Friday, May 1, 2009

Welcome to Virtual Spa Weekend!

What an exciting weekend ahead of us! I pray that this Virtual Spa Weekend will be a blessing to everyone who visits and that you will be encouraged and refreshed. We have over 20 posts scheduled over the next 50 hours, including books, chocolate, jewelry, video clips, beauty tips, and lots of great give-aways! In between all that blog reading, I challenge you to find some quiet time this weekend to draw a warm bath, light some candles, grab your Bible or a good book, and curl up for some self-parmpering. I'll do my part in encouraging your "spa experience" by posting a series of give-aways, beauty tips and devotional reflections from now through Sunday afternoon. (The give-aways will all remain open for comments/entries until midnight Sunday and prize winners will be announced by Wednesday or sooner.)

Some of you already know me, so you are welcome to skip this introduction and just scroll down to my embarrasing video at the end of the post (but you might want to read the paragraph directly above it for context). ;) For those who are new to InnerBeautyGirlz, please allow me a moment to share a little about myself before we get this Weekend rolling.

My name is Jennifer (Jenni) Saake, also know around the internet (check Shoutlife, Twitter, Facebook, and a slew of message boards) as InfertilityMom. I'm 36 years old and coming up on my 17th wedding anniversary this summer. After a long infertilty journey, Rick and I are the blessed parents of 13 children, 3 of whom we are very thankful to share our daily lives with, 7 whom we will always carry in our hearts though they never officially joined our family through adoption as we had prayed they would, and 3 more who await us in Heaven after their physical deaths in my womb. Through this journey we were able to help establish Hannah's Prayer Ministires nearly 15 years ago and my first book, Hannah's Hope: Seeking God's Heart in the Midst of Infertility, Miscarriage & Adoption Loss was published by NavPress in 2005.

I have struggled with health challenges since I was about 8 years old, including Endometriosis and Fibromyalgia in my early teen years. My freshman year of college I faced the dramatic onset of CFIDS (chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome), leaving me almost totally bedridden for about 2 years and facing an uphill battle ever since. My health has become progressively more fragile again over the past few years with my immune system now functioning at only about 5% and the possible diagnosis of a-typical MS on the horizon. The next book I hope to write will be about the life of Paul and his "thorn in the flesh," a book of encouragement to those living with chronic pain and illness. In the meantime I'm keeping a blog called Harvesting Hope from Heartache™, offering hope and resources for a variety of life's challenge and losses (loved ones, health, jobs, marriages, depression...)

In order to live and stay as healthy as possible, I am constantly looking to make wise choices from everything as basic as the air I breath and the water I drink to the food I eat and the cosmetic products I apply to my body. This quest has opened up an amazing world of natural beauty alternatives that I am excited to pass on to InnerBeautyGirlz readers. I am an affiliate with Mountain Rose Herbs and a consultant with both Affordable Mineral Makeup™ and Gurrlie Girl™ Christian Jewerly.

So now that you know a little bit about me, let me get the personal humilation out of the way and kick off our Weekend with this YouTube message I recorded from my bathroom just last week. This video was created specifically for the ladies of Hannah's Prayer Ministries who are gathered in Ohio this weekend for an infertility and pregnancy loss support retreat, so as you think of them I ask that you would lift them in prayer this weekend. But I pray the message of the video will give you a reason to smile, maybe even make you laugh as you see me with no makeup, unbrushed hair and sitting on the side of my tub in a bathrobe, or be an encouragement to you in whatever season of life you find yourself tonight.



Click here to tour the entire Virtual Spa Weekend (so far) or go directly to InnerBeautyGirlz.com to view all resources available through this blog. :) Even after the Weekend officially ends at midnight on Sunday, May 3, the Spa resources will remain here to offer you encouragement and information. Check back on May 6 for our Weekend give-away winner's list and subscribe or "follow" me now in order to receive future updates.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jenni, the video is AWESOME! I LOVE your socks by the way! LOL! What an encouraging video...by far the best 8 minutes of my day so far! Thanks so much for taking the time to do it!
Love in Him,
Laura (Lily from HP)

Anonymous said...

That was a great video. I am looking forward to the rest of the virtual spa weekend!

Adrienne
arenee22 from HP

Anonymous said...

Hi Jenni,

You have such a kind spirit. You know, I never thought about how much time my feet really do spend on those stirrups. What a great and funny idea with those socks! Haha! I really enjoyed your video and am looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

Love,
Danelle
jdsergent05@comcast.net

Anonymous said...

You have such a sweet voice. Very good thoughts. Thank you for sharing.

Erica

erica_meyer2003@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

Thanks for being open to embarrassment! ;) And willing to share your heart with us.

Kathy

katherinegracecarr@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Jenni, I loved your video! So uplifting, and encouraging. You do have a really sweet voice. I love the socks too! Looking forward to the rest of the weekend. It's my birthday today, so i think i deserve some pampering!

Rachelle from HP

Angie Talley said...

I remember your socks, Jenni! The moment you pulled it out I went "hey, it's the sperm socks!" It's been four years since I met you in 2005, and it's so nice to see you again. Your video devotion really touched me today. Thank you, Jenni!

Unknown said...

Jenni, I just wanted to say that your video was wonderful and very touching! Hope you have a beautiful and blessed weekend!

Unknown said...

I cant wait to hear more....Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Jenni,It was so nice to "see" you and to hear your sweet,encouraging voice!

Terri
bumblepiller@yahoo.com

Kristine said...

Jenni,
I am blown away by your testimony and how God is using you. It makes me wonder if I just allow God to use my own trials, the way you have, what could happen.

Thank you for wanting to bless so many through your ministries.

Kristine
autumnrains_blog@yahoo.com

C Killingsworth said...

What an awesome testimony Jenni! Thanks for being a part of this Virtual Spa.. watching your video makes me want to break out my bathrobe and put on some soft music this evening!

Everyone should bookmark this!
Christa