Welcome New BFFs!

Well, dearest friends, I understand we have a new influx of BBFs, who are now officially BBFFs (Blessed Blog Friends Forever), joining our awesome community of girlfriends and I want to extend a HUGE WELCOME to those here for the first time. Many are dipping their toes in the Too Blessed to be Stressed blog sea as I phase out my e-mail newsletters – thank you for your loyal readership over the years if you’re one of those! I hope you enjoy my blog even more – it’s really cozy and intimate over here!

We’re super excited that you’re here – many of us have been conversing here for years and have grown to love and enjoy each other’s company immensely. And best of all, we trust each other and know that we’ll pray for one another when we ask for prayer support. Be sure to scroll back through previous posts and comments to get to know us a little better. We can’t wait to get to know you, so please DO add your comments as often as you can.

Okay, I don’t have an earth-shakingly insightful post today because I’m babysitting my three grands, (boy age 10, and boy-girl twins age 6)  and my brain (and house) are completely upside-down. I know you get exactly what I’m puttin’ down. I love having them here and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but I’m a bit, er, disorganized. Chaos is my constant companion.

For example, many of you know I’m a ridiculously early riser (the rooster crows in my head at 5 a.m. every single day) so I strategically get much of my daily allotment of work/writing done before the sun peeks a dazzling smile over the horizon.

Except when the kiddos are here. Nope. Nuh-uh. Then all schedules fly out the window like bats out of someplace very hot.

For example, it’s 5:45 a.m. right now as I’m typing this and my adorable cuddly-bear, fuzzy-jammied, sweet-hearted grand-cowgirl Bree just blew open the door and popped her tousled head in my writing cave (office) to announce in a booming voice that she’s wide awake and VERY hungry for breakfast. Sigh.

I sent her back to bed until the sun comes up, but I’m guessing I won’t have a very long reprieve. (Say, anybody have some good kid-friendly breakfast ideas you can share? Three weeks is a long time to ration my already thin culinary creative juices.)

So I’m going to share with you a reader letter I received that totally warmed the cockles of my heart. I’ve never been completely sure what cockles are but I know hot cockles are rare and special and to be desired even above chocolate and I feel their radiating warmth from encouragement like this. The fact that dear BFFs like Jen take the time to write and bolster my spirit really and truly keeps me going. Thank you.

Say, how about we all pause for a few moments sometime this week and write a love letter of encouragement to someone who sparks our cockles when we think of them? I’m in! Are you?

Hi Debora,

I want to thank you for your 365-day devotional, Too Blessed to be Stressed: 3-Minute Daily Devotions for Morning & Evening – it was such a great help for me!

You have no idea how your arthritis story hit home for me on the exact day I was battling a mysterious flare-up with arthritis and was losing hope. I’m 38 and this is a strange thing to battle with so young. Jesus is obviously the real healer, but I sure needed to hear your words that day as I was going through the fire. Thank you for the encouragement. It made all the difference. 

Anyway, I just wanted to say that your ADD outdoorsy personality matches mine and it’s a true rarity these days to find someone that can teach me with such softness, and yet with honesty and … well, gusto! (Ha-ha!) It’s like you’re that crazy fun aunt I always wanted!

Hope you have a blessed year full of joy, peace, and … chocolate!!!

Love, Jennifer from Texas

One last thing, dearest BFFs – because, like Jen, I’m totally convinced of the power of words to minister to us, I want to recommend two awesome summer reads from my personal writing buds that will warm a few heart cockles of your own and leave you smiling!

The first is for fiction lovers: The Sweet Life by Suzanne Woods Fisher. It’s a delightful story about a mother-daughter crazily dysfunctional team who decide on a whim to open an ice cream shop on Cape Cod after their big city lives seem to respectively be falling apart. Suzanne is a longtime friend of mine who has won more awards and sold more books than I can count. They’re clever, funny, heart-warming, and wise. I adore her books and I think you will too.

My nonfiction recommendation is a lovely little devo called, Today is Going to be a Good Day, by my friend Dr. Michelle Bengtson, who is not only a neuropsychologist, but also the award-winning author of many Christian books, and someone who has personally battled physical and emotional illness and totally understands what we’re going through. I suspect that the more you get to know her sweet and wise spirit, you’ll fall in love with Dr. Michelle just like I have.

Hugs, Deb