GIVEAWAY!!!

I have a LOVELY GIVEAWAY for yall today!!

I want you to meet my new bloggy friend Kristin over at Resourceful Red...

she is a gorgeous red-head :),

wife, momma, and creator of Red's Rosies!

(check out her shop here)

She loves sharing what's on her heart, and also just the daily life of being a woman and mother.

One unique thing she bring to her blog

is that she offers "Eco Tips":

tips to live resourcefully on a budget.

I have enjoyed some of her tips myself, and even had a few

"duh, why didn't I think of that?" moments...

but thats why Im glad I bumped into her!

here are a few she shares...

Soak the labels to remove them off of glass jars and then use the jars to organize items around the house.

Read your news online instead of receiving a printed news paper daily. If you must have the printed news, opt to only have it delivered one day a week.

Choose one day a week and do not use your cars.

Use rechargeable batteries instead of purchasing one use ones.

Save left over pasta, veggie, or any other water used for boiling in a pot. Let it cool then water your plants with it.

Check out books from the library instead of buying them. Or if you do by them, get a group of friends, purchase one book, and pass it around

Share a magazine subscription with a friend to cut back on paper waste. When both of you are done with it, make sure to recycle

and look what else she does?!

i KNOW you want in on some of this pretty action!!

WIN A 'RED'S ROSIES" NECKLACE!

to enter you MUST:

be a follower of my blog (click over there on the side!)

be a follower of Red's blog (click here)

for additional entries:

re-post, tweet, or facebook this giveaway and link up to it!

follow Racing Towards Joy on Twitter (click here)

follow Resourceful Red on Twitter (click here)

like Resourceful Red's Facebook page (click here)

**leave a comment for EACH entry**

(so you could have up to 6 entries/comments!)

loving my own "sunshine" rosie!

check her out,

Giveaway is open until Sunday, winner announced Monday morning!!

Have a blessed day!!

sherbet loveliness

Braum's Orange Sherbet is my favorite summer refresher!

looks like it is someone else's too... :)

love that sweet little ice-creamed face!!

Come back tomorrow for an awesome Giveaway!

LOVE!!

Head over here for more loveliness in your Monday!

pregnancy after a miscarriage

I am beyond thrilled that we have another little baby on the way,

it is TRULY a blessing from God!!

Every day as my tummy grows, I am reminded of God's perfect timing and

purposes for our family,

and how important it is to surrender this little life to Him each day.

I love being pregnant, it makes me feel beautiful and full of God.

(well, when Im able to see past the naseau and exhaustion)

It makes me feel whole, and I love the dreaming that comes with thinking

about a new little person in the family.

I want to be honest though, and say that it has been a little more difficult with this pregnancy

(I am about 16 weeks now)

to fully trust that everything will be okay.

And that if it's not, that God is still in control and still loves me.

I write this with a sincere and sensitive heart,

as many friends and women out there have losses which are greater,

or long for the day when they will have a baby in their tummy or in their arms.

Several friends have lost babies farther along that I did, or after birth,

and I cannot imagine the pain they still deal with.

To some, the 10 weeks I had a baby in my belly last Fall seems like an eternity.

But I know God's plan for this new baby is perfect.

His plan for Abigail is perfect.

His purposes for the baby that we never knew is perfect.

His plan for YOU is perfect.

(this is me 4 days before Abigail arrived)

Having this surprise of a new baby on its way was and is a huge lesson for me

in daily dependence on God and His plans.

Last Fall when we got pregnant, I had been on the pill and breastfeeding still, and it was such a shock that we thought "this HAS to be God!"

But it wasn't His plan for that baby to grow and have life here on Earth.

When we found out this time, again I was on the pill and breastfeeding,

so physically, it was a big shock once again.

but it has taken that daily trust to be able to again say

"this HAS to be God"

and actually believe it.

here's what I want to be really honest about.

I still have to work through some of my hurt of FEELING like

"well that must NOT have been God",

after we stared into the still and quiet sonogram last November.

My belief that HE was clearly the one who had orchestrated that pregnancy

took a big blow,

and has allowed fear and unbelief to come in.

{to read more about our angel baby, click here}

Here are a few never-shared pictures that I consider to be a part of that

short pregnancy and life I had inside.

