Bring the Rain | 2009 December

My book is $10.19!

December 23, 2009 By Angie Leave a Comment

***Update*** I have wanted to share this with you all for a little while but I was sworn to secrecy. Several months ago someone asked to do an endorsement for my book. She did. I cried my eyes out and continue to every single time I read it. A portion of that endorsement is now on the Amazon listing (link bellow) and I cannot tell you what it means to me. Although, I suppose if you read my blog you will know that this certain somebody is one of my spiritual heroes. The first Bible study I ever did was one of hers and I was not a believer at the time. It urged me to change my life and spend my days loving the Lord boldly, so to see her words associated with my daughter is, well, amazing. Thank you so much Beth. You will never know how you have blessed me in this life…

(original post follows)

If you have already pre-ordered, Amazon will give you the lower price. Right now the book is $10.19. Click Here if you would like to get one It may stay this price but I have no idea so I thought I would let you all know now!

I have been sewing up a STORM lately and I am going to try and post some pictures here later today…also, I mentioned on Twitter that I have been looking for some vintage children’s clothing patterns (love 1940′s/1950′s dresses etc.) and haven’t had much luck finding them for a good price. Most are $35 and up!!!! Whoa. So if you know of any other places to get them cheaper, could you let me know? I have looked on Etsy and Ebay and there isn’t too much right now…

Also, tonight is the first service at Crosspoint for Christmas and there are several tomorrow as well. Todd is singing (and I know this mostly because he has listened to his songs on repeat over the past week and a half to learn them. Non-stop. Yesterday I finally asked him if we could possibly listen to something else and he burst out laughing. And if you think I said “Hey Todd, I have so enjoyed the sound of that in my ears 24 hours a day for the last week and can’t imagine I have reached my fill, but could we take a little break and then jump right back in?”

You are wrong.

But because I am super-spiritual, I would never ever lose my cool and stop the CD while staring at Todd with a look that says, “Touch it again and my head will likely explode.”

Ahh, the virtues of a patient wife.

I doubt that even the Proverbs 31 lady would have made it past Saturday.

Just sayin’.

Come to Crosspoint if you don’t already have plans!!!! Would love to see you there and celebrate Christmas with you.

Much love,
Angie

Filed Under: I Will Carry You, My Books

New Post on (In)Courage

December 21, 2009 By Angie Leave a Comment

Click here if you want to read it…

OK, who else is NOT ready for Christmas yet????

Back to wrapping.

Love to you all,
Angie

Filed Under: (in)courage

Bloom Book #2!!!

December 15, 2009 By Angie Leave a Comment

We are so excited to announce our second Bloom book club book selection. If you did not join Jessica and me for Crazy Love, we hope you will join us in January for our second selection. Please watch the video below for all the details!

Please watch the following video (it’s not super-short but there is a really cool ending so stick with it!!!).

Introducing Bloom Selection #2 from angie smith on Vimeo.

Summary:

1. The book will be on sale for $7.99 from midnight on 12/15 through midnight on 12/17 on christianbook.com (click link to order): Same Kind of Different As Me

2. We will start on Sunday, January 24th. Please read the first 100 pages (chapters 1-20) by then.

3. If you are interested in requesting or providing a copy of the book, please fill out the appropriate form on the Bloom blog.

Merry Christmas!

Jessica & Angie

Filed Under: Bloom (in)courage

Winners!

December 15, 2009 By Angie Leave a Comment

If you entered to win Dayspring gift certificates, please click here to see if you won!

And congrats to these two ladies:

corimallott 12/11/2009 12:40 PM
Jen Lehr 12/09/2009 02:22 AM

I’m going to send you each a copy of the pioneer woman’s cookbook, so please send me your addresses!!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who posted ideas. You all are a creative bunch and there were a TON of things I never would have thought of doing. Yay!

There will be a new post up at midnight tonight…stop back when you have a chance because it is time sensitive…:)

Much love to you all,
Angie

P.S. Thank you to all of you who alerted me about the person who is pretending to be me online. I received several emails and comments and I just wanted you all to know that it has been addressed. I didn’t see the content before it was removed but from what I am told, this person could use your prayers as she (?) works through whatever it is that has caused her to make this choice. If you see pictures of me or Audrey on someone else’s site and it seems fishy, please let me know. Thank you to all of you.

I would appreciate you not addressing this in my comments…I know you all care about me and would be tempted to show support but I certainly don’t want this to turn into criticism of someone who needs our prayer more than our frustration. Thank you for understanding!

Filed Under: giveaway

Any Ideas?

December 8, 2009 By Angie Leave a Comment

Hey everyone! I hope you all are getting into the swing of things this Christmas season. I haven’t even started my shopping yet but hopefully I will be able to next week. I’ve had the flu for more than 2 weeks and just yesterday I felt like I was turning a corner. Whew. First trimester sickness combined with the flu is a pretty nasty combination!!!

(And now, hold onto the reigns because we are about to take a little trip to a place called “the most sporadic post ever.” Giddy-up.).

We (and by “we” I mean “Todd”) finally got the Christmas decorations up and Scout has made his inaugural visit for the year. He has already turned up in a couple strange places

For those of you who asked, here is the link to Amazon in case you want to order The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition Elf on the Shelf Gift Set

In other news, I have been sewing up a storm. I made the girls these sweet little Christmas dresses (I’ll try to post pictures soon) and now I’m working on some Christmas jammies for them.

The house has been eerily quiet for the last few weeks because the Hamilton’s moved back to Michigan. We miss them already and pray for them constantly…it was such a blessing to live life with them and we can’t wait to see what the Lord has planned for them.

Speaking of our house, we haven’t had any showings. We did have a contract on a second house but after the inspection we decided to back out of it so now we don’t know where we will go if we sell. I keep waiting for an “Anne of Green Gables” house to come on the market for a steal but so far it hasn’t happened

If you could, would you pray for discernment and peace about the whole situation? For some reason Todd and I feel a little unsettled where we are but we don’t know where the Lord is leading us. With the market the way it is, it seems like a great time to get a great house for a great price but we haven’t found one yet.

As far as the pregnancy, we had a really fun doctor’s appointment the other day. Abby and Ellie came with us and I wasn’t quite far enough along to hear the baby’s heartbeat on the doppler so my doctor got the mobile ultrasound machine and we got to see the little Scooter. The kid does not. stop. moving. Seriously!!! The legs and arms just kept flying out and the little body just wiggled like a worm. We all laughed so hard and of course everyone decided it was a boy. The kid is a maniac.

Hmm, what else?

The book club was great and Jess and I are revving up to introduce our next book. We are working on some really special stuff (you won’t believe this, y’all. Jess and I are speechless at the way the Lord has opened doors for us and we think you will be just as excited). I don’t want to give too much away but I will post when we get a couple more things nailed down. As always, our heart for the book club is that anyone who can’t afford to purchase the book will receive one for free. Since “Crazy Love” was our first one, we had to try and figure out how to navigate it and we feel like we have a good plan for this one to go smoothly. The publisher has already been a joy to work with and has shown us generosity we were not expecting. In addition, every time you purchase items from Amazon from my site (if you follow the links in my posts), I make a little percentage and that money goes to provide books for people who can’t afford them. We have quite a little stockpile set aside for books and shipping and we are so looking forward to digging in with you all. You can sign up for Bloom here and get updates that way as well.

All in all, Todd and I are pretty low-key these days and it’s been nice to sit still. It’s not something I do very often and sometimes God just has to take me out of the race for a while to catch my breath. Todd has has a few dates this month and we are planning to do a Spring tour (Selah singing, me speaking, and an opening singer…not sure who yet but the options are all stellar artists). It will be great to all be together doing something we believe in, and if you are interested in booking the tour, click here to contact David Breen.

And now for the random question of the day…

I know we’re all on a budget this Christmas, but still want to give meaningful gifts to people. I try not to be a boring gift-giver but I feel like my brain is fried and I would love your help (and I bet others would too!!!). So, I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for gifts that won’t break the bank. Homemade? Great online deal? Ministry opportunities? Anything you can think of. This is my favorite part of having this blog because all of you have such great thoughts and I get so many emails from people who were inspired by other’s comments. So thank you in advance for your contributions!!!!

