Welcome to the 1st John 3:16 Giveaway Blog Hop! As one of the members of this great network of Christian Authors, I am excited to participate in this event! We have come together this week to showcase our books and to give you, our readers, a chance to win some great prizes as you “hop” from blog to blog. A different prize is offered at each blog site (no purchase necessary), however if you want to have a chance to win one of two Kindles the network is giving away, the only requirement is that you sign up for the John 3:16 ezine newsletter. (Located at the top right side column of the John 3:16 blog site.)

(See official rules here.)

At the other blogs, each author will require that you leave a comment (and a valid email address) so they may contact you if you win a prize offered on their blog site.

May I also suggest that you show your love and appreciation to each blog host by either following them on Twitter, or “liking” them on Facebook or even subscribing to their blog. It won’t help your odds of winning a prize but I know each author would be thrilled and very encouraged!

My Giveaway!

Here on my blog you can enter to win the following prizes:

ONE lucky person will win a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate PLUS my entire collection of eBooks in Kindle Format, AND an autographed paperback version of “My Scripture Journal: Fearing the Lord!”

I will also host a drawing for four people to receive a paperback copy of My Scripture Journal: Fearing the Lord!

To enter just follow the instructions using rafflecopter below. Make sure when you complete a task you click “enter” so your entry counts. Winners will be drawn at random using the entries given below through rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So tell your friends about the John 3:16 Giveaway Blog Hop! It’s going to be a great week of fun!

Just click on the links below to go from blog to blog! Happy hoppin’!

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Lorilyn Roberts (John 3:16 Blog) – >http://john316mn.blogspot.com/

2. Lynn Dove – Word Salt (Host blog) – >http://wordsalt.wordpress.com/

3. Laura J. Davis – >http://interviewsandreviews.blogspot.com/

4. Paulette Harper – >http://www.pauletteharperjohnson.blogspot.com/

5. Carol A. Brown – >http://connectwithcarolbrown.blogspot.com/

6. April Gardner – >http://www.aprilwgardner.com/

7. Sue Russell – >http://www.suerussellsblog.blogspot.com/

8. Thomas Blubaugh – >http://tomblubaugh.net/

9. Susan F. Craft – >http://historicalfictionalightintime.blogspot.com/

10. Heather Bixler – >http://heatherbixler.com/

11. Joy Hannabass – >http://splashesofjoy.wordpress.com/

12. Deborah Bateman – http://www.DeborahHBateman.com

13. Kimberley Payne – >http://www.fitforfaith.blogspot.com/

14. Rose McCauley – http://www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com

15. Lisa Lickel – >http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com/

16. Alice J. Wisler – >http://www.alicewisler.blogspot.com/

17. Amanda Stephan – >http://www.thepriceoftrust.com/

18. Saundra Dalton – >http://gracetolivefree.blogspot.com/

19. Tracy Krauss – >http://www.tracykraussexpressionexpress.com/

20. Ashley Wintters – >http://ashleyschristianbookreviews.blogspot.com/

21. Deborah McCarragher – >http://www.godmissionpossible.blogspot.com/

22. Lorilyn Roberts – >http://lorilynroberts.blogspot.com/

23. Anita Estes – >http://anita-thoughtsonchristianity.blogspot.com/

24. Martin Roth – http://www.military-orders.com

25. Kenneth Winters – >http://www.lostcrownofcolonnade.com/

26. Eddie Snipes – >http://www.eddiesnipes.com/

27. Diane Tatum – >http://tatumlight-tatumsthoughts4today.blogspot.com/

28. Janalyn Voigt – >http://janalynvoigt.com/

29. Alberta Sequeira – >http://www.albertasequeira.wordpress.com/

30. Tammy Hill – >http://tammyhillbooks.blogspot.com/p/blog-hop.html

31. Marcia Laycock – >http://www.writer-lee.blogspot.com/

32. Nike Chillemi – >http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/

33. Elaine Marie Cooper – target="_blank">http://wp.me/PVo1a-1vM

34. Sidney W. Frost – target="_blank">http://christianbookmobile.blogspot.ca/2012/05/welcome-to-john-316-giveaway-blog-hop.html

