Rebecca VanDeMark's Blog, page 246

HOLL and LANE Community + a giveaway!

Happy Monday friends! I so hope that you had a beautiful Christmas with loved ones. Today I am so excited to share with y'all a bit more about HOLL and LANE (and offer a sweet giveaway!)! You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I shared that I was honored to guest post on their blog (you can read more about that HERE!). It was an honor because a while ago I fell in love with the tagline of "HOLL and LANE" which is: a sanctuary for soul filled stories. Y'all know how much I believe in the power of each of our stories and how important they are so this deeply resonated with me.  I am so honored to share that I became an ambassador for them and can't wait to share more with y'all in the upcoming months about this special community! Today I wanted to highlight just a few fun things and offer a fun giveaway to connect you with this sweet community!
First, the next magazine issue (it is a quarterly publication) will be coming in January! In the mean-time though check out the FREE mini-issue that you can easily find on the website HERE. 
Second, I am loving this 2017 calendar that they have created! Plus when you order it you receive a free journal! Here is a little more about the calendar: "They always say that the past is important because of the lessons you learn and the growth that comes from it. And while that's true, at Holl & Lane we also have our eyes toward the future. In the days and weeks and months to come, there is an ample amount of space. The space to experience joy, to love with your whole heart, to learn, to build bridges, to plan for your next journey, to fill with an abundance of hope. The future is bright and so are your dreams. Let's reach for them together."
You can purchase the calendar HERE and check out all of the beautiful items in the shop HERE!
Third, I love their instagram community and the beauty of seeing mini-snippets of people's inspiring stories! Come connect with them HERE! 
And now for the fun giveaway! Simply follow the instructions below for a chance to win a 2017 HOLL and LANE calendar and journal! Contest ends on THURSDAY at midnight EST so hurry and enter today! a Rafflecopter giveaway
(All pictures in this post are the property of HOLL and LANE magazine.)

Rejoice (Christmas Card 2016)

“The Light still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never extinguished it.”- John 1:5-
Warmest Wishes for a Wonderful Christmas and Prayers and Love for a Beautiful New Year!
As we approach this sweet holiday season of celebrating the birth of our precious Savior, I am truly in awe of God's grace to meet us each new day. Everyday I see His goodness and am so grateful for your sacrificial love of time in prayer, financial gifts, hours upon hours of listening to my fears and hopes, encouraging words, beautiful messages and cards, and gifts of grace that have truly spoken to the depths of God's love. While I understand that I have a long road in front of me yet, I weep with gratitude to see the ways that the Lord is surely answering prayers and healing me.

I was recently reading through an old journal of mine from the first year of this health journey. I had written down the following saying: "no matter the circumstance we are still under the same auspice". What a beautiful reminder at this Christmas season. No matter our circumstances we can rest in the knowledge that we are not forgotten or abandoned. We can find inspiration, encouragement, and hope in this season as we celebrate the birth of our King as the true light. May you be abundantly blessed by His love, joy, comfort, and most of all His peace this season and in the new year to come!

With Lots of Love,

What's Up Wednesday (December Edition)

