I’ve ever met in real life. Meet Gerald from my writers group. On Jesus not coming as a baby:

Oh God,

come any other way,

but not as a child.

Come in a space ship

so we can call you alien,

and just a figment…

-from Come Any Other way over at, Gerald The Writer.

Fave Cool Homemade Gift I Might Make & Giveaway This Christmas:

A really easy sugar scrub from Running Shoes & Candy Bars.

Fave Fashion Post of the week:

A SUPER cute alternative to the LBD for a holiday party: an LRD (little red dress). Feast your eyes over at Lady in Red over at, What I Wore.

Fave Cool Artist Highlight of the Week:

A Dutch man took a 20 year journey to build a replica of Noah’s Ark that now sits in Netherland waters and is open to the public.

The Pinterest pin that Cracked Me Up:

Fave Tweet’O’The Week:

A couple weeks ago I applied to be a featured content writer for a new-ish, growing online magazine called Prodigal. I was 1 of 5 chosen of 130 applicants. I wish I could tell you I held my head up high in joy but honestly, I felt weepy with pressure and could barely sleep that night. Every accomplishment I’ve ever made has ultimately led to a crisis of identity. When will I ever stop believing I’ve tricked people into letting me into their party? I am humbled. Reminded of the work in process that I am.

Fave Weekly Family Pic:

This happened yesterday morning. Why? No reason. Just the delight of a 3 yr. old.

And now the winner for last week’s 4 book giveaway!

Mongupp, I’ll be in touch with an email to get your mailing address. Congrats! =)

p.s. I’m giving away two Shutterfly 8 x 8 hard cover books. Yep, two winners. But it’s a quick turn around. Ends tomorrow at midnight soooooooooo what are you waitin’ for?

Any awesome posts you’ve come across this week fellow citizens of the web?

How Much Does God Weigh

Running Shoes & Candy Bars

Tales from a Gypsy Mama

what I wore blog

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December 13, 2012

Shutterfly Photo Book Giveaway

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December 26, 2012 Long on Love, Short on Toilet Cleaning: Our Merry Little Christmas

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