35. Jairus B. King – http://ministerjking.blogspot.com

36. Bill Burt - >http://kotbooks.blogspot.com/

37. Kathy Eberly - >http://authorkathyeberly.blogspot.com/

38. Bob Saffrin - >http://bobsaffrin.com/

39. Theresa Franklin – >http://theresa-lifesjourney.blogspot.com/

40. Ray Lincoln – >http://blog.raywlincoln.com/

41. Lilly Maytree – >http://www.lillymaytree.blogspot.com/

42. Yvonne Pat Wright – target="_blank">http://www.spicetoeternity.co.uk/1/post/2012/05/come-blog-hopping-with-john-316-marketing-network-members-for-gifts-and-prizes.html

43. Pauline Creeden – >http://fatfreefaith.blogspot.com/

44. Katherine Harms – http://livingontilt.wordpress.com

45. Brenda Wood – >http://heartfeltdevotionals.wordpress.com/

46. Deborah Malone – >http://deborahsbutterflyjourney.blogspot.com/

47. Melissa Main – >http://www.mainwriters.com/

48. Kevin Main – >http://mainchristianbooks.com/

49. Sandy Humphrey – >http://www.kidscandoit.com/blog/

50. Felice Gerwitz – >http://www.writingandpublishingblog.com/

51. Hallee Bridgeman – >http://www.bridgemanfamily.com/hallee

52. Lisa Mills – >http://www.authorlisamills.com/blog/

John 3:16 Writers Blog Hop! is a post from: Heather Bixler

There are a lot of eggs, bunnies, and pastel colors everywhere this time of year. This year Easter kind of sneaked up on me. I knew it was coming but I had no motivation to really plan anything so now I’m stuck here in the last hour trying to figure out what to get my kiddos for Easter, and also trying to find a babysitter to watch them while I run up to the Christian book store to find a gift for them.

I’m not a fan of all the hype surrounding Easter, and I’m not a fan of bunny rabbits either. My heart is not behind Easter egg hunts, coloring eggs, or Easter baskets.

Eleven years ago on Easter was the last day I saw my grandmother alert and talking. Out of all the Easter gifts my Baby Girl received, the gift my grandmother gave her when she was only 2 1/2 years old is the one I will never forget. She gave her a Walkman with headphones, and set of audio cassettes with Bible stories on them.

My grandmother had recently rededicated her life to You. The transformation that took place in her life is something I will never forget.

At the time she gave Baby Girl her present, I was not a believer. I remember rolling my eyes at the Bible stories, and I was worried. I didn’t believe in You then, and I didn’t trust You either. But I let her listen to the tapes because she loved her great-grandmother so much, and she LOVED those tapes!

She could not get enough of those tapes. There was one in particular that she listened to over and over again, but I can’t remember what story it was. I laugh thinking about how often she would listen to her little Walkman. She was so little, but so grown up for her age.

The day after Easter was when my grandmother was taken to the hospital, and shortly after that she was on a respiratory and unresponsive. Then a couple of weeks later she went home to be with YOU.

I will never forget the gift she gave Baby Girl because I know where her heart was when she did. I am so grateful that she loved us enough to share You with us even if I wasn’t ready to receive Your gift just yet.

I will especially never forget the gift you gave us this time many years ago. My grandmother was only sharing the gift You had given us. She knew how much You loved us.

Even though I know my heart should be filled with JOY right now, it’s difficult for my heart to rejoice. It’s been a difficult week with many reminders of those who do not know You. My heart is filled with gratitude that You, JESUS, have filled my HEART and my LIFE. What would I do without You?

That’s my burden though, what do people do without YOU? SO many would say they are fine without YOU, but I would say that I disagree. But how can I share You with a world that doesn’t want You, or with a world that thinks they don’t NEED YOU?

I do apologize for not celebrating like I should. I try to celebrate and praise You every single day. I try to serve You every single day. But on Easter my heart just sees those who do not have You in their life, and my heart hurts.

