Happy March 2023!

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March 2023! How’s your March going so far? We had another huge dirt storm yesterday. I had just cleaned up from the last one. I was so proud of myself, the day after our last one, I cleaned all our windows and dusted the shutters, furniture and mopped the kitchen floor AGAIN!. When we have dust storms our kitchen counters will have a layer of dirt and you know me, I can’t rest until I get them cleaned. I always wonder how much dirt we breathe in and get in our lungs. Oh, well, that’s something to think about later. All I know, my house is now clean again…except for the front porch…that’s for another day, too!

I wanted to touch base with you and tell you that I’m working on some fun ideas for my blog. I have all kinds of things I want to share with you. Things that the Lord has shown me BIG TIME the last couple of years. I’ve changed a lot in how I look at things and accept things. Our world has gone insane and it’s a real struggle to keep a positive attitude and continue to live life to the fullest. Living life to the fullest has always been my motto and I have learned that it is almost a fight to do so sometimes. So, I will be sharing some thoughts on that as well as I am finally getting back to my continuing series called “Women of Worth!” I know so many amazing ladies and there are so many stories, testimonies that make them who they are and I want to share them with you! Why? To encourage you. Iron sharpens iron and we all walk in different shoes, but, one thing we have in common, we need to be encouraged and know that we aren’t alone in our walk through this life on earth. So, stay tuned and I can’t wait to share some amazing ladies that I know. and meet regularly. I’ve always been one to think we should have friends and those that inspire us of all ages. This is a picture of a mom and daughter and I and these two have inspired me greatly. I hope to share more about them along with so many others in the future.

This photo was taken last summer…..and my hair has changed….was trying to grow out and I gave up….who knows if I will try again….when your hair is thick and likes to do it’s own thing…just take too long and too much work! Yes, we will be talking hair… coming up soon!

Do you enjoy reading magazines like I do? I read decorating, fashion, health and inspirational magazines. Well, that is how I hope my blog is for you. My dream is for it to be like a beautiful magazine filled with inspiration, encouragement and tips on how Beverly has made it to 63! Which brings me to another topic I’m working on and that is…aging! 61 hit me hard and I’ve learned many lessons to get my thinking back in check. I have so much to be thankful for and I’ll continue to share the things that I wish I would have known before the 60’s popped up so quickly!

I hope your weather is beautiful and calm as we welcome spring very soon. I have begun to get my closet switched over to spring/summer. I love fall winter clothes, so, spring takes me awhile to get going, but, I’m ready, I’m ready for beautiful weather (without the dirt) and green grass and flowers. Did you know that green is a huge color for the spring in our fashion choices… all shades….I love green!

I have shared with you something that my friend Shari Braendel and her team have designed and that is the Closet Outfit Planner. I purchase mine each season and they recently began a subscription plan which I have subscribed to. If you are interested, I’m going to share a link for you to go to so you can check it out and see if you would like to try it out. I just got mine today since it’s a subscription. (Subscribers get them early) When you click on the link you can read more about it.

Spring/Summer Closet Outfit Planner (subscription)

Color Analysis (If you don’t know your color code, you will want to take a quick quiz to find out)

I will be back very soon and if you know anyone that you think needs some encouragement in being a woman of worth, a woman of faith or how about just a woman trying to stay positive and excited about life; share this blog with her and encourage her to subscribe so she won’t miss a thing.

Have a fabulous weekend!

15th Anniversary of Blogging and Why I’m Still Here…

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I’m trying so hard not to talk about how fast time flies. I find myself always saying, “I can’t believe it! It seems just like yesterday!” Nope, I’m not going to say it. Nope, I won’t say, “15 years!!! Seems like just yesterday when I nervously wrote my first post on my blog!” “Where has the time gone!”

Whew, I’m so glad I’m not saying that anymore! 😉

We can take a look back though and see what all has transpired over 15 years and then talk about what is coming up on the horizon.

The year was 2007, I was 48 and I was at a writer’s conference in Nashville. One of the workshops I was in mentioned how important it was to have an online presence such as a blog or website. I studied all the various details on what to do to get started blogging. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was going to write about or who would care what I wrote about.

If you have been following my blog, you know pretty much everything I’ve been up to. What I love, what I do, what I think…..I guess you could say, I’m an open book! One of the first lessons I learned in writing is, “write what you know!” There you go….I definitely write what I know. It’s easy when you love life and you love everything. If I think I can help someone in any area, I will do my best in sharing what I learned through the same or similar situation. Because trust me, in my 63 years, I’ve seen and heard it all… I think. At least I hope I have.

