Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins for Your Weekend [12.05.15]

Happy, happy, happy weekend!

Some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!  Serving up only the Good Stuff for you right here:

Cassi Werner 
Cassi Werner
Cassi Werner 

there’s quiet to be had if you want to step into it

 joy’s worth holding on to

Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay

 you know you want to step into the world’s largest indoor waterfall in the middle of a city

us holding onto each other —  knows no boundaries

because we all need each other

30 minute delivery coming soon?

when a rare bird draws crowds in NY

uh… nobody was expecting that?

Salvation Army

you know those Salvation Army red kettles you can slide a donation into?

well, there’s the record setting single kettle donation — 

they said they were  inspired by memories from years ago of relying on discarded food from a grocery store to make ends meet….   so they ended up doing this

know this secret to calming a crying newborn?

What parent, grandparent, babysitter, doesn’t have a eureka moment: it’s like a Christmas miracle!

so remember that Giveaway?

Where we invited you to share how you & your beautiful people are  Unwrapping The Greatest Gift and savoring The Greatest Gift? And we were giving away some wooden advent wreaths & the Audio CD  of me reading Unwrapping The Greatest Gift (so if you got too busy some nights, pop in the CD & I’ll pinch hit for you and do a reading or two with the kids!)

 and look at all you beautiful people! Look at you! 

You’re choosing to focus on Him, to not miss Him this year & bravely have The Greatest Christmas this year!

Thrilled to announce Giveaway winners: Harmony L., Julie W., Erica M., Desiree G., Kate S., Bethany B., Christine M., Shireen W., Alisa S., Jade H., Nicole W., Marshal M., Trina H., Sarah K., Krystal W., Meredith D., Jeanne T., Erica T., Amy H., Jessica F

Let’s do it a Giveaway  again?

Share a glimpse of you & yours Unwrapping The Greatest Gift  or marvelling or The Greatest Gift

on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter — include both #TheGreatestChristmas and the www.TheGreatestChristmas.com and we’ll give away 3 more Audio CDs of Unwrapping The Greatest Gift —

so you get a night off & I’ll do the reading! (We will announce winners next Saturday!)

lost — and then found!  [okay, so I choked up on this one]

Spotted on Instagram

just: really beautiful

glory!

Free gift tags and gift boxes!

Click over to The Greatest Christmas and 

Check out our whole library of free printable ornaments, Christmas cards,

gift tags, gifts boxes, scavenger hunt, Sticky Notes for Your Soul, Advent Calendars  and more —

our gift to you for The Greatest Christmas!

Post of the Week from these parts here:

…you can feel it sometimes, like a flickering on the edge of things, that somehow you don’t belong… and women, our daughters, can feel it: this strangling pressure to meet some standard — that feels impossible to meet.

Grab a lifeline:

Dear Daughters & Women (& Men): when you want women to just have the gift of belonging 

one single dad. loving pretty large & unforgettably!

Today/Gabby Kaper

this 20 year old bought 5 coats at the Goodwill — and went and did this. SERIOUSLY. 

a college dorm chef. And one amazing gift.

Noel Bosh

This: “What I’ve Learned as a White Mom — Raising Two Black Sons”

when the unexpected happens? they joined together

CNN

guess which Biblical King’s seal was just discovered in a dump site?

when you have hope? the possibilities are endless. you’ve gotta keep hoping

(this may be hard for some to watch? but I promise you — it ends well! And is so worth it)

Carmen Mendez Instagram

okay, game on: who’s doing this. for real

Unique traffic stops in Kansas City, Missouri.

Bringing drivers to some pretty amazing tears

Want to preach Gospel to yourself through what can be the hard & hectic month of December?

Yeah, you and me both — I’m such a mess with chronic soul amnesia, who has to constantly evangelize myself everyday, preach Gospel back to myself every day — so I scratched out these because I desperately needed them for me: free 25 No-Stress Manifestos for every day of December,

Like an Advent Calendar for Big People, so we unwrap *Jesus* & not *stress*, so we unwrap the joy of the Gospel and not more of the weight of this world … just for you:

Free Stress-Free Holiday Sticky Notes for Your Soul, right here: No Stress Holiday Manifesto

don’t ever forget for one minute: life is a gift

How he ‘accidentally adopted’ an elementary school —

When someone makes a big impression on you,” fifth-grader Andrew Romer said,

“it makes you want to do a lot of good in the world.” I’m telling you: Undone.

hands down: the very best medicine

maybe —  it’s time, in whatever way we can, to go home?

bringing Jesus to New York City – an amazing story

if you missed Christmas at the Farm?

grab a cup of hot chocolate, I’ll pop the popcorn and come join us this weekend!

… so whatever’s looming, in a new month that can feel like the hardest month of all, there’s this quiet Advent resolve:

This season isn’t about things — it’s about Him. His coming, His story, His glory. This week, this day, this moment — is simply about Him. Simplicity isn’t a matter of circumstances — it’s a matter of focus.

And a Simple Christmas — simply focuses on Christ…

Sometimes: You don’t think of Jesus as everything — until you have nothing but Jesus. And this week, this season? We want nothing but Jesus —

because we’re brave enough to believe He is our everything.

[ print’s free for you here ]

That’s all for this weekend, friends.

Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.

Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again

Share Whatever Is Good.