Lord, Jesus, on Easter my soul SCREAMS for those who do not know You!

SO on Easter morning I will worship You, I will go to to church, I will watch “The Passion”, and have dinner with my lovely family. But deep down in my heart Lord Jesus, there will be a twinge of pain and sadness for those who are celebrating an empty Easter filled with meaningless eggs, baskets, and Easter rabbits, a meaningless Easter WITHOUT You. But even worse they are living a meaningless life without You too…

My prayer this Easter Lord Jesus, is for those who do not know You, I pray that the veil is lifted and the truth pierces their heart like it has pierced mine. I know that once it does, they will never be the same again…I pray this in YOUR might name, Amen!

Dear Jesus, is a post from: Heather Bixler

The closer I get to the life God has planned for me I find myself feeling weaker and relying on Him more.

The blessings, commitments, the time. They all require a form of sacrifice because if I stayed in my selfish flesh then all of the blessings could turn into a curse. There would be no commitments, just me blowing around with the wind. My idol of time would consume me, in fact it tries to consume me every single day.

But the more that I receive the more responsibility I feel I have to do something with these blessings, and to give more. But MORE is overwhelming and it’s exhausting. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep my head above the water, but I’m OK with this. The overwhelm reminds me that I can never do this all alone and God is the One who deserves all the glory, all the time.

If it were easy and if I had it all together I wouldn’t lean on Him, and the glory would go to me. But instead, God is using my flaws to show that it is only through Him that we can accomplish anything that is truly worthwhile.

Closer is a post from: Heather Bixler

Sometimes being bold in your faith means being yourself, flaws and all.

It hurts to be broken and it hurts to let others see our brokenness. But it is through our brokenness that God shines because that is where our story is formed and molded. We can’t offer salvation to the next person, but we can share our story, and through our story we will share the story of the truth and grace of Jesus Christ…to me that is what faith is, and that is what it means to be bold in your faith.

Being Bold in Your Faith is a post from: Heather Bixler

I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind. The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

Definition of Vanity: Excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements.

In the writer’s world comparison is huge! It can truly consume you if you do not get a grip on it quickly. It is certainly something I have personally struggled with on more than one occasion.

Once you begin to compare yourself with someone else you get this feeling of not being good enough. Maybe you even get a little bitter towards God because the other person has something you don’t have, or maybe they achieved more success than you did and quicker than you.

Living in a life of comparing yourself to someone else brings us to a life where we easily give up or we are afraid to move forward. What if we really aren’t good enough…what then?

Well the truth is when we compare our self to others we are really facing a moment of pride within our heart. We want to be good and we want people to say great things about us too. If we move forward and we really aren’t “good enough” then we may end up looking like a fool, and then what? Our pride will be bruised and we will be broken.

None of us like to be broken and we certainly do not want the whole world to see our brokenness. Often our pride tells us to hide our flaws under a rug when God says bring them into the light.

Comparing our self to each other really brings us further away from what God can do in our life and where He can take us. We aren’t like everyone else, and God’s plan for us is completely unique. We may be on a similar path, but our stories will always be different.

Today I am learning to embrace the life God has planned for me. Yes, I have moments where I wish, and I compare. But then I take a moment to step back and look where God has me right now. Right now I am a homeschooling mom of three who writes in her “spare” time. Would I love to speak and go on fancy business trips? Sure, that is what my flesh desires! But my heart desires God’s will for my life and right now it is His call for me to be right here.

I believe with all my heart in the message God has given to me and I plan to put the message out there for all to read. I trust that God can bring the people to whatever it is I place out there. If I don’t trust God in this process and rely fully on Him, I get overwhelmed and I begin to compare. When I am overwhelmed and I compare I being to wallow in my own pride. That is not where God wants me to be, and that’s not where I want to be.

