Where Does Beauty Come From

I am posting a friend's link today, because her article met me right where I live. I pray it ministers to you as well. Where Does Beauty Come From?

I have moved my stroke updates to their own blog. Today marks six month since my life took such a dramatic change. I would invite you to follow along at Stroke of Grace.

Someone Beautiful

Having lived through 13 years of infertility, miscarriage and adoption losses I know how painful this time of year can be. (Well, every day can be painful, but certain landmarks such as Mother's Day can hold an extra sting!) So I typically avoid the sappy typical Mother's Day posts like the plague.

Having so many friends who have lost their moms or who have poor relationships with these women even if they are still living, I realize how uniquely blessed to have a loving relationship with my mom. I feel it is important to take the time to honor those in our lives who have blessed us. So today I ask your indulgence as I introduce you to someone who has brought much beauty to my life.

My mom, Betty Camp, was just selected as a top five finalist for a Mom of the Year award for the way she has gracefully lived with Fibromyalgia while selflessly giving to help me survive and thrive through my own chronic illnesses.

Would you please join me in celebrating Betty by reading her story and voting for her with a "5 star" rating at http://www.fmcpaware.org/mom-2? Public voting (you will be asked to register for a username but can uncheck any/all auto-subscription boxes if you do not wish to receive email from the Fibromyalgia website) remains open through May 9, with the grand prize winner being announced on Fibromyalgia and CFIDS Awareness Day, May 12. Thank you so much!


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Please visit http://www.InnerBeautyGirls.com and click on the "shop" link to get started by viewing our catalog. (I greatly appreciate when my return customers remember to always come back and start at my consultant link so that the computer knows to credit me for your purchases.) If you remember to list my name, Jenni Saake, in the comments section when you place your order, I would appreciate that too. Thank you for your business and support!

Help Haiti, Win Makeup

Haiti. It's all over the headlines. It feels overwhelming, a world away and yet too-close for comfort. And we feel helpless. What can one person do in the face of so much anguish?

Jenny from Simply Delightful Designs knows that while just one person may not be able to do a lot, when we band together we can become a strong force. On her Hope for Haiti blog, many wonderful women and companies are donating items and services to this online raffle for proceeds to go to Red Cross and Compassion International. Raffle tickets are only $1 per entry and some of the prizes are valued at several hundred dollars! Along with my offer of $30 dollars worth of your choice of Affordable Mineral Makeup™ products the raffle items include everything from blogging conference tickets to photography sessions, books, jewelry and art. Such a great selection of prizes, and all going to a wonderful cause!





Together we can make a difference! Please visit Hope-For-Haiti.blogspot.com and share what you can. Every dollar helps, and you might win a great prize too! Thank you for helping bring a sliver of beauty to a part of our world filled with such pain today.

Face Impressions

We all make "first impressions" when we meet someone new. Our faces, and the expressions on them, are our often the first thing someone uses to measure perceptions of us. Here are some great devotional reflections I just posted to another blog about the importance of a smile...
http://InfertilityMom.blogspot.com/2009/10/Whats-In-Smile.html

Infertility and New Life

Last night Melody of Hope of my Heart Designs gave you a chance to win her SpringTime Hope bracelet. If you missed that give-away, go back and look through yesterday's Virtual Spa Weekend posts because you can still enter to win unitl midnight tonight!

Now here's a bit more of Melody's story and God's working in her heart through the grief of infertility, adoption, pregnancy and miscarriage.

We got our PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) diagnosis 3 months after we were married, and started trying to conceive immediately. We tried Clomid after a few months, but it didn’t work. I was such a wreck while on that medicine that we decided that even if we tried with medical assistance later, we would NOT use the Clomid again. We lost our health insurance though, so we stopped trying to conceive for a while.

A year later, we pursued adoption. Nine months after we started the process, our son was born six weeks early. We were allowed to be in the delivery room with his birthmother, and after a week’s stay in NICU, he came home with us. We were thrilled.

Unfortunately, something was still missing. I didn’t know what it was, but I was miserable. Two months later, I finally admitted my problem – I was lost. I never dreamed that God would use infertility and adoption to bring me to Himself, but He did. On July 10, 2004, I finally accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Finally, that void in my life was filled!

