Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"Premio al Esfuerzo Personal" ~ Prize for Personal Effort.

My Blogiversary Give Away will be on Friday! Stay tuned and continue to sign up below! And now on to other important things...

"Premio al Esfuerzo Personal" ~ Prize for Personal Effort.

I just received this award from Susan at Penless Writer.
I feel so honored that she chose to pass this on to me, because I admire her so much! She truly has been an inspiration to me. I feel she is exemplary of a "Titus 2 Woman." She truly cares about lending her wisdom and experience to those of us seeking to walk in biblical womanhood. She is encouraging and supportive, honest and forth-coming. And she isn't afraid to be vulnerable and transparent. She truly has a heart for Christ and it is apparent in her thoughts and writings. Thank you Miss Susan. I appreciate you and will treasure this award.


Here are the rules:
*Mention the blog that gave it to you and comment on their blog to let them know you've posted your award.
*Publish these rules
*Share 6 values that are important to you and 6 things you do not support
*Grant the prize to 6 people


What I value:


The amazing, insurmountable love God has for me. Me. I am his beloved daughter. He holds me safely in the palm of His hand and nothing and no one can ever snatch me away from Him. I am redeemed, bathed in grace, and changed forever. He treasures me more than life and so He paid the ultimate price with His own to win me with His love. I am a priceless in His eyes. How wonderful it feels to be priceless. I hope I can live everyday worthy of His sacrifice and Love!

My family. I have what I always dreamed of; a loving Christian husband, and not one but two beautiful children. How blessed am I? I have the best of both worlds with a beautiful little boy and a precious baby girl. I love them so much it brings me to tears sometimes. I can hold them in my arms and it takes my breath away. I value every moment I have with them.

My friends. Each one of you are very different, but have enriched my life in so many ways. I treasure each one of you for who you are and what you have brought to my life.

Life. I have experienced enough death to know just how fleeting, fragile, and precious life really is. And I don't take it for granted. I live everyday to the fullest, even in small ways. I look for the value and lesson in each life that has touched mine, which brings me comfort as I try to understand the greater purpose and the "why" in death. I feel everyone has the right to life, and the right to really experience that life. -To really live.

Freedom, Equality and opportunity. I am so grateful to live in a country built on these principles. I love that I am free to have an opinion, and voice that opinion without fear. I love that I am free to pursue an education, and all that has to offer. I can work hard, dream big and be more if I want to be. Most importantly, I am free to worship my God anyway I want. If I want to carry a Bible, and read it out loud on a street corner, I can. If I want to go out in a field and raise my hands and praise His name, I can. If I need a quiet place to pray, there are churches in every city that I'm free to attend. That is a wonderful freedom many around the world don't have.

Kindness. It seems to be a rare commodity in our world today. We have become so self-centered and so focused on taking care of number one that we have forgotten "to ye be kind one to another," "to do unto others as we would have them do unto us," "to humbly think of others as higher than ourselves," and as Jesus himself taught..."to serve not to be served." It almost seems as if we've lost a little humanity in losing a little of our compassion. At any rate, kindness is something I value very much be it large or small.



What I do not support:

Cruelty in any form. Snobbery, condescending or judging other people. Belittling, berating, purposely excluding someone for one reason for another. It hurts me to see others hurt, oppressed or having their joy and life squashed right out of them. It angers me, and makes me very sad how hurtful we can all be at times.

Addiction, abuse, pornography, adultery, and anything else that breaks down marriage and family.

Laziness. Which is kinda comical in some ways because it is a characteristic I don't like about my self and am trying to change. Don't get me wrong, over all I'm not a lazy person, but in some aspects of my life, I have been, and that needs to stop. In my career I never tolerated it from myself or others, yet in my personal life, once I was home full time I have found areas I had let go unattended or fall by the wayside. The Lord is chipping away at those areas and I am trying to be more patient and understanding with others.-no one is perfect, least of all me.

Abortion. I value life, wholeheartedly. I can't understand how some feel it's their choice to play God. I know that may seem very harsh, but I think the death of a child for any reason is harsh. I know many may feel it is easy for me to say, when I haven't had to carry a child that was the result of a rape or a child I knew was going to be disabled and be wrought with difficulty their entire life. But, I hope and pray that if ever I were in any circumstances where I faced such a choice that I would trust in my Lord's sovereignty and His will enough to do the right thing. And maybe others would have the strength to do the right thing if they had real support, encouragement and help in living with the result of these decisions. I believe we all have the power to change the world- even if it's only through helping one person at a time.

All the little things that we let bring dissension, bitterness into the church family. Anything that divides the body of Christ. This is so hard, because we all have different feelings about things and different perspectives according to how we were brought up. But, how powerful we could be if we were united in our faith. What a healing could take place in this world.

How I am supposed to be open minded and accepting of everyone else and their beliefs and choices, but the world in so very intolerable of mine. I truly feel like I am part of a minority as a Christian that no one has to respect. (This is especially true in the media.) It seems to be OK to step all over my faith and beliefs and to bash my God. I am resented for my morals, ethics and values, or for holding anyone else to a high standard. How dare I teach my children that we must obey God's rules and act a certain way in order to please Him. That's so narrow minded and old fashioned. Well, here's to being an old fashioned, conservative Christian. Anyone want to join me?


The six blog writers who I feel deserve a prize for their personal effort in blogging are:

Sharon at Quiet Reflections
Marsh at Marsha's Musings
Kimberly at A Planting of the LordMaria at Free to Fly
Monica at The Homespun Heart
Emma at Charming the birds from the Trees

It was so hard for me to pick, because I love all the blogs I read and I think they each bring something special to bloggyland that only they can bring. They are all unique and all are good or else why would I read them. Hopefully these ladies will be able to pass this on to other well deserving blogs I would also like to give this to. Love Y'all and Blessings on your day!

5 comments:

Susan said...

Great job, Tiffany. You can tell you gave much thought and consideration to each and every answer. One of the many things I so respect about you. Thanks for doing this one and passing it on.
((hugs))
Susan

Monica Wilkinson said...

Thanks so much for sharing your award with me! :) Have a great day!
Monica

Marsha said...

Thank you, Tiffany! I'm truly honored by your thoughtfulness towards me. I will give this some thought while traveling next week and see what I can come up with.

Anonymous said...

very well spoken, tiff! i enjoyed reading this and am once again admiring you for who you are!!

Kimberly said...

I, too, am an old-fashioned, conservative Christian! Perhaps we will meet some day and can raise our hands in worship together to our Father!

Thanks for passing this on to me! I will have to be chewing on this one! Your answers were beautifully stated. Your passion for the Lord is so obvious!

Blessings, sweet Tiffany!