Today I will embrace this beautiful path God has me on because it’s MY path, and it’s MY story. In the end I will be with HIM and hopefully I will be able to share all the beauty of MY story with HIM. Until then I will delight in Him and wake up everyday with hopeful anticipation of what God has in store for MY life…

Not Good Enough? Compared to What or Who? is a post from: Heather Bixler

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? …
James 2:1-13

Sometimes I wonder how you can feel you are right where God wants you to be and yet feel so out of place. Feeling like an outcast is never easy. I would guess that most, if not all of us, have felt like an outcast at one point in our life.

One thing I have recently realized is the feeling of being left out among the body of Christ. If there is one place we should feel loved an accepted it should be among our fellow believers. But a lot of people don’t feel accepted or even good enough. They struggle with their love for God and the desire to be in fellowship with other believers, but find that acceptance may even be more difficult to find within the church than it is outside of the church.

I will admit that I could not see this point of view for so long, but I’m glad that God has opened my heart and eyes to this problem. As a church we open our hearts to the non believer and the successful Christian, but shut our doors on the ones that are kind of stuck in the middle. The ones who love the Lord with all their heart but they don’t have the life you have, or they don’t dress the way you do. It seems that our churches these days are either geared toward the non believer or helping leaders become better leaders, and in the mix we lose sight of so many people who are yearning to serve the Lord with the gifts the Lord has given them.

Today I understand the pain of what it feels to be a Christian who feels like a total outcast among their brothers and sisters in Christ. I understand the desire to run away from the problem because it is too painful, and quite frankly it makes you angry. But I don’t believe in running away from the problem. As fellow brothers and sisters in Christ I believe we are called to hold each other accountable according to His word. Running away will never provide us, or whom ever we are running from, the opportunity to grow in their faith.

I think as a body of Christ we need to realize the importance of every single member. Reaching out to non believers is good, but lets not forget our brothers and sisters in Christ. Every single one of us is blessed with a gift, it’s wrong to shut the door on a believer that is seeking to serve the Lord and His kingdom.

I think the feeling of being an outcast is a huge problem within the church today, and I refuse to bash anyone or even judge them because we are all sinners! However I feel the problem needs to be addressed. There are so many people who LOVE the LORD, and who attend a church, and feel that the LOVE they feel and the heart they have for the Lord is not good enough. So they leave the church. It’s a problem that needs to stop being swept under a rug and stop being over looked.

I just hope and pray that we can learn to soften our hearts and release the pride that is keeping certain believers blocked out from serving the Lord and their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ…

Outcast is a post from: Heather Bixler

I wish…these words often come out of my mouth and I wish they wouldn’t. SO often when I wish for something it brings me to a place of discontentment.

I wish for success.

I wish for more time.

I wish I could just sit down and write a book without interruptions.

I wish…

Whenever I wish for these things I wish something away.

Maybe I don’t need more time, maybe I just need to manage my time better.

Maybe I already am successful, because it really only depends on how you define success.

Maybe now is not the time to write a book. Sure I can write when I have the chance, but honestly my children matter more to me than getting a book out in a specific time frame.

Maybe now is not the time for me to have the things I wish for. I’m thinking I could have them if I worked hard enough for them, but often I ask myself is it really worth it?

When I see my 6 year old sitting on her bed playing with her toys I think about how much time has gone by, and how fast she is growing up. My children keep me grounded because it would be so easy for me to float around in this world from one thing to another.

My children keep me focused, they help me to keep my eye on God and this home and this family He has blessed me with. Sometimes I wonder why not me in certain areas of my life, and maybe the answer is right in front of me. Maybe it’s because God wants me HERE right NOW.

Now giving up on writing and things I LOVE doing isn’t what I feel God wants me to do, but things need to be kept in perspective and my heart needs to remain focused on what He has me doing right now.

I need to stop wishing and just start trusting…

I Wish… is a post from: Heather Bixler

The other day I was watching “Father Knows Best” and I have to say I love that show.

In this episode the dad was struggling with all of his friends being successful while he was just an insurance agent. Throughout the show he would become snappy with the kids, lose his cool, and all of a sudden he found himself extremely discontent. Eventually at the end of the show he realized that he was successful in his family life and yes his friends may be successful in business life, but they were also failing in family life.