The question could next be, “Beverly, why do you want to write and share your life on your blog?” That’s a good question. I feel like I’m not here on this earth to just exist and live for myself. The Lord has blessed me so much and I’ve learned so many lessons and I have this calling that I’m also here to help others. I’ve done my best in ministry and volunteering etc. But, in writing about my life and my thoughts ,I always think there just may be someone out there who needs to hear what I’m sharing. I so hope I give hope to someone not to give up. I hope I can bring joy somehow to someones life who may have lost their joy, or even just a little smile for the day. I would love to think that I challenged someone to be a better, more kind and thoughtful person for the day. I would also hope to inspire someone to love their home and their family and most of all, to come to know Jesus and all of His grace and mercy like I do. I guess that is why I feel called to write and share.

Another question may be, “Beverly, what is the best and the worst of your blogging experience?” (I feel like I’m interviewing myself…oh wait, I am.) I’ll go with the least favorite part of blogging first. Probably the worst part is making time. I’m a procrastinator. I’ll have good intentions for the day and a squirrel runs by and off I go and a week later I remember, “oh, yea, I was going to write about….ooooppppsss, I forgot!” Another hard part is keeping up with social media in order to attract readers. I would like to think that I had 10,000 subscribers and they all leave comments after every post telling how their life is now changed by something I wrote. Ummmm….that’s never going to happen. It just doesn’t work that way on this end. Oh, when I get a notice that someone that I know and love unsubscribed from my blog…now that’s a killer. I have to remind myself that I don’t know what’s going on in anyones life and I can’t judge anything or feel like I did something wrong. I gave my blog to the Lord the first day I began and I still do. I pray before each post and I ask for wisdom and guidance. God is in charge of who does and who doesn’t read what I have to say and the outcome.

The best part of blogging is being able to share what’s on my heart. I am a quiet and reserved person…..I have lot’s of stuff going on in my head and it feels like it’s going to explode sometimes. I feel most comfortable writing and not talking. Discernment and exhortation are my main gifts according to a spiritual gifts test years ago. It’s hard to exhort when you don’t want to draw attention to yourself. I’m laughing as I write that, by the way. I have a lot of people in my life who love to talk and share and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise anyway. So, here I am writing away all those thoughts. I also love the people I’ve met. I have some dear friends that I’ve met through blogging and at blog conferences. I love designing a blog that looks like me…that represents who I am. It’s like a home that you invite someone in to visit and have a glass of iced tea while you visit. One of my favorite parts is when I get an email or a comment on my blog from someone that says they were encouraged by what I wrote and could relate to a certain situation as they went through the same thing. My main love language is, affirmation. Affirming words make me want to keep on going.

Well there you go; my thoughts on 15 years of blogging! Thank you for making 15 years of blogging worth it!

But seriously, think about it! 15 years! I was 48, 15 years ago! I loved being 48. 15 years doesn’t really sound that long ago. So much has happened and gone on in 15 years. I’m now 63. I want to love being 63, too! In 15 years, I’ll be 78……….oh, my goodness! I think I’ll stop right there. Will I be blogging at 78? I’m laughing at that one, too! Only the Lord knows…..we will see!

For now, let’s live one day at a time and make each and every day the best we possibly can. What can you do today that will make a difference in someones life? I have a feeling you know exactly what to do…….go do it!

Happy 2022!

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I’m excited about the new year, aren’t you? The last couple of years have been pretty crazy for sure. I bet we could share some very interesting stories over a glass of iced vanilla tea! Well, since it’s winter, maybe a cup of hot cocoa! If you live in west Texas, it can be 23 degrees one day and 78 degrees the next, so I have both on hand at all times.

I’m excited about getting back to my blogging on a regular basis. I have some fun things up my sleeve to write about. Well, it’s fun for me, anyway. My specialty is procrastination, so you can imagine with all the strange things going on, it was easy for me to say, “tomorrow, I’ll write!” Speaking of, that is one of my things I’m going to work hard on this year…..my procrastination. It’s really not that bad, but….it’s bad enough where I think, “wasn’t it just Thanksgiving yesterday, I haven’t even made the fall cookies I had the recipe for pulled out of my recipe book!”

I’ve been blogging for a long time and I did a little refresher on my site. I’m having to learn a new system and I’m not tech savvy at all, but, I’m learning….again! I’m having to go back and make my categories and I’m trying to put them where it will be easy to find a certain topic. Oh me…..I love to write about EVERYTHING…so my topics are through the roof. I’m still working on it all…so be patient with me.