Happy Wednesday friends! I am excited to link up with Mel, Shaeffer, and Shay for the "What's Up Wednesday" Link up! I have so enjoyed reading these ladies posts and am excited to join in! It has been so fun to connect with so many other ladies who are doing this each month over this past year. Here are all of my "What's up Wednesday" this year:
What's Up Wednesday January EditionWhat's Up Wednesday March EditionWhat's Up Wednesday April EditionWhat's Up Wednesday May EditionWhat's Up Wednesday June EditionWhat's Up Wednesday August EditionWhat's Up Wednesday September EditionWhat's Up Wednesday October Edition
 If you would like to join in and have a blog, just answer the questions above!
What We're Eating this Week...  So back in June I shared a post entitled "17 Ways to Use Apple Cider Vinegar" and then honestly hardly used ACV at all this summer. I think after using it in detox baths (twice a day) and drinking up to 1 cup of it everyday for almost two years my body was done. With fall in full swing and the holiday season approaching, I have started to add this back in. There are so many important benefits of ACV (you can read 15 benefits of it HERE) and I want to add this back into my daily routine. 
What I'm Reminiscing About...  All things Royal Caribbean Cruise related that my parents and I went on in November. I only have a couple of posts left to share from this amazing experience and in many ways I am delaying because it was such an incredible experience that I want to linger over all of the precious memories for as long as I can! If you want to read more about the experience you can find the following posts:
Reef Snorkeling and Sandbar Getaway Shore ExcursionCoco Cay, BahamasMajesty of the Seas 1540 Stateroom ReviewSeahorse Sailing and Snorkeling ExcursionMajesty of the Seas Ship Review
 And guess what? Royal Caribbean is currently having some amazing sales! You can check out more about Royal Caribbean by clicking HERE!  Also I am currently going through hundreds of pictures from my time at the #hearties family reunion and visiting the set of When Calls the Heart. It was an amazing weekend and I can't wait to share more with y'all in the upcoming weeks!
What I'm Loving...  Being able to celebrate the different things this season that I haven't been able to do in years. I shared more with my IG community but every single thing is a gift that I don't take for granted.
What I've Been Up To... Finishing up Christmas decorations, Christmas cards, catching up with old friends through long and unhurried phone calls, and savoring the moments. 
What I'm Dreading...  I shared in a treatment update on Sunday about some of the things that I am currently struggling with. You can read more HERE. I so appreciate all of your prayers and support.
What I'm Working on...  As I shared earlier this month, I am so excited to announce that my newest book, "From Hope Valley: A 30-day devotional on faith, community, and love inspired by the TV show When Calls the Heart" will be available on February 1st! You can read more about the book HERE! I am putting together a book launch team in the beginning of the new year and if you are interested or a #heartie I would love to have you! Please feel free to email me for more information!
What I'm Excited About...  Celebrating a simple yet lovely Christmas with my family and the new year. I can't wait to share more with y'all, but I am very excited about lots of things that the Lord is doing. 
What I'm Watching/Reading...  [image error] Robin Jones Gunn PicSo y'all know that I love the author Robin Jones Gunn and all of her different series. Some of my favorites of hers are  The Christy Miller Series, The Sierra Jensen Series, The Katie Weldon Series, Christy & Todd the Married Years, and the Glenbrook Series  (Okay, lets be honest ALL of Robin Jones Gunn books *smiles*) I shared in my post the 5 books that have impacted my life the most how when I was 13 years old I was handed my first of many books I would fall in love with from Robin Jones Gunn and haven't stopped reading them over the last 23 years. I have read, re-read, and re-read a thousand times the adventures of Robin's characters while I have been encouraged in my faith and strengthened and challenged to return to scripture. Robin takes what some might call ordinary characters and weaves a beautiful story line that challenges me to fall more in love with Jesus, to spend more time in scripture, and to love those that the Lord has placed in my life in big ways with lots of grace. Her characters are so memorable that you feel that you are reading about friends, but beyond her talent for writing is a woman who obviously loves the Lord and has changed countless lives, including mine. 
No matter your age- whether you are 13 years old to your early thirties (and beyond) you will love these books. Throughout the last few years of my health journey I have re-read these series and books thousands (literally!!) of times, have handed out countless copies to people on airplanes, in hospitals, and even once in a grocery store line. The beautiful way that Robin writes mimics the beautiful way that the Lord calls people to Himself- with lots of love, lots of grace, and lots of beauty. 
AND I am seriously so excited that Robin just released her newest book. I received it as a present and have been purposefully waiting for some cozy moments to read it. To me it is always like a gathering with old friends when I read her book and I can't wait to dive in.
What I'm Listening to...  So my dear friends, the Wissmann Family, released a Christmas single that is absolutely beautiful. You can listen to it above and if you aren't already you can connect with them more on their Facebook page! 
What I'm Wearing...  Lots and lots of scarves. I love scarves and in the frigid weather that we have been having they are the perfect thing to wear and they are so cute! *smiles*
I would love to know your answers to these questions friends! Share your thoughts below in the comments!! *smiles* Happy Wednesday!