And, to sweeten the deal a little, let’s make this one a giveaway…go ahead and leave a comment and I will choose 2 people to win a little something fun this holiday season…

Guess where I’m going tonight? To my favorite bookstore (Davis-Kidd) to hear the Pioneer Woman speak about her new cookbook. Hmm, wouldn’t you love to have a copy?!?!?!?!

Much love,

Angie

Filed Under: Bloom (in)courage, creativity, pregnancy

Sweet Sleep

December 7, 2009 By Angie Leave a Comment

Six years ago my friend, Jen Gash, started an organization called Sweet Sleep after seeing the conditions of children’s beds in an Eastern European orphanage. Today, Sweet Sleep provides beds and bedding for orphaned and abandoned children around the world (www.sweetsleep.org). They don’t just give the beds to orphans, they communicate God’s intentional creation of each child and His unconditional, unending love. They celebrate the children by throwing the biggest birthday party in the country. The children are even given Bibles in their own language and prayed with over their new beds. Finally, the children are told that when they lay down at night and pull the cozy new covers up around them, it is God—giving them a hug.

One week from today Jen will leave for Uganda where she’ll spend several weeks in the northern region of Gulu. This region has been in a brutal and senseless war for the last 22 years. A rebel army known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been terrorizing the North, attacking villages during the night. During an attack, LRA soldiers kill anyone they want and force the children of these villages to kill their parents or be killed themselves. The children who are left alive are then kidnapped into the LRA army and forced to become child soldiers. These children have lived through tremendous atrocities.

Recently this war entered into a time of peace. However, there are 1 million people still living in displacement camps in Gulu; three-quarters of those people are children living in child-headed households. These children have lost their parents and their grandparents—two generations of people to protect and care for them, to tell them stories about who they are and who they could be, to teach them stories about God and how to live according to His word.

This Christmas—while Jen is in Uganda, Sweet Sleep hopes to give beds and Bibles to 450 children. If the children can lie in their new beds and know they are loved and protected and, if they can claim a verse they’ve learned which reminds them of this knowledge, they can begin to have little victories over the fear that grips them. That’s when peace and hope and love can slowly come to their little hearts.

But, Sweet Sleep needs our help.

218 more children still need beds ($88 each). Together, you and I can work to change and save lives. Here’s what is still needed, you can determine which opportunity suits you best:

· 218 mosquito nets. Malaria kills more people in Uganda than HIV/AIDS. Treated nets are $8 each.

· Mattresses for 218 children so they will be able to sleep up off of the ground for the first time in their lives. Mattresses are $50.

· Can you imagine not having a blanket to warm you during these chilly nights or sheets to sleep in? 218 more children still need to be able to be warm and snuggly. They can for just $30.

· Bibles are $10 each. There are 450 households for a total of $4,500.

You can make a gift right now by going to www.sweetsleep.org/donate or you can send your contributions to Sweet Sleep, PO Box 40486, Nashville, TN 37204 with “Gulu” in the special comments box online or in the memo line of your check. All gifts are 100% tax-deductible. If you still need a great idea for a Christmas gift, you can even make this a donation in honor or memory of someone and they’ll receive a card from Sweet Sleep telling about their special gift. You can read more about this at www.sweetsleep.org/givethegift.

Thanks friends…..for changing and saving lives.

Filed Under: Sweet Sleep

Dayspring

December 6, 2009 By Angie Leave a Comment

The sweet people at Dayspring sent me a little care package for Christmas and I loved it so much that I wanted to share the joy

Their Christmas line of home decor is adorable. Here are a couple of my favorite things…

Love these Nativity Candle Holders…so pretty at night.

This sign can go on a table or in the front yard (the stick that makes it a yard sign is sold separately).

The apron makes me want to make cookies. Emphasis on “want.” But it does make me look like Betty Crocker. The one below it is the children’s version-they are $10 right now.