The middle picture is from our trip to Mexico, a week after we found out we were pregnant, and a week before we found out it had gone to Heaven.

That "big sister" shirt is what I had made for Abigail to wear, to tell our parents at dinner.

And that is a picture of Abigail that day we got the bad news..

For some reason this sweet faced picture from that terrible day speaks volumes to me.

But I know what He's trying to teach me (and using this pregnancy to do it)

is that "Yes, Sarah. that WAS me."

That He WAS there when we found out about that pregnancy.

That He WAS with me when I woke up from the D&C feeling so empty that

I couldn't cry.

That He WAS part of us getting pregnant this time.

That HIS plan and purpose for me and this new baby will be good,

no matter what it is.

Because HE is good.

the above pictures are a few from this new baby growing...

and my favorite one of all is the one of Abigail on the bottom right.

This deserves a whole post someday soon and I cannot wait to share it with you,

it was truly an act of God.

On our way home from our first sono, where we got to hear the strong heartbeat,

Parker and I were listening and praying to music in the car and turned around to see Abigail with her hands in the air...

worshipping Jesus for the new life He gave.

I am choosing today to depend on His goodness and His plan..

I want to say and recognize at the end of each day, that

"Yes, that WAS God."

read some more amazing women sharing what's on their hearts today.

click here:

tu-tus and triathlons

headed to swim lessons...shake that tu-tu girl!!

this past weekend we headed to dallas for a triathlon that Parker and one of our best friends, John, have been training for! Unfortunately we all had the stomach bug last week so Parker wasn't able to participate

(stinks for him after all his training!),

but we went down to cheer on John, this was his first tri and he did great!!

I've blogged about this before, but something in me is SO stirred when

I watch a race of any kind.

The power of all the people racing together after months of training is so moving to me.

(i love that picture on the right, if you look closely you can see the

hundreds of arms swimming in the water.

It is truly amazing to see that at sunrise.)

Abigail got to spend time with her grandparents while we were at the race and

def had a fun time...

putting puppets on her feet as "shoes" and another of my favorite moments:

I asked her to share a (pretend) drink with my parents' dog,

and she disappeared.

I followed her a few moments later to find her play cup in the dog's water bowl.

smart girl!!

just a few more randoms for ya.

and a little bit of reality. :)

Love yall! I have missed blogging and am getting back now!

tummy bugs and traveling has kept me away the past few days but

I look forward to sharing with you this week!

sharing...why I blog

I've been asked a few times and have also been thinking about myself...

"why do you blog?"

Gosh this seems like such a big question,

and I know fellow bloggers can understand what I mean.

I started blogging because of a desire to share life with others,

and honestly as an outlet for me to write out my thoughts.

I loved writing as a little girl and I forgot that until this blog.

But it really isn't about the writing.

It's about the sharing.

"SHARE": (def)

to give a portion of something to others (v)

to use, occupy, or enjoy something jointly with others (v)

It's not just what I share, but what others share too.

honest communication of the real things in our lives.

it's about sharing life together.

the women I have met in this blog world actually pray for me...

and follow up.

such a deep sense of community I have found here.

{of course blogging is A LOT about sharing our littles...}

it's about sharing the fun stuff.

recipes, craft ideas, decorating ideas,

"pinterests", photography, and sometime just random funny stuff.

it's about sharing the hard stuff.

connecting with other women who have lost babies to miscarriage.

asking for prayer for sick loved ones, or for personal sickness.

holding each other accountable for how we pursue our husbands.

just sharing bad days and knowing its ok.

It's about sharing the realities of motherhood.

I only wish I had found blogging when I was a brand new mommy.

Keeping it real about breastfeeding, time management, temper tantrums,

paci's and sippy cups...you name it.

we mommas need each other.

Blogging does not and should not replace "real life" relationships.

God has put people in your life for a reason and sometimes I have to remind myself to pursue those relationships better...something He is working on in me.

But I am thankful for the community blogging has ADDED to my life.

I'm thankful for ALL the sharing.

I'd love to continue sharing life with you, lets be friends!

<a href="http://racetowardsjoy.blogspot.com/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb479/bloggysarah/finalbutton2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>

thats whats on my heart today...linking up here: