Winter into Spring...

As I reflect back on my life....I'm in awe...I'm humbled....I feel unworthy of the blessings in which the Lord has given. I look at the different seasons. The blooming season out my window and the seasons of life in which all things seem good and on track and then those seasons that we go through and ask, Why are you allowing this Lord? Where did you go Lord? Why do I feel so far from you? What have I placed in my life above you Lord God without even realizing it?? But when really He is always right there with His arms wide open....waiting, teaching, LOVING!

My Pastor shared something that the Holy Spirit is using in me the past couple of weeks. God is not disappointed in you...and another thing that another brother in Christ shared is that...God loves you....God even likes you...and He has chosen you! Thank you Lord! He sees something in me that I don't see in myself... I've been afraid of failing my whole life. I've been afraid of disappointing those around me especially my family. Actually it seemed that I did disappoint them most of the time. Also, afraid that I would never be good enough...that others would see that I'm not good enough.

Well, you know what?! None of us are good enough...that is why we need a Savior! Jesus has broken the bondage of those fears...those lies that I was listening to. Do I still deal with them...yes. Does satin try and still use them to hinder me...sometimes, but only if I give him the power to do so by not keeping my eyes, heart and mind on the truth of the One who has died to give me that freedom. It is really hard during those winter seasons. It is a daily choice to lay those fears and failures down and believe in the truth and hope that is given to us.

I've personally had to face a hard winter season! On the Baby be Blessed front we had more orders than sewers which God allowed to steer us around to where He wants us. In my personal life...dealing with the stress of getting everything done and balancing my faith and family. The Lord has also allowed some health issues in the past month. Again, a daily choice...sometimes minute by minute to say...okay Lord, you've allowed this. I don't know why but this is what I have been given today. Days have been tough. I have not handled every situation with the face and heart of Jesus. Praise God for His grace and forgivness! Praise God for those He has placed around me to encourage me in His word. To keep my eyes on truth! So to have been given those words...God is not disappointed in you, God loves you, likes you and has chosen you is exactly what I needed to hear and remind myself that I'm living this life for Him and His glory not my own. It's not about Tina, I just disappoint myself...but HE is not disappointed in me.

Where are you today? What season of life are you going through?? Are you listening to the lies of satin, or are you listening to the truth of Jesus Christ?? Make the moment by moment choice to pick up your cross and follow Him no matter what season of life you may be in. Sometimes that darn cross is heavier than others. Let us join together as believers and carry each others burden through prayer and encouragement! Please use the comment section of this post to share so we can be praying for you or someone you know!

Remember that He loves you and so do we!!

In Christ!

~Tina

Custom Doll Raffle!

As many of you know Custom dolls are not available right now. Honestly...not sure if they will be back. At least not in the same way we've had it in the past. We will have dolls for sale, just not a full blown custom. {Still seeking the Lord's will and direction} SOOOO...we would LOVE to provide opportunities for you to design your very own doll while at the same time helping out a child in need!

Prayerfully most of you are aware of little Seth who we are supporting this month. If you need to catch up on his story CLICK HERE. In order to help raise as many funds as we can we are having a BbB raffle! I must say that we have been blessed by the response we've gotten so far.

{One thing I am praying for is that the Lord will provide the person to head up our Give a Blessing. Laura and I are terrible about asking for donations and coming up with fun ways to raise money....I know He has the perfect person to fill this need!}

To enter the raffle simply visit our Give a Blessing page by clicking the link above and donate to Seth. For every dollar donated, you will receive one entry. The more dollars....the more entries. Laura will assign you each a number or numbers according to your donation and randomnumber.org will choose the lucky winner on May 1st!! So what a fun way to help out little Seth and while also winning a chance to design your very own Baby be Blessed doll.

Any questions???????
Good Luck Everyone!!! Only eight more days to enter!!

By His Wounds We are Healed!

Praying that we each allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts this Easter season. That we would move closer to more of an understanding of what He did for us By His Wounds.

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Be Blessed Stamp Set!

DO YOU LOVE TO STAMP!!
Our sweet friends at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is offering a Be Blessed stamp set!!

This stamp set features an adorable image of a Baby be Blessed handmade doll. Give a Blessing is a Baby be Blessed charity that was born out of the desire to reach out to children and families going through a difficult time. For each Be Blessed stamp set sold, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps will donate $2 to this worthwhile cause.

Each set is $7.50 and you can purchase it HERE!

Thank you for supporting this worthy cause and helping a child and family in need!
Set measures approximately 3"x4"

Go check it out!!!!

Be Encouraged Today My Sweet Mommies!!!