My dream for my blog has always been that it would be like sitting down with a good magazine that is filled with all types of things to inspire, encourage and maybe think about something that you haven’t thought of before. I love beautiful pictures and I’m learning on that one, too. When I compare my pictures from when I began my blog many years ago, I get tickled. Hopefully, they will still get better as time goes on.

I’m not in the money making business, so you won’t find pop up ads all over the place. I read some very good blogs and it’s difficult sometimes with all the pop ups…so, that is a no no for me. I am trying to build my subscriber list, but, I don’t want a pop up saying “SUBSCRIBE!!!” I’ve just left that up to whatever happens, happens. I’m taking my annual social media break from FB so I’m not able to share my writing through that. For now, I’m still on IG….you never know, I may take a break from that one soon as well.

In our crazy world it is easy to say, “Lord, come quickly, this place is a mess!” I then remember, that we are to continue to live life to the fullest and be a light in any way we can….. not hibernate and shut down and wait for His return. We want to be busy when we hear that trumpet, don’t you think? Always, looking for His return all the while living a beautiful life!

I hope this year you will find much inspiration and food for thought as we make it in this world as a light and living life to the fullest just as He wants us to. We have much to do, much to share and much to dream about. Are you ready?

I am, we can do this!

I have one question before I close…

Do you like to leave comments on blogs or would you rather email your comment if you have one?

I lied….I have one more question….

Do you subscribe to blogs or do you just go to them when you see a link somewhere….or maybe you just remember where to go to read the latest on your favorite blogs?

*you can email or leave a public comment for your answers if you wish….it will help me make a couple of decisions on that area of my blog updates.

That’s all I have for today. May you have the best year ever and that great and wonderful things are in store for you and your family.

Blessings!

It’s Time To Be Quiet!

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Happy New Year!  May the coming year be your best year ever!

How was your 2017?  Mine was wonderful.  I’ve been working on my photo albums and I found all the pictures from this past year and not only did it seem like just yesterday that I took the pictures, but, we got to see some beautiful places.  I loved all the family times from the past year, too.  Many memories were made.

Did you accomplish all those goals that you set in January of 2017?  I didn’t; I’ll just say that right away.  Matter of fact, I need to find my list so I can mark the things I did accomplish and work on those I didn’t.  This time of year, you hear so much about goals and resolutions.  You also will hear how some people don’t believe in setting goals and resolutions.  I never understood that.  I think we should always be striving to be better at who we are.  Matter of fact, we should strive to be more Christlike in our actions, our thoughts and our attitudes.  We will be talking about that this year on this blog.  I hope you will join me and together we can learn how to have a heart like His. I hope that is your desire.  It’s a good one to have.  I love what my  pastor said, “The only way to find out who God is and how He thinks, is to read His word; get to know Him.”

Do you choose a word for the year?  I have the last couple of years and I have had a verse going through my mind for the past few months and I have felt like the Holy Spirit was speaking to me about some things.  I will share with you some of those things in some upcoming blog posts.  I will say that the word I have chosen to be my word of the year is, Quiet.  There is so much to say about that little word. I look forward to sharing some things about the word Quiet with you soon.  I grew up very quiet and shy and I’m still pretty much that way now. This is a different kind of quiet.  For many years now, life has been going so fast and we have been busy.  We are in the midst of the “empty nest” years and trying to find my place of what I am to be busy doing or not doing has been a struggle for me.  In my quiet time, I have constantly heard a nudge to just be quiet.  Take time to listen and not worry about where I’m supposed to be, how I’m supposed to be and what I should and shouldn’t be doing.  I am to slow down….be quiet and listen.  I still have a very full and active life, but, it will be a bit different as I will be more quiet and listening to the voice of my Father.

Wouldn’t that be awesome to go away to a cabin for a few weeks and do nothing but spend time with God and just listen for His voice?  I won’t be doing that, but, I will be busy with my responsibilities and working on my goals that I have set for the coming year while listening more than I ever have.

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for being a reader of my blog, His Heart, My Desire.  My goal is to encourage you to live a life completely sold out for Christ.  We can still partake in all the fun things in life and still have a heart for the things of God.  If you are a regular reader, you may have noticed that I talk about  so many different things about home and family, travel, crafts, friends…it just goes on and on.   Sometimes, I have so much I want to say and I don’t want to hog a conversation with all MY thoughts…..hence….a blog.  I can talk and talk and I don’t have to worry if someone can hear me or if I’m interrupting someone.  You can just click out anytime you want and I won’t even know about it.  I’ll just be talking away as if the world is listening.   I’ve had so much fun with this blog and I have met some amazing friends through the blogging world.  I love  reading your comments and hearing your heart.

