Free to Fly Award - Living a Beautiful Life From the Inside Out!

Yippee!

FOREVER and absolute EVER

I have wanted to be able to make an award that I could share

with some of those blogs that consistently

make me laugh, make me think,

and inspire me to grow

and to reach.

The types of blogs that do this for me have a few things in common.

Like a butterfly becomes beautiful,

by living a quiet life, hidden for a season,

while beauty develops on the inside.

That same butterfly has to go through a season of struggle

before it is Free to Fly!

Once it IS Free to Fly,

that butterfly NOW has a beauty we all are blessed to see.

Everywhere the butterfly goes,

it spreads pollen and makes it possible for flowers to bloom

and fruit to be developed.

You could say it leaves a trail of life in its wake!

What a beautiful thought!

Butterflies don't go around trying to be beautiful.

They don't say "hey, look at me".

They just ARE, they just DO, they just LIVE.

All that time spent hidden in a cocoon,

was not wasted.

The time and effort spent struggling to get out of the cocoon

made the butterfly strong and ABLE to fly!

I have been blessed to find many women through blogging,

who have allowed the struggles of a hidden life,

serving in ways that are often unseen and seemingly inconsequential

(judging from their lack of entourage, paparazzi, and assistants!

That IS what our culture uses as the standard for recognizing importance, right?)

to make them strong, make them able to find the humor,

able to see the big picture and to find the purpose

in the everyday matters of investing in the lives around us.

Their ability to focus on the things that REALLY matter,

and to allow the struggles of life to strengthen them,

leaves everyone they come in contact with a deposit of "pollen".

A little dose of the grace that is unique to them,

which adds wisdom, humor, truth

and just a little whiff

of the fragrance of Christ that is unique to them!

They are some wives or mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and nieces.

They fulfill all sorts of roles in and outside the home.

In their church and outside their church.

The world is a more beautiful and abundant place

because of the daily choices they make.

There are two scriptures for this - they work together:

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds

[a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages

which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy],

yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

&

John 10:10

"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have and enjoy life,

and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."

So, the list is long of people who will be awarded this.

It's my hope that you will each pass this award on to 5 people

who have impacted you by their blogging.

Leslie at Do You Weary, Julie at Joyful Days,

Cecily at My Chaos My Bliss, Mel at Mel's World

Sharon at Sit With Me Awhile, Ally at Ally's Antics

Caroline at Letters From a Prodigal Daughter

Carole at Fractured Thoughts, Nicki at Three Girly Girlz

Tiffany at Southern Sass, Renee' at 3 Peas in a Pod

Karen at Surviving Motherhood, Heidi at God's Grace in Practice

Kassi at Pink Dot, Karen at Karen's Ramblings

Regina at Regina's Family Seasons

Amy at Our Fun Funky Life

Denise at ShortyBear's Place

Tam at Matchbox Mom, and Alli at Mrs Fussypants

There's no rules except that I hope you enjoy your award.

Share it if you like.

Not everybody has the time to do all that entails,

so dont's sweat it if you're not into that...

you have flowers to pollinate! :)

GO - Fly, be free!