Reef Snorkeling and Sandbar Getaway Port Excursion, Coco Cay

After arriving at the beautiful island of Coco Cay on the second day on our Majesty of the Seas Cruise in November, my parents and I joined the group on Royal Caribbean cruise that had signed up for the Reef Snorkeling and Sandbar Getaway Excursion.  The last time that I was at Coco Cay (in 2014) I did not do an excursion on the island, but my parents and I had talked at length and we all felt that it would be fun to do something for a couple of hours and then spend the rest of the day enjoying the beauty and relaxation of Coco Cay. After researching through all of the excursion options we ended up choosing the Reef Snorkeling and Sandbar Getaway Excursion and it turned out to be one of our favorite parts of our cruise! I seriously can't recommend this excursion enough!  For this excursion (unlike the Seahorse Sailing and Snorkeling Excursion where we met our group on the boat) we met our group on the island itself. Our meeting place was extremely easy to find and we were able to sit and enjoy looking at the views while we waited for our excursion time slot. It didn't take long for our group to gather and then we walked over to where our boat for our excursion was waiting for us. Our group was small (there were probably about 15 of us) and immediately we could tell that we were going to have a great time. Our tour took us on the opposite side of the island (from where we disembarked and could see the ship) and it was gorgeous to see the different parts of Coco Cay. The day was simply beautiful and the ride was lovely. When we reached our destination the winds had come up so the tour guides made the safe decision in deciding that we would try a different island (Norwegian Cruise Line's Island- about 15 minutes away) to do our snorkeling at.  It was so fun to see more of the surrounding area and when we got to the spot we were able to go in and enjoy the excursion fully! One really neat thing was that we were able to enjoy the spot fully- and it felt like we were completely alone as there were no other boats or people around. It was absolutely beautiful! The fish were so colorful and we were able to see some amazing things below the surface including Stingray's (and some sharks from a distance!). After we had a wonderful time snorkeling the tour guides took us to a shallower area of water where we relaxed and floated for a bit. The whole experience was absolutely amazing. Here are a couple of tips and thoughts about the Reef Snorkeling and Sandbar Getaway Port Excursion if you are interested in choosing this on your Royal Caribbean Cruise:
1. This excursion is really wonderful- especially if you are looking for something to "break up" the day on the island a bit. The excursion takes about 2 1/2 hours which still gives you plenty of time to relax and enjoy time on the beach. 
2. Our tour guides on this excursion were fantastic. They were in the water with us, sharing about all of the different wildlife, and were incredibly helpful. I was really impressed with them and they truly were a huge reason that we loved this excursion.
3. The cost of this port excursion is $54 for those who are 10 years old and up. For those who are 3 to 9 years old the cost is $44 and for those who are infants through 2 years old the cost is free. This was one of the moderate priced excursions for this port and we felt that for the time that the excursion lasted (about 2 and 1/2 hours) the price was extremely fair. 
4. All snorkel gear is provided although you are welcome to bring your own if you would prefer.
5. On this excursion the tour company offered an underwater camera for $20 that you could purchase (and then keep the chip card afterwards). This was on a first come-first serve basis and you had to pay with cash, but it was a great idea if you don't have an underwater camera. (For these pictures underwater I used my underwater camera which is a Nikon COOLpix S33 Waterproof Digital Camera.)
6. I was a bit hesitant to do two snorkeling adventures in the same cruise (especially on consecutive days) simply because I didn't know if it would be boring. Honestly this was not the case at all. Both excursions (this one and the Seahorse Sailing and Snorkeling Excursion in Nassau) were completely different and unique in their own ways. If you love to be in the water than both of these excursions are unique and you would enjoy both of them as much as we did!
 I hope you enjoyed reading this review of the Reef Snorkeling and Sandbar Getaway Port Excursion. It was such a delightful day that I want to go back and do it all over again! Please let me know if you have any questions!

Guest Post at Mundane Faithfulness: I heard the Bells on Christmas Day

"I heard the bells on Christmas DayTheir old familiar carols playAnd wild and sweet the words repeatOf peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head;'There is no peace on earth,' I said,For hate is strong and mocks the songof peace on earth, good will to men.
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,With peace on earth, good will to men."
I am so touched and humbled to be sharing more of my heart over at Mundane Faithfulness  on the topic of the famous Christmas Hymn, "I heard the bells on Christmas Day" and my prayers and hopes for these final days of preparation for Christmas. You can find the guest post HERE and I would love to know your thoughts on it. 

Happy Tuesday friends! I hope that you have a wonderful day!

The Single Journey at Christmas

“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair shall not go on forever.”-Isaiah 9:1-
One of the most difficult times in a singles life can come during the holidays. I shared in my post, "10 things to pray for your single friend during the holiday season" that loneliness can feel more acute during this season. Just the other night I texted and shared with a dear friend how much I was struggling during here at Christmas with being single. 

My heart knows that the Christmas season and celebration is about Jesus, but sometimes my head gets wrapped up in all of the “festivities” that I long to experience with someone. My prayer constantly is: "Lord, help me to remember that this holiday season isn’t about a TV movie and a relationship with a guy but about my relationship with you."