If you are new to His Heart, My Desire or you landed here be accident, I do hope you will come back for another visit soon.  I’m not a theologian by any means, (that is my husbands department.) I’m a simple girl who loves Jesus with all her heart and loves to encourage others to love Him too.

I’ve seen some crazy things in my 58 years and been through some pretty crummy things, too.  I’ve also seen and been through some very wonderful and amazing things.  I’ve seen the goodness  of people and I’ve seen the cruelty of people.  I know you have too, and I love sharing some of those things to let you know that it will all be okay even when you think it won’t.  I’ve had my heart hurt so deeply that I thought it was literally going to break in two.  That is why we need each other.  We need someone to say, “It’s going to be alright….you aren’t alone.  There is an answer even when you think there isn’t.”  I hope this blog will be something that will give you hope, encouragement and the confidence to be the best you possible and make a difference in our world.

May you have a wonderful 2018!

And The Winner Is……..

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How fun this was!  My first giveaway on my blog!  After 10 years, it’s about time, isn’t it?!

If you don’t know about the drawing, you can read about it here.

Did you notice I said that I would do the drawing live?  Well, I am not able to do the live drawing plan.  In other words, I’m too chicken to do that!  I guess I’m not ready to do a live recording of myself talking away to a camera.  Maybe I will try that another time soon!

Here is another look at the giveaway.

I loved all of your sweet and kind comments.  I wish I had a gift basket for each one of you to show you how much I appreciate you reading and commenting on my blog.

I put each of your names on little slips of paper for each comment on the blog and all the follows that you did on my social media platforms.

I then put them all in this beautiful box that I have on my desk, closed the lid and shook it as hard as I could.

Congratulations Lauren Colby, you are the winner of the gift basket of goodies!  If you can contact me through email with your shipping address, I will get it to you.  I’m so excited for you!

Again, thank you all for your comments and for following along in this journey of blog land.

 

 

 

 

 

Two Days Until My Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

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Hi Friends!

I just wanted to write a quick post to remind everyone that we have two days until I draw for the winner of a a gift basket.  I wanted to do a give-away in celebration of my 10 years of blogging!

I love blogging and I especially love my readers!  You encourage me with your kind comments and your notes that you send over email.

On July, 27th, I will be drawing for a winner, so… if you don’t have your name in the drawing, now is your final chance.

How do you get your name in the drawing?

Your name will go in the drawing for each task that you complete!  You don’t have to do all of them, but, you do get your name in for each time you do each one.  I so hope that makes sense!

  1. Leave a comment on this post or the original post about my Blog Anniversary.  You can see it by clicking here.
  2. Subscribe to my blog. You will see a form to fill out on the home page of my blog. (You will receive posts in your inbox each time I write a new post.)
  3. Follow me on my Facebook page for my blog, His Heart, My Desire.  Click here to go to that page.
  4. Follow me on Instagram.
  5. Follow me on Pinterest.
  6. Follow me on Twitter.

Here is a sneak peak of the gift basket!

 

What’s in the basket?

  1. One of my favorite magazines, Tea Time by Hoffman Media.
  2. Another favorite magazines, Southern Lady by Hoffman Media.
  3. A cute polka dot calendar for July 2017 to July 2018 (I love calendars!)
  4. A photo album.  I so need to get all my pictures organized in albums.
  5. A yummy smelling home fragrance.  The box matched the color of the items in the basket.
  6. An adorable cake plate with a ribbon.  If it has a bow on it….I love it!
  7. The cutest tea pot, sugar and creamer with polka dots!  Do I need to say how I love polka dots?
  8. Harney and Sons Peppermint Tea.  I went with that flavor because the can matched the color scheme.
  9. A really nice basket that will be perfect for putting magazines in or if you are like me, you can always find a need for a basket.

There you go…..I hope you win and you love all the items in it.  I could have kept going and adding things, but I had to stop somewhere.


 

Thank You!

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BlogHousekeeping!

Hi Friends!

I’m doing some “housekeeping” on my blog today.  A few updates and a few changes are always needed.

To all the readers of, His Heart, My Desire……THANK YOU!  I so love to hear feed back and my heart skips a beat when I get a message or a comment that something resonated with them in what I wrote.