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You’re up all night with a screaming baby
You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
like the beautiful woman you are

So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
and you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Well maybe you just don’t know
or maybe you’ve forgotten

That you, you are changing the world
one little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh you, you may not see it now
but I believe that time will tell
how you, you are changing the world
one little heartbeat at a time

With every, “I know you can do it”
and every tear that you kiss away
So many little things that seem to go unnoticed
they’re just like the drops of rain
over time, they become a river

And you, you are changing the world
one little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh you, you may not see it now
but I believe that time will tell
how you, you are changing the world
one little heartbeat at a time

You’re beautiful, so beautiful
how you’re changing the world, yeah you’re changing the world

You, you are changing the world
one little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh you, you may not see it now
but I believe that time will tell
how you, you are changing the world
I believe that you, you are changing the world
one little heartbeat at a time

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Be encouraged today! We bought this CD about a week or so ago...and LOVE it! This song brought tears to my eyes and spoke directly to my heart! Your children are your first Ministry!! Love them...teach them...enjoy every moment with them!!

Many Blessings!

~Tina

Friday Morning Ponderings....

How awesome it is, when we are feeling bottom of the barrel...exausted...wasted....no good...that once again in His grace and faithfulness He brings us right back to a state of renewed spirit through the promises of His word! Through a kind and gentle hug in which we can only receive through Him! Through those "Yes Lord, I hear you...I feel you deep within my soul" moments. The world beats us down...tells us we are nothing. But in Christ we are something!
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I've been reading another book lately (The Jesus Style, which is awesome!) so I've been away from my early morning 90 days with the one and only, Beth Moore study. It was His perfect timing that I picked it back up this morning. The first questioned asked was...What have been some of your "useless" responses lately...The first thing that popped into my mind was my self pity and overwhelming feeling of, "I am only one person". Feeling stretched to the limit really for the past six months, I am tired. I am feeling as I mentioned above...bottom of the barrel, exhausted, wasted, no good. Isn't that ministry? To feel the harsh not so understanding words of others. To hear that what your doing is not good enough. To hear people tell you that you are failing because you have ruined something special in their plans. To feel like quiting because the pressure of it all is too much to handle. To feel heart ache of kissing your babies goodnight and feeling that you've not spent any quality time with them that day. This is not what you in visioned your work to be... But let me tell you to keep going! Here are some key points that I wrote down from what I read this morning.
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~It's not about what I can do, but what I can do in His name. Only through the strength of Christ can we do what we are fully called to do. We will be beat down and exhausted but the direction and love from our Lord will carry us through. Again, just being built on that strong foundation...the rock...and no storm can make us crumble to the ground. We might loose a few shutters, but those were shutters that were meant to blow away.
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~Giving Him everything we have. When the disciples gave the five loaves and two fish they were giving everything they had to Him. Though they've seen many healing miracles they still couldn't wrap their mind around God's complete control in everything! And then that they carried those heavy baskets of bread to the people...to feel the weight of the full baskets and to see the many hands reaching in...the bellies that were full...and then the blessings of the leftovers. If we give everything we have, He will bless and multiply it beyond our wildest dreams. This is on every aspect of our lives! It starts with giving it back...our thoughts, our time and energy, our money, our possessions...Oh how awesome to then watch how God will use it like he used the bread and the fish.
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~Believing that He can make every provision! His way is so much better! Why do we try to make our own provision? If we wait on Him...it is perfect and oh, the blessings we will receive. I really think that we hinder ourselves from the full blessing we could receive because of self and our need to try and control.
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~Think big!
"Think bigger, boys! For one day you'll see Me in My glory, then you'll say to me...We should have thought bigger". Beth Moore Contunually try to stand back and look at the grand picture of things. This is part of God's big plan...not our in the moment how I'm feeling plan.
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These are just a smidge of my pondering thoughts this morning...and what a breath of fresh air truth gives to me. Going back to that strong foundation...knowing why I am making these dolls... IT IS TO PROCLAIM THE TRUTH OF JESUS CHRIST! Though many storms have raged through and I know that many more will come because that is the world we live in, I praise God for all things in my life. Back to the "I am only one person"...the Lord spoke to me when I read..."Christ can perform astounding wonders when we bring Him all we have. Matthew 14:17 records the disciples saying, "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish." Christ responded, "Bring them here to me." Beloved, I want you to hear something loud and clear: no matter what your "only" is, when you bring all of your "only" to Jesus, it's huge!"

Jesus...I am only one person...but use me to the fullest...I give it all to you!

Blessed Photo Contest!

Do you have a cute picture of your child

with their BbB doll??

Submit your picture and win a

custom doll to giveaway!

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I loved our Giveaway Give Away's in which you entered our giveaway to win a doll to give away to someone outside of your household. The stories you shared touched my heart and wove many more children/families into my prayers. With our photo album needing an update and also wanting to share your sweet babies on Too Cute Tuesday...I'm calling out for your best photo's!!

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Be creative and submit your photo by email to enter the contest!

To be entered...

1. Please email your photo's by March 20th.

2. You must tell us who you would like to give away the custom doll to if you were to win.

3. Your photo must include your child with their Baby be Blessed Doll.

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We will choose the top three photo's to be voted on right here at the BbB blog!! Votes will be taken over the weekend and the winner will be announced on Monday March 23rd.

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All photo's will be added to our photo album and just might show up on our Too Cute Tuesday...so please include the name and age of your child. =)

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HAVE FUN EVERYONE!

~Tina

babybeblessed@gmail.com

By submitting your photo, you are giving us permission to post them on the Internet via our blog and website.