MaD Monday: admiration

Last week: I struggled. A TON. I don't know why, but it was tough to turn the radio off. I've recently started listening to only Christian music (unless it's sunny/windows down weather which occasionally calls for country!) in the car. I felt like I was missing out on worship in some ways. I guess I've just gotten used to "busy" worship and I've let the "quiet" worship slide. DEFINITELY something I need to work on! The verses, not as tough. I'm learning to seize free moments as I realize that they are fewer and farther between! I now have a little packet of 30 verses that every Christian should have memorized that travels in my purse for those "extra moments."

This week: Write a letter (not just a note... a LETTER) to a person you admire. This is something I've been working on anyway. Just a reminder that they've made an impact on my life, even if I've verbally told them before. :)

Write your letters! Make a difference! And... see if you can handle more than one project this week! Double up... see how it goes!

Make a difference Monday: a little more personal...

This week's MaD Monday is a little different. :)

Last week... my Valentine's included giving one to a coworker of a friend (who is now my friend!). I knew she had gone through some tough relationship stuff recently and she needed to see the love of Christ. So I wrote her a note, made her some homemade sugar scrub (thank you, Pinterest), and I took her some Starbucks hot chocolate while she was on break at work! :)

My second Valentine was a little more... unexpected. Call me crazy if you want, but a year or so ago, there was a huge fraud case broadcasted online for EVERYONE to know about. The guilty party's name is Bernie Madoff... heard of him now? Well, when I saw it on the news, I noticed that they included his prison information at the bottom of the screen. Don't ask me why. Easier to send hate mail??? Anyway, for some reason, I jotted it down. That address to his prison has been sitting in a note on my desktop since then. So, I USED IT. I wrote a Valentine to Bernie Madoff. Will it make it to him? I have no idea. Will I hear back? Probably not. But he needs the love of Christ as much, if not more, than so many people I see day to day. So I did it. I took a leap of faith and reached out in an unexpected way. And it was THRILLING. :)

This week: (comes in two parts) I told you it would be a little more personal. Part 1. I want you to write down five verses of encouragement on notecards. Then KEEP THEM WITH YOU ALL WEEK. When you're stuck at a red light, or in line at the grocery store, or waiting for gas to pump, or in the waiting room at an office... READ THEM. Better yet, MEMORIZE THEM! This week's MaD Monday is going to start from the inside out... like a cleanse. :) Part 2. When you're in the car this week, do NOT turn on the radio. Take that time to pray. If you're walking across campus or to class... PRAY. Don't know where to start? Pray for people you see, whether you know them or not. Pray for people that own cars like the ones you see on the road. I know that when you drive, you see things that trigger memories (Matt has a car like that, or Katie has been wanting that SUV for a while!)... so pray for Matt! Pray for Katie! If we made some extra quiet time in our day, we could MaD from the inside out. :)

Praying for you this week. I want to hear ALL about your unexpected Valentines!

Make a difference Monday: Valentine's Day!!!

Last week: Monday, I left school feeling under the weather, so it didn't happen Monday. Tuesday, I had EVERY intention of leaving the notes between cereal boxes at the grocery store. But a few incidents on Tuesday left me a little extra distracted. So it took me until Wednesday to complete mine, but better late than never! :)

This week: Give a Valentine to someone you weren't already planning on giving one to, like someone who is widowed or single. It won't take you long, but for someone who isn't expecting a Valentine, it might just make their day. Or week. Or year. :) [Going above and beyond: flowers, handwritten notes, homemade cookies...] I have a little plan for giving out Valentines tonight. I'm not sure how it's all going to work out, but I'm really excited for the possibility. Can YOU handle the suspense??? ;)

But what about YOU!?! I would LOVE to hear about who is taking the challenge with me? Leave me a comment about what you've done to make a difference! :)

A hair product I swear by.

I got my hair cut fairly short back in December. And I have fairly fair hair. (I hope you thought that was as clever as I did...) I stopped by beauty brands superstore shortly after I got my hair cut looking for something that wouldn't weigh my hair down or make my hair look oily or stiff. I found this. Kenra platinum texturizing taffy 13. LOVE this stuff. It wasn't the cheapest of products, but a little goes a long way! I give it 4.5 stars. :)

What hair products do you use? Do you love them? And why?

Make a difference Monday: week two

Report from last week: I wrote my note on a post-it note right before I left school and I tucked it in my wallet so it would be fairly easily accessible when I ran my errands that afternoon. :) I got to Target and kept thinking of a place to drop it. I decided that I would wait to the checkout line in hopes that no one was behind me. It worked out perfectly. I dropped it in the lane as Ii was loading my items onto the conveyor belt. As I was leaving, the cashier was meandering around back towards where I dropped it, so I smiled and picked up my pace. :) It felt good to know that no one (except you) knew the "good thing" I had done that hopefully left a smile on someone's face and pointed them to the true Source of love.

Week two's challenge: Write three (or more) notes of encouragement and leave them one of two places: tucked conspicuously between books at your local bookstore, or on windshield wipers in a parking lot. The choice is up to you! OR... you could do both. :)

If you happen to miss it today, go ahead and do it another day! Blessings know no boundary of time. :) Be a blessing to someone EVERYDAY!

I can't wait to hear about both challenges, last week's and this week's!

Color of the Week: Mint Sorbet

This spring, several designers seem to have found a common color trend... mint. I don't usually like this color, but I don't mind a little extra "spring" in my step, if you get what I mean. ;)

Brand: Sally Hansen, Xtreme Wear

Color: Mint Sorbet