For All The Busy, Weary Mothers Out There!

The summer is looming (for those of us in the northern hemisphere!) The temperatures are warming up, jeans are being replaced with shorts, and we're beginning to count down the weeks left of school.

How are you feeling? How has this last year been for you? If you're anything like me you're feeling fairly exhausted. There have been lots of good things happen in the last school year, but you're tired and weary. You've lost a bit of your sparkle, and you'd love to get it back.

Well, I have something to help! I've just published my first e-book. It's called "Cultivating Joyfulness: 12 Tips for the Busy, Weary Mother". It was inspired by a collection of blog posts I wrote a while back here on Grace to Abide, and since they consistently numbered among my most popular posts I decided to put them all together, expand on them a bit, and make them available in book form.

The price? A bargain at just £1.99!

It's available for Kindle on Amazon, but also in PDF format.

For UK readers, you can buy it on amazon.co.uk on the link below:

Kindle UK version

For US and other readers you can get it on amazon.com through this link:

Kindle US version

Or if you'd prefer the PDF format:

Buy the PDF version here

I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful. 

Abide in Him!


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Cultivating Thankfulness

When I came home from hospital I was under doctor's orders to take it easy and rest, so I finally got round to ordering some of the books I've been considering buying on my Kindle. One of them was the highly recommended "One Thousand Gifts - A Dare To Live Fully Right Where You Are" by Ann Voskamp. I'm so glad I did, because God really used this book to speak to me right in my situation of recovering physically and emotionally from a miscarriage and a traumatic stay in hospital. The fact that it begins by talking about the tragic and needless death of a young child (and later two small babies) of course grabbed my attention (and released a well-full of tears), so I was ready to soak up any wisdom and advice the author had to offer.

Ann's writing style is beautifully poetic and philosophical. It all starts with a dare to make a list of one thousand things to be thankful for, and through this experience Ann comes to understand that the "holy grail in the center of Christianity" is thanksgiving. Counting our blessings. Acknowledging God's grace even in seemingly dark situations. I think she may be onto something, so I also, along with many others who have read this book, started my own list of 'One Thousand Gifts'. Here are my first few entries, written in those first few days after coming home from the hospital:

1. Being alive.
2. My wonderful, caring, competent husband.
3. Three healthy, happy children.
4. Soft cushions and blankets.
5. Hot showers that wash away grime and heaviness.
6. Caring, loving friends.
7. Purple pens and new notebooks.
8. Books that encourage, entertain and inspire.
9. Time to plan and dream and hope for better.
10. Hot, tasty meals cooked by someone else.
11. Wild flowers picked by little hands to brighten my day.
12. The welcome promise of sleep at the end of a weary day.

I encourage you all to read the book, if you haven't already, and begin your own list of one thousand gifts.

Abide in Him!

Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net/digitalart