Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl

GFC Blog Hop

It's Tuesday again which means it's time for the GFC Blog Hop!

When I want to follow a blog the first thing I look for is GFC (Google Friend Connect), it's so easy and nice to be able to go and see all of the blogs you follow in one spot. It's really a great tool to have.

One side note- Did you know you can follow through GFC using your Twitter Account? TRUE, it's definitely an option!

Ok, so let's get to the party, shall we?

RULES are simple:

1. Follow your host via GFC

The First link below

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC

The Next 8 links below

3. Link up below using your main blog url not a specific post.

4. Make sure to visit some of the blogs in the link up and follow them via GFC

and if you want to leave them a comment, I'm sure they'd appreciate that as well.

5. Tweet about this blog hop

6. Share about this blog hop by grabbing a button and putting it on your sidebar!

*After 6 months of the waiting list to cohost being extra long, I finally have paid cohost spots available! Email me if you're interested at melissa@thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com

Post Sponsor Ad:

Labels: blog hop, link up, tuesday

Tuesday Thoughts

Labels: Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, tuesday, Tuesday Thoughts

Testimony Tuesday: Meet Cora

Thank you so much for taking a little time to stop and read my testimony. My name is Cora Noelle, and I am the second oldest of 7 children. I'm 15 (almost 16) and I love journaling, acting, blogging (cocobirdy.blogspot.com), debate, and the gospel. I am so thankful for the wonderful opportunity that I have to share my testimony with you. Thanks so much Kimberly!

I've always been told that everyone will have their own special conversion story, and I know now that this is true. We will all have our own unique story of how we fell in love with the gospel and learned for sure in our hearts that was true. We may not know when it will be, but there will be a time. I promise.

My story came 4 years ago when my baby brother, Matthew, was born. Matthew's eyes were different when he was born. They were unusually swollen and cloudy. He was born with glaucoma, an eye disease rarely found in children. Immediately Matthew was rushed to Primary Children's Hospital to undergo a number of surgeries that would hopefully save his sight. Each week as Matthew met with the Doctors he pulled my family closer as we realized how unexpected and fragile life really is.

Because of Matthew's physical eyes our spiritual eyes were opened. He brought us closer to the gospel of Christ and closer the the Savior. We depended wholly upon our Heavenly Father, and we relied on him to help us through our trials.

I am so thankful for trials in our lives because it is then that we rely on the gospel the most. It is in those moments that we know that we are never alone.

What Matthew did reminds me of something that another brother of mine did for me. Jesus Christ came to the earth as a baby. He spent his life healing, forgiving, and teaching the world. He suffered the pains of the world so that each of us could return to him. He lived and died for each of us. He knows me personally and suffered for me.

Christ is my best friend and my older brother. I love him soo much and I know that he will never leave me.

I am thankful for Thomas S. Monson and Joseph Smith. They are prophets of God now and forever. I am thankful for the knowledge of eternal families.

I know that I am a daughter of God, and I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Want to participate in Testimony Tuesday??

Email me: bostonksox@gmail.com

GIVEAWAY ENDS TONIGHT @ MIDNIGHT!

Labels: God, Heavenly Father, Testimony, tuesday

Tuesday Thoughts

Make this day better than yesterday!

Have a great Tuesday!

Labels: Inspirational, thoughts, tuesday, words to live by

Testimony Tuesday

Hey all of Kimberly's wonderful readers! My name is Stefani (or Stef, if you like the nickname thing) and I blog over at Miss Jo and Co. I spend most of my posts rambling about my crazy one-year-old, fashion, good food, and being a law student's wife.

I am so excited to be here for Testimony Tuesday and so grateful to Kimberly for having me!

When I think about my testimony, I really can't specify one moment where I just knew the Church was true. Instead, I have these bits and pieces that I've put together over time, and as each piece falls into place I begin to discover more about my beliefs and the beauty of the Gospel. When I was 15 years old, I spent a week at EFY in Massachusetts. I'm going to be honest - I didn't have the greatest time. I had always had a hard time fitting in with "typical" Mormon girls and this time was no different. I spent a lot of the week alone and by the end of things I felt really, really discouraged. I remember being in my room one night, thinking about how the week was going and wondering if maybe this Church just wasn't the right fit for me. I decided to pray about it. I think this was one of the first times when I actually prayed with the intention of receiving an answer. I'd prayed for help before, yeah, but I'd never said, "Here's what I need to know. What can you tell me?" It was there in that moment that I knew for myself that this Church was the "right fit" and that it was where I needed to be. I felt a strong confirmation that I just needed to stick with it and that everything would be ok. I'd like to tell you all that after that experience I went on to be an exemplary Church member and everything was super and dandy. I'd like to say that I remembered that experience forever and that I didn't stray. Sadly, that wouldn't be true. Years later, I found myself living in Provo, UT, a recent graduate of BYU. Even though I was in a huge Mormon community, I have never felt more alone. I stopped going to Church regularly, I began choosing the completely wrong people to date, and I stopped living the way that I knew, in my heart, I should be living. With each bad decision, I fell further away and became more desensitized to the promptings of the Spirit. But the Lord was still looking out for me. He still loved me. And even in my "darkest hours," he tried to reach me and he finally found me. The day came where I realized that I was not happy and that the choices I was making were never, ever going to bring happiness. So I went to the place where I knew I could find it. I went home. I spent the next few months going through the repentance process. It was the hardest, most emotional thing that I have ever had to go through. But because of that experience, I can tell each and every one of you that I know that the Gospel is true. I know that we can repent for our sins and be forgiven. I know that even in our darkest hours, Christ is still looking for us. He wants to find his lost sheep and he wants to bring us home. I also have a testimony of the joy and the reassurance that comes from reading the scriptures and the words of the living prophets. They are the Lord speaking directly to us and it is in them that the answers to prayers can be found. (I was going to find a quote from one of my favorite talks to add to this post, but after looking through it, I wouldn't be satisfied unless I added the whole thing. So go read Jeffery R. Holland's talk Broken Things to Mend. It's seriously one of the best! Thