Those that read me know I always try to count my blessings through thick and thin. I feel it 's not only a good philosophy to have..whether you're a Christian or not. For me, I know it's essential to give God the glory for all that's good in my life. I know this is life changing and I want to pass this gift on to you, who will take on the challenge.

Tomorrow starts a 6 week contest. Use the Count Your Blessings button in your Friday posts, and put a link in your post to my site obviously....but most importantly .... every Friday COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS in a BIG way. From the small insignificant ones (although I am a believer of all blessings being big and significant) to the large in your face ones!

You will be amazed at how many things you see that are good in your life...it will change your outlook!

What's the prize? Well the obvious one...your own piece of peace each day in recognizing how many good things are in your life...but I'm also going to throw in a copy of my book, autographed. When it releases this fall, I will sign it and send it to you.

So tomorrow please start your Friday blogging gratitude journal, your Faithful Friday blog, your Count your Blessings posts....whatever you want to call it---just link it to me and let me see how many people you track to my site.

I will track this contest two ways:

A) You have to have blogged EVERY FRIDAY.

B) You must have the highest amounts of hits to my site.

So get after it peeps!

Code for Wordpress:

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Code for Blogger:

<a href=”http://blessed1.wordpress.com/”> <img border=”0″ view&current=”blessingsbutton.jpg” = alt=”Photobucket” src=”http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/wornoutwoman/blessingsbutton.jpg” target=”_blank”/><img http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/wornoutwoman/?action/></a>

YYYAAAY I’m getting published!!!!
I just got a letter of intent from a publishing house that I've been talking with for the last few months and they want my book, FINDING KYLIE!!!!

I'm jumping up and down!!!!!

It's gonna be out in late fall 2008!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Peace,
Kim

Last week we did something we've been waiting to do. My son had his 5th birthday party in March, and asked each child to bring $1 donations for Feed the Children in addition or in replacement of any gift they brought for him. Most did...some didn't and it was okay either way. Some gave 5 dollars or more. In total he raised $16.87.

He's been asking for weeks when we could drop off the money to their offices. He's extremely concerned with kids in Africa. He's the reason we sponsored a child through Compassion International. He saw Micheal W. Smith's video of how how many kids in Africa were starving and in need, and he asked me that night if we could sponsor a kid. I wholeheartedly agreed to.

I thought I'd be the one to mold my son on his path in life, and I will but my son teaches me more than I ever imagined possible. He's got such a big heart and it's full of compassion for those less fortunate.

Feed the Children's corporate headquarters are in Oklahoma City, so you'd think it'd be easy to swing by...but I couldn't get off work to take him for a while. Finally last week I took a day off no matter what...it was long overdue.

One of their directors met us in the lobby, to take my son's ziplock baggie full of money. You would have thought he'd brought in one million dollars, instead of just under seventeen. This generous man walked us back to where they sorted money to show my son how his money would be counted and processed.

He explained how the machines worked that automatically opened envelopes. He said there were arms that would grab each side of them to open them, once sliced at the top, for the ladies working the machines to grab the checks. My son was entralled with the sound of it, and when he was walked over to the machine all he could do was get this real serious look on his face. The FTC employee asked my son what was wrong, and he replied, "BUT where are the arms that open the envelopes?"

He was looking for human arms and after a laugh, he pointed out the mechanical arms that sucked up the envelope. He told us that she sorted 3,000 envelopes a day. My son was extremely impressed and told him that was a looooot of envelopes. I thought so too.

After he walked us back to the lobby, he told my son that he'd be sending him a certificate in the mail as a thank you for his donation. My son replied, "Oh we'll be back...my mom says kids go hungry in Oklahoma everyday and now we need to feed those kids."

Sure enough 2 days later, we got a letter from Larry Jones to my son and a certificate, shown below as a thank you. I photo-shopped my son's name out of the certificate and inserted another one very fitting.

He's going to change the world some day in a big way...I just know it. God's hand is upon my child and He's blessing him with such compassion and spirit. I thank God daily for my little boy's heart, and pray for his protection. I have a big responsibility in raising this child, and it's not one I take lightly.

I am sad today. I am not one of those who get starstruck or follow Hollywood. BUT I do respect some actors' work and contributions to film. Heath Ledger is among one of my favorites, because he didn't take the easy way in film. He didn't just accept hunky hollywood roles that would have set him for life. He chose roles that would expand him as a character...as a person.

I think he was very talented and amazing...and I'm sad. Any death at an early age is pitiful. What will really turn my sad into mad is if it comes to light that it was a suicide. They're saying it's not...that he was having severe sleep problems and simply overdosed himself on accident. What a loss for his daughter, his family, and his community.

So my husband started taking my son to hockey games this last October/November. I don't remember which month, but it was toward the end of the year. My dad went with them one time, so it was a super guys night out. My son came home with his own wooden Blazers hockey stick that night, with the Marty Standish's name and number on it.

My husband is a sports anything enthusiast, from little league, football, bowling, baseball...etc. I think you get the idea. My son is going to be just like him. He's already rain man when it comes to games he's attended and the sports and team info. He can rattle off every Blazers game he's been to, who they played, and the score.

For Christmas, my husband's grandfather sent a nice check for my son's gift. We turned around and went down to the Ford Center to buy him an authentic hockey jersey. It was one he could grow into and still fit when he's like 8 or 9. As it is now, it looks like a short dress with the sleeves rolled up. I can't pry that thing off him. I thought his drum set would be his favorite gift, since he worked so hard for it. BUT nooo, it's his darned hockey jersey. I have to wash that thing daily!!!

He wears it to sleep in. He wants to wear it every day. He wears it to school. He wears it to Wednesday night church. Thank goodness, I can convince him to wear what he calls his 'handsome' clothes to church on Sundays.

Right now it's hanging to dry, after he got his morning's breakfast pancake syrup on his rolled up sleeve. He'll wait for it to dry and try to convince me to let him wear it on today's errands. Then he'll tell everybody and their dog that he's got on his Blazers HOCKEY JERSEY, like they're also supposed to be so impressed. I thought it was funny the first few 50 times or so, but by now the new of his jersey has worn off of me. I'm shaking my head with a grin as I type. That silly sports kid...just like his dad.

Oh and by the way he got STANDISH #8 on the back, because that's what is on his stick. We thought he'd want his own last name on it....yeah...not so much.