We have received Tidings of Joy

I am so happy to be back to blogging this morning :)  It has been very hit or miss for the last month and a half and non-existent for a couple of weeks.  I am sure I am not alone in the saga of suddenly being out of storage for pictures on Blogger.  How annoying then frustrating!  I tried to figure a way around the upgrade because, frankly, I am cheap and was annoyed that this blog was supposed to be FREE! 

Once I finally bit the bullet and decided to just pay up, I kept having technical issues and couldn't get Google to accept my payment.  Grrrrrrrr....    I finally managed to overcome the Google monster (okay appease him with money) and have upgraded and am now free (so to speak) to blog!  Wooohoooo!!!

Today I want to share with you some wonderful news we received last night and to shamelessly brag on my daughter.

Our Mini is a busy girl, she carries a very heavy class load is a member of several civic organizations and has also been extremely busy with church youth group as well as being an Fellowship of Christian Athletes officer and a big part of Surge (a student formed group, Serving your God Everyday) at her school.   I really don't know how she accomplishes everything she does.  

  As we are nearing the midpoint of her junior year of high school she continues to toy with "what will I be when I grow up."  Smart girl that she is she has lots of options (lucky girl).  One of the things she loves to do is write.  She has actually won a national essay contest and loves any writing assignment.  She has considered some type of writing as her career.  Whatever she chooses to do she wants to remain focused on helping lead others to Christ.   Although I know there is always a big picture and that God is in control I still am amazed when I can so clearly see things fall into place.  Let me explain.

Early this week I stopped into the vets office to pick up some of that million dollar special dog food our ankle biter needs.  While I was waiting, I saw a newspaper on the counter that I hadn't seen before.  It is a new paper in our town and is very unique in that they focus on delivery positive  news about our community.  How refreshing is that? 

I picked up the dog food and the paper and headed home.  Later, I was taking a break and picked up the paper and read through it.  How nice it was to read about good things with our schools, community and neighbors in this world today.  As I folded it and started in lay it down, an ad on the back caught my eye. 

It was an ad from the paper looking for someone that had an interest in writing.  I looked at the ad and thought, "how cool but what would I write about?"  This line of thinking lasted about a minute! lol  At that exact time Mini woke up from a cat nap on the sofa and I handed her the paper and told her she might want to look at it. 

Within a minute she said "I'm going to do this, this is God using me I just know it."  "I am always looking for ways to reach more people and this is it," she continued.   What a blessing to know that this is where you are being led and to have absolute faith!  A bit later she reported that she had emailed the editor with some questions.   By the time she told me this (2 hrs later) she had already explained to  the editor that she wanted to do a faith based column that would appeal to all ages and had already submitted her first article for review!  

Within a day she received a response from the editor about how impressed she was with a person Mini's age being interested in writing seriously and how moved she was by the article.  Since she had requested 2 samples of Mini's work, Mini quickly sent article two.

I am so proud to announce that she received word last night that she will be published in the next issue (before Christmas with the Christmas article she had submitted) and she will have her own column!  That's right....16 and her own newspaper column.  I am pretty impressed and proud.   Her heart is so focused on God that I know she will continue to write in a way that moves many closer to God.

So, once her article has gone to print I will post it here and share.  In the meantime, thank you for allowing me to shamelessly brag and to share how God moves in our lives.  We are so blessed to such a wonderful daughter.    Wow...and to think Wonder Hubby and I were complaining about having to stop at the vet!