When our oldest was two, he started praying every night, “Dear Jesus, baby please.” I’d never been pregnant and wasn’t really convinced I would ever be. After a year, we were shocked to discover that I was indeed pregnant for the first time!

After our surprise little guy was born, we wondered how God was going to continue to grow our family. Once again, our oldest son started praying for a sibling. It didn’t take as long as we thought it would, but almost as soon as I suspected I was pregnant, I realized that I would never hold that little one this side of Heaven.

Our son kept praying, and we kept hoping for another pregnancy. Two months later, we discovered that I was pregnant AGAIN! We were surprised again at God’s timing. I was much more cautious that time, trying to guard my heart. But now I’m almost 19 weeks pregnant, and so far, baby is doing quite well.

I never dreamed that God would use infertility in my life the way He did, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Different Kind of Makeover

I recently learned the story of Candy Wood Lindley, author of Face of Faith: Discovering a Different Kind of Makeover, through a post on Rest Ministries (chronic pain and illness encouragement ministry). I hope to share more about her story and books at some future date, but I am so moved by the little I do know of her so far that I wanted to go ahead and repost what I learned from Rest Ministries here during our Virtual Spa Weekend, even though I haven't yet had a chance to personally review her book yet. (For those dealing with inferitlity or loss, please be aware that children are briefly mentioned in this article.)

In a world obsessed with perfection of the outer appearance and makeovers of every kind, Candy discovered a different kind of makeover—one that lasts—a makeover of the heart.
Candy’s life seemed to have fallen into place. Blessed with an idyllic childhood and loving parents who doted on their precocious only child with a mind of her own, she grew up with grace and charm in the Old South of the 1950s and ’60s.
As a speech and drama major at the University of Alabama, vivacious, petite Candy channeled her boundless energy and passion to be “on stage.” Marriage, blessed with two darling children, followed … and then the diagnosis at age 30 that changed her life and her looks forever.
Her only chance at survival was a surgery so drastic that, according to her doctors, she would lose the greater portion of her face including the right eye and possibly the left, leaving her severely deformed. Candy awoke with a new face on the outside and a renewed commitment to her Lord on the inside.
On life’s stage, Candy chose to surrender to a different kind of makeover by the Master’s hands.
In her book, Face of Faith, Candy tells her amazing story—a true medical miracle—as she set out to discover who she was apart from her physical looks.
When doctors told Candy Wood Lindley that she had six months to live, she prayed that God would allow her to see her two young children grow up. That was 1982.
Candy was diagnosed with a baseball-sized tumor in the center of her head. Eight surgeries and several years later, she was left facially disfigured but determined to make the most of what she had. In 1987, she was one of twenty-five recipients of Clairol’s national “Take Charge Award,” given to women who have overcome obstacles and turned their lives around after the age of thirty.
This was awarded to her for the production of two nationally released videos, together called Let’s Face It. One dealt with makeup techniques for the facially disfigured and the other with wig and scarf applications for hair loss patients.
In 1997, she was given the Life Inspiration Award by the American Cancer Society. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons gave Candy their “Patients of Courage Award” in 2004, and she accepted the 2005 Legacy of Courage Award from Alabama’s For the Cause.
The co-author of the book is Kathi Macias, a popular speaker and prolific author. She has published twenty-two books and hundreds of articles.
Whether keyboarding her latest book, keynoting a conference, or riding on the back of her husband’s Harley, Kathi is a lady on a mission to communicate God’s vision. Her insightful words—filled with passion, humor, and soul nourishment—refresh audiences from all walks of life, and her Spanish devotionals, “Desde el Corazon del Padre” (with English translations), can be found on www.Crosswalk.com each Monday.
Her newest book, Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World, was released in July 2008 from New Hope Publishers and was named “top pick” in the Christian Living category by Christian Retailing Magazine.

Beauty for Ashes

We all carry "baggage" in our lives. Maybe some childhood hurts or abuse, maybe an unhappy marriage or the longing for marriage at all when relationship just never seem to work out. For many Virtual Spa Weekend visiters it's infertility or the death of your baby. Whatever heartache you are facing, there's only one place to take your pain to have that trash transformed to treasure. Watch this powerful video...

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

- the words of Jesus, from The Message, Matthew 11:28-30