Gratitude - To You and You

via Pinterest
This blog party has not gone exactly as I had planned (ahem, cough, cough) - I did not do too much planning to be honest! It was quite spontaneous ^_^ But anyway, I failed to blog daily since last Wednesday. Actually, the challenge has not failed though, because I have not been afraid to blog, but rather I was jolly well occupied watching lots of movies with my family during the weekend (yay, for Little House, The Return of the King and War Horse!), going out shopping with my sweet sister, Mary, buying groceries and a nice big new notebook to write and use for my novel (photo coming soon!), working at scaling down my laundry bags (yep, they pile up!), taking a history test and having a round of fun and busy-ness with family so that I nearly forgot about you! Good gracious, thankfully,  I did not, actually. But that is something I have learnt during my blogging journey, that important as my blog and my online friends are to me, my life with God and family and school always must come first. I have not always succeeded in this; often, I had to learn this lesson the hard way (and am still learning it!), but truly, there is nothing like the blessing of family and faith and friendship.

Friendship. That is one of the biggest things I have been blessed with through the presence of Fullness of Joy, blog. The friendships I have met and found in you, my dear readers, has probably been the biggest reward and blessing for having this blog, aside from things I have learnt about myself and writing and my faith. But also, knowing that this journey - the path of life - is something we are all learning and growing in together as we seek to abide in His Presence and His Love and Joy. Abide in Him. And see the light of His love and truth in every aspect of our lives - like in writing, family, faith, relationships, and friendships. This has been truly wonderful, amazing and challenging to me. As the Scriptures say, '[as] iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.' You have all done this to me... you have challenged and sharpened my countenance in so many ways - and while I often failed and made a mess of things you stuck by this blog and have been real friends. So from the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you to you all. God bless you all!

'Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."'
- C.S. Lewis

P.S. I will answer your beautiful comments, and comment on your tag-responses as soon as possible, Lord willing! O.o.o, and are you thinking up some questions to ask me? Please do!

Comments

  1. I am very sorry I was not able to participate in your blog party. I really wanted to, but I am graduating this week and I have been up to my ears trying to get school done and helping my mom with putting grades together. It has been crazy!
    I hope you have a lovely week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oooo, congratulations on your graduation, Elizabeth! I did not know, but I can definitely understand how you can be busy, so don't fret, dear =). Have a lovely week too and enjoy your graduation ;).
    God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here I am, Joy! At last! ;)

    Life outside the computer screen is, indeed, a tremendous blessing. Lately I have been realizing the joys of real life, and, as you said, they far outweigh blogging in importance.

    However, it is extremely incredible how friendships can form over the Internet. When I started blogging around a year back, I had no idea I would meet such beautiful, homeschooled, writerly, Godly girls and become such great friends with them (yes, that includes you, dear! ;)). It is really the best, best part about blogging.

    I'm sure you've noticed I have stepped back from the public circle of blogging and gone private. However, I am fully intending on answering your tag. Indeed, it is such fun, and if you intend on doing more, I am more than eager to answer those questions as well! :)

    As for the questions we are to ask you, beware, dear. I might go rather bizarre concerning the amount. ;) Here it goes...

    - Have you lived in Australia all your life?

    - When did you first discover you enjoyed writing?

    - If you were given a chance to visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

    - How did you start blogging?

    - Do you prefer writing description or dialogue? Which do you prefer reading?

    - I know 'The Crown of Life' has been put on hold. Do you have any idea when you will bring it back out again?

    - How long do you expect 'A Love That Never Fails' to be? How far are you into it now?

    - What are your favorite books? Movies? Foods?

    - If you could meet any author who has died, which would you wish to meet most?

    - Tell me, does Australia have a McDonald's?

    There's my lengthy list of questions, dear. ;) And, to add another random mentioning to this already random comment, it's really ironic that one of the words I must type in to prove that I'm not a robot is "author." How fitting...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Joy! Indeed I am thinking of a few questions. But I think Annie has enough for both me and her combined! ;) I'll let you know what I come up with.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is very true, Emily; something I have been learning too. It is sometimes a bit of a challenge to juggle everything (and often, blogging seems to demand time from writing which is pretty nasty ;), but overall blogging has been an amazing thing. I have to admit too friends like you on-line have been a constant source of encouragement and blessing in my life these past two years, both in the sense of my writing and literary journey, but also in regard to my faith and personal day-to-day life - I am so thankful, dear Emily *hugs*

    Wow, those are such a bunch of wonderful questions - I know I am going to have such fun answering them! Thank you, dear, for taking the time to comment them all here! I shall have to email you with my own bits of questions too, eh? When are you filming the vlog with your friend, btw? Or when is the closing dates for the questions?

    Hahaha, I like that, the irony of 'author' blog verification thingy!)
    God bless, Emily!

    ReplyDelete
  6. :D Holly, if you have any questions, ask away! I may not answer each single question in a post of its own, but I will definitely try to answer it and would love to if you have any.... ^_^

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

"Gracious words are like a honeycomb; sweetness to the soul and health to the body..." ~Proverbs 16:24