I’ve been writing online for almost 7 years now, and I have to say I have struggled with the word “success.” It’s difficult to pour your heart into something and never find any true success, and then turn and see others do half the work you have done and find success almost overnight.

But there is one thing I have certainly learned these past seven years, success comes at a cost. It takes a lot of effort to be successful at anything, and even though I love to write and would love to see success as a writer, I’m not willing to sacrifice these precious moments I have with my children. I am a writer but also a homeschooling mother of three. Success in writing to me isn’t worth losing out on something I will never get back, and that is time with my children.

It’s difficult to balance it all, and it is especially difficult not to make success in writing or time with my kiddos an idol, because I have been known to do both.

Success in anything whether it be family life or writing life has always been difficult for me because there is always failure around the corner. Let’s face it, we aren’t perfect, and to me success means achievement. But I don’t like the failure that always happens along the way.

When I sit back and define success on my own terms I would say it is about endurance, not money, status, or even a book deal. It is about sticking with it no matter what. Success is relying on God, asking Him where you need to spend your time and efforts, and then just go for it.

Maybe success really isn’t about achievement, maybe it’s about who has the most faith!

When I define success that way it is clear to me that I had absolutely no idea what success really was until now. I would have to say this blog post has been a success!

Define Success is a post from: Heather Bixler

I have a problem with having joy in the shallow waters. When things are not so easy we can tell our self that there is a purpose for this, but what about the things that do not matter?

Typically around this time of year I definitely struggle with this. Is Christmas really meaningful anymore? It’s difficult for me to find the joy around the holidays with all of the massive amount of presents being bought, not to mention the going after items that are so over priced anyways. How can I find joy in this when I know that there are children in Africa who have only a fraction of what we have, and all our society wants is more.

My rest and JOY is in HIM, but I must admit the distractions of the holidays and all the “stuff” can truly lead me to take my eyes off of HIM. I guess it’s because I am human. I guess it’s because I am made of flesh. I need to guard my heart, and remain focused on HIM through all of this. It’s certainly not easy to do, but it’s necessary…The meaningless and shallow doesn’t steal my joy, but my wandering heart does.

You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased. Psalm 4:7

Joy in the Shallow is a post from: Heather Bixler

Sometimes it’s easy for me to think I’ve got it all together, especially when things are going good.

Just recently I started exercising daily, and by recent I mean I’m on day four of six right now. I’ve actually lost quite a bit of weight just within the last four days (six pounds if you are dying to know.) All I could think about was how awesome I felt, my metabolism was increasing, and I had noticeably lost weight in my stomach region.

Then yesterday came, and I took a class that would literally bring me to my knees! I took this class by mistake, I had actually thought it was a different class that would be more relaxing and yet help give me a good workout. But it wasn’t that class, in fact it was the complete opposite. Honestly I did not want to go to that class because I was still feeling tired from the class I had the day before. But I was there so I figured I would give it a try.

It honestly was a humbling experience. In that moment I got a really good reminder that I DO NOT have it all together.

Are you thankful for the humbling experiences that remind you that you do not have it all together, or are you ashamed of those moments?

I wouldn’t say that I am a broken person and proud of it, because pride and brokenness do not coexist. But I would say I have learned to be broken and not be ashamed of it. I’m actually thankful for that humbling experience yesterday because it is SO easy for me to think I’ve got it all together and that’s when pride creeps into my life…and it’s not a pretty sight.

The truth is I do not have it all together…and it’s unfortunate that God needs to remind me often that I do not have it all together, but I am grateful that He DOES remind me.

Even though I completely failed that workout class yesterday, I was also blessed by those around me, encouraging me and telling me that I did a good job. They were also encouraging me to keep at it, and that everyone has to start somewhere. That’s God’s grace right there…He shows you that you do not have it all together, and then He sends others to encourage you.

Yes, I’m broken, but I’m not ashamed of it. I can only hope that through my brokenness God’s glory will shine through! I also know that when I am broken that is when I lean on Him for strength.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

I’ve Got It All Together…Or Do I? is a post from: Heather Bixler