If you haven’t noticed, I seem to LOVE everything.  Especially, if it sparkles!  I’m an avid magazine reader and I like to think of my blog as an uplifting, inspiring and encouraging magazine.

The Lord has shown me many things in my life.  He has brought me through some dark times and then His blessings have always amazed me.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask you something.  If you haven’t subscribed to my blog, I would be honored if you would subscribe today.  There is a little box to your right and all you need to do is enter your name and the email that you would like my latest blog post to show up.  For you, it makes it convenient to not miss anything and second, it builds my subscriber list.  I have found out that when publishers look at your proposed book idea, the first thing they look at is your followers and subscribers.  Isn’t that something?  How did authors do that before social media?  I guess times have changed as they say!

If you are on Facebook, I would love for you to follow my page for His Heart, My Desire.  Again, on the right hand side, there is a little sparkly button with the F on it and if you click that, it will take you straight to my page and you can hit LIKE!  Yay!

Thank You!

I am working on some freebies for my subscribers.  Hopefully, I will be announcing that very soon!  Hang with me!

Things coming up:

During September, I will be writing for Homeschool Moms along with my other posts that will cover anything from decorating, fashion, Bible Study, book reviews, life, empty nest, family…..you get the idea….I told you I love everything!

In October, I will focus on Women’s Ministry along with the before mentioned posts.

My mission is to glorify God in everything I do, say and write and I want to inspire you to love life and to stay strong and keep on going, even when it gets a bit tough.   Notice I didn’t say if it gets tough?  Because life is tough sometimes and not very pretty.  But, by the grace of God, we can carry on and think positive and accomplish great things in our lives.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a reader of, His Heart, My Desire!

I do hope you will be a subscriber and hop over to like my Facebook page!  Oh, did I mention Instagram?  Come on over there, too.  I mostly post pictures there that I hope will make your day brighter!  That button is to your right and is a little sparkly camera icon.  You can click that, it will take you to my Instagram and you can tap the follow button and we are instant Instagram friends!

If you are a subscriber, I hope you will stay, but I so understand if you have to bow out.  My heart will break a bit, but I so understand that we all have different situations going on, or you may be saying, “this girl is crazy, I think I will move on.”  Either way, I understand.

Have a FABULOUS Labor Day weekend!

Bloggy Monday

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I went to my first writer’s conference in 2004 and so much of the talk was about how you should have a website for your writing.  I didn’t want to invest in a website and I really couldn’t see myself blogging.  But,three years later in 2007, I took the plunge.  I began with Blogger and it was very easy to set up.  Matter of fact, I made three blogs, one for my writing, which I named, His Heart, My Desire and then a blog for Homeschool Moms, called, A Heart for Homeschooling Moms to go a long with a little support group that I had at that time.  I was also serving in my church as Women’s Ministry Director, so I made a blog for our ladies and other leaders, A Heart For Women’s Ministry.  Three blogs were hard for me to keep up with like I should.  I found someone to design the headers for each one and I absolutely loved what they did.  When I went back to the designer for some updating, she no longer was doing that.  So I kept the same headers for quite a while.

Now, seven years later, the talk is how you should really move your blog to WordPress if you are on Blogger.  So, I gave it a whirl.  I met, Lindsey Riel, at a blogging conference that has her own blog design business, Pretty Darn Cute.  I absolutely love all of her designs and they are very easy to work with.  ( Be sure to check out her site and view all of her designs, she and her team are very talented!)  I worked with a precious lady, Susan, who was and is a huge help to me!

To be honest it has been an adjustment for me in learning the difference between Blogger and WordPress (just ask Susan).  I’ve been told that once I learn and figure it all out, I will be glad I switched over.  I’m hanging in there and I’m determined to learn it all.    I will say this; I never had any problems with Blogger, it was very easy to set up and manage.  My advice is, to check them both out and see which one you like the best and go with it.  If you are on Blogger and love it, I would stay put.  With WordPress, you will have more options in setting up more of a website type blog.  I’m not a pro by any means, so you may want to find someone who knows much more than myself.  I’m just sharing what I know….at the moment. 🙂

What I wanted to share today with you is; when I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress, I had a book made of all my posts from the beginning (2007-2014) until my last post on my “old” blog. This company, Blog 2 Print,  downloads all of your posts and pictures of your choosing.   I just received my new blog book a couple of weeks ago and I love it!  If you are a blogger and you would like to save all your posts, I would recommend using this company to put all your writing in print.  It was all very easy to do and trust me, if I could do it, anyone can!  It’s a great way to save all of your posts and pictures in book form.  

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