You guys!  We’ve made it through more than half of October!  High five!  Who else is doing #write31days?  How’s it going so far?  How have you been challenged, stretched, encouraged, frustrated?  Overwhelmed?  Strengthened?  Inspired?

Which series have you been following?

I’d love to hear in the comments!

Today I’m super excited to share a brand new giveaway with you to spur you on in your October writing, whether you’re doing Write 31 Days this year or not.

Why?  Because Words Matter.

Krafty Kash is one talented lady who would agree that words do, in fact, matter.  She thinks they matter so much that she makes gorgeous necklaces out of vintage dictionaries, like this:

 

Krafty Kash 2 - Words

 

Aren’t they so cool?

 

Krafty Kash 3 - Words

 

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Krafty Kash 4 - Words

[Tweet “This weekend, Krafty Kash is giving away TWO of her Personalized Word Necklaces!”]

The possibilities are just about endless ..

 

Krafty Kash 6 - Word

Krafty Kash - Grace

Krafty Kash 7 - Dream

Which word would *you* choose?

While you think about it, check out this website to see all the gorgeous products that Krafty Kash has to offer — and some of them are on sale this weekend only, just for us!!  Early Christmas shopping from the comfort of your own home, yes?

Just visit http://www.kraftykash.net/ to see the full range of items available.

 

[Tweet “Check out these beautiful products on sale *this weekend only* from Krafty Kash! http://www.kraftykash.net/ @kraftykash “]

 

She even has these amazing Vintage map necklaces, which I absolutely adore ..

 

Krafty Kash 1 - Map

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When you’re done drooling over the beautiful Krafty Kash designs, let’s write!

This week’s Five Minute Friday prompt is:

 

FMF - Long

If you don’t know what Five Minute Friday is, you can find all of the info right over here — and we’d love to have you join us!

Five Minute Friday - 4In a nutshell, we’re a group of bloggers who write for five minutes flat on a given prompt — no overthinking, editing, backtracking .. Just set the timer and write!  Then you post your writing to your blog and link up below!  The only rule is that you visit the blog of the person who linked up before you and leave them some comment love!

 

Ready?  Let’s write!

GO. 

 

There were moments living overseas that were harder than others.  Moments seared into my memory as snapshots that burned in my chest and made me want to give up.
My daughter’s first birthday was one of those days.  

How I longed for nothing more than for my American family to be able to celebrate with us.  Looking back, I have no idea why it was such a big deal to me.  But at the time, it was.

It was huge.

I have a clear picture in my mind of that morning — I was walking across the parking lot of our block of flats, and was stopped in my tracks by an overwhelming weight of sadness.  I doubled over into a near fetal position and wept for all that I would never know.

I wept for missed birthdays and first words and smiles and first steps.  I wept for lost hugs and empty arms and stories that would never be read on Grandma’s lap.

And the cost felt too great.  I wanted to call my friend, the one who was in a cross-cultural relationship, and tell her it wasn’t worth it.  It hurt too much.

But then I realized the gifts.  The grace.  I saw my own selfishness and worldly desires in the face of His sacrifice … and it all paled into worthless insignificance.

Of course it was worth it.

Yes, there were days that still ached with unfulfilled longing.  But in the bigger picture, with the right perspective — my sacrifice was nothing compared to His.

 

STOP.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

 

Enter the Krafty Kash giveaway for a chance to win one of TWO personalized word necklaces, then link-up your five minutes of writing below!

Please note: Giveaway only open to those with a U.S. postal address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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