 On the other hand, while I struggle in this season, this season of advent is so powerful and hopeful to my life as a single woman. The word “advent” is defined as a “time of expectant waiting and preparation”. It is applicable to my life in so many ways and have shared about its special significance in my book, "When Light Dawns". I often feel that being single in this holiday season is like walking through a dark tunnel and that is why one of my favorite verses is from Isaiah 9: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

A light will dawn and just like this advent season is a expectant waiting and preparation, so is this season as a single lady. "If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently."(Romans 8:24-25) The longer we wait for something, the more joyful our expectancy and confident we can be. Since the fall we have waited and longed for a Redeemer. As I share in my book, "Prayers for the Single Journey" I feel that many times I am wanting to be “saved from singleness” but no man can do that for me. Only Jesus is the Lord and Savior. 

As we wait in this single season let us trust that the Lord has a beautiful outcome, a miraculous story for our romantic lives. And just like those long ago, we will find hope in the truth that, even the dark tunnel we may feel we are in will not last forever. “Nevertheless, That time of darkness and despair shall not go on forever.” (Isaiah 9:1)

P.S. My dear friend Alison who blogs at Grace for this Day wrote a beautiful Christmas letter for all the single gals out there longing for a hubby, especially at this time of the year. You can read this beautiful letter HERE. 

update on treatment round #4

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you so much for all of your sweet words and kind encouragement this past week as I asked for prayer due to an infection that I have been fighting. It has been a very long week with very intense pain and I have struggled to keep food and liquids in due to the infection and a small reaction to the medication that I need to take for the infection. 

On Thursday and Friday I spoke with my main medical team and on Friday it was decided that another medication would be added into the mix for this infection. I added this on Friday evening but unfortunately had a reaction to it but thankfully not a severe one. At this point I do feel some small improvement but still definitely have an infection and I appreciate your continued prayers. As with everything with Lyme Disease when you have something like this happen it can affect lots of different areas and for me these meds (especially the oral ones) has been playing havoc on my digestive system and causing lots of issues and I am unfortunately dealing with symptoms that I haven't had in years due to the fragile healing state my body is in.

I have been a mixture of emotions these past few days, mostly struggling with the fact that just a short time ago I was able to do so much more and now I find myself spending more time resting and recovering again. I have struggled with dealing with intense pain again as I have gotten used to not having that be a constant in my life anymore and something that I don't miss. And mostly I have struggled with the fact that it seems just as we start to move forward with a new treatment round "something always happens".  I was crying and complaining about this to several people in the last few days and while everyone listened kindly and patiently reminding me that this won't last forever, I admit that I still struggled to see what good of a purpose this newest delay that has caused so much pain and sickness could possibly bring. 
As I went to pick up the refills for the meds that I have to be on (most normal people would be on them for 7-10 days but I will be on them for about two more weeks) my pharmacist (I truly believe who was trying to be kind) said, "WOW. Really? A couple of more weeks of this? That is rough I would have thought you would be feeling better by now like most people do."  To which I promptly started to cry.
It is easy to get lost in the world of "what if" or comparison and think that we deserve our life and our circumstances to go a certain way. I find myself guilty of this a lot - more often than I care to admit. Oh, I hide it well, but behind the scenes it is a struggle. It can be easy to think that if I had someone else's life or struggles that would be so much easier than my own. But I am learning an ancient and old lesson again and again this week- trusting the Lord when we don't see the the outcome or what we are hoping for most in front of us. Trusting in His love and His mercy and His faithfulness in every step.
When I was teaching years ago I had a Bible verse up on the front of my classroom which is from the Psalms that says, "Those who are wise will see in our History the faithful love of the Lord". And so I turn back to History and see the amazing faithful love of God throughout scripture and throughout my own personal life and even this journey. Never once has He abandoned me and never once will He. 
This treatment round is starting off very differently than I had planned and won't slow down. Starting Monday I will be adding in a couple of additional meds to help keep fighting Lyme and while I may have tears I am at peace. Slowly and surely I am healing (I even see this in BIG ways this Christmas season despite the pain) and I see everyday the faithful love of the Lord who carries me in the darkest of days. 
Thank you again for all of your love, support, and prayers for this season, for this infection, and for this treatment round. I love this picture at the top of the post that I found on the internet- I wish I could sit down personally with each of you one-on-one and express over coffee my gratitude for your love and prayers. They are such an incredible gift to me- especially in the difficult moments. Thank you dear friends! May our faithful God bless you abundantly for your kindness and compassion.

Review of December Caravan

Happy Saturday friends! I hope that y'all had a wonderful week and that this weekend is full of rest, fun, relaxation, and joy as we prepare to celebrate Christmas! 
Today I wanted to share a sweet review of December Caravan from Chelsea at Anchors Aweigh! There are so many sweet bloggers who took the time to write such kind reviews and words about the book and I am so grateful for all of their help in spreading the word! Here is what Chelsea had to say:
"This third book is a collection of short stories written by my sweet friend and fellow blogger, Rebecca Vandemark over at Caravan Sonnet. Rebecca gives a raw and honest glimpse into her life, starting with the abrupt ending to her engagement and navigating through various health issues that have come up along the way. She has been through more than most ever have to deal with, yet her faith and love for the Lord is evident and encouraging throughout the book. It's a quick read that will leave you feeling uplifted and grateful for a God that loves us no matter what life may throw our way. I enjoyed it!"
A huge thank you to Chelsea for your sweet words and for taking the time to share!

December Caravan is available where books are sold and is now available in kindle format! December Caravan can also be found on Amazon by clicking HERE. 

Coco Cay, Bahamas

Our day at Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean's private island) was absolutely beautiful and truly epitomized what you think of when you are dreaming of a beautiful "Caribbean Getaway".  Little Stirrup Cay, or Coco Cay, as it is commonly referred to is one of the Berry Islands and is used and owned exclusively by Royal Caribbean for their Caribbean cruises. It located approximately 70 miles from Nassau (where we had spent our first day of our Majesty of the Seas cruise going on a fun snorkeling excursion) and is a beautiful spot to visit.  I had been to Coco Cay once before back in 2014 on my very first cruise (on the Majesty of the Seas ship!) and it holds precious memories for me, so it was extra special and delightful to be back. Being back in Coco Cay was also very special for personal reasons. I shared HERE on Instagram how it has a special place in my heart for seeing how I am healing too. (If you are interested you can click HERE to read more about this!) Coco Cay is definitely an ultimate island retreat experience and the beauty of this part of the world is absolutely breath-taking. Due to the time of year that we were traveling (in the third week of November) we found the island wasn't too crowded and we felt that we often had a lot of the area to ourselves. It was a gorgeous day and I hope y'all enjoy these pictures!  The colors of the island and the water simply astound me.  There was a little friend hanging out in the tree that we saw! Have y'all ever visited Coco Cay? What was your favorite thing about the island?

Majesty of the Seas 1540 Stateroom Review

Today I am so excited to share about our Majesty of the Seas stateroom because it was a really wonderful room with lots of space!
Majesty of the Seas 1540 Stateroom is a junior suite and located on the 10th floor on the Majesty of the Seas ship. Royal Caribbean described the room as having two twin beds that covert into the option of a Royal King, having a private balcony, a sitting area with a single sofa bed and a private bathroom with a tub. The room is 221 sq. feet and the balcony is 61 sq. feet.
  This junior suite on the Majesty of the Seas is one of the smaller suites compared to some of the other ships that offer more square footage. I do admit that the room was a bit smaller than I had thought a junior suite would be but it was fine for the amount of time that we were spending in the room. 

Another down side that I feel is only fair to mention is that the sofa bed (which I slept on) was extremely uncomfortable. Unfortunately there was no mattress and no padding so you could feel the sofa bed and its springs. Honestly, for being a suite I would have expected something a bit better for the room and was disappointed with this. I don't expect sofa beds to be the most comfortable but after my sister's and my experience on Disney just a few short months prior to that where they place an actual mattress on the bed (for a room that was not even a suite) it was disappointing when our stateroom steward said that there was nothing that could be done. We finally used the comforters and created a bit of padding to help. 

But, the stateroom was incredibly spacious, was incredibly quiet, and was a wonderful basic room that was a suite that gave three of us a bit more room. A couple of things that I loved about the room: 
(1) The ability to store your suitcases under the bed.There is tons of room to fit even a full size suitcases (all three of ours fit) under the bed which is wonderful because it allows you to get it out of the way after you have unpacked. (2) The Ample Drawer and Dresser Space.Many times in cruise cabins it can almost become a race to see who can unpack first (*smiles*) to make sure that you have enough space for your clothes and other belongings. It was totally the opposite with this cabin. There was so much drawer space that we had tons of empty drawers and space even with three of us using this room! 
(3) Having a Shower and TubMany times in cruise cabins there is only a teeny tiny shower but in this cabin room there was a tub and a shower that was full size. It was really a wonderful treat and just felt like a bit of extra luxury for the room.  (4) The BalconyThe balcony was one of my favorite parts of the room. It was a nice sized balcony that provided us with a couple of chairs (2 sitting) and allowed us to have the most gorgeous views day and night. We literally sat out here for hours, enjoying the beauty, talking, reading, and relaxing. It was wonderful.  I hope that this review has been helpful of the Majesty of the Seas 1540 Stateroom! Please let me know if you have any questions! I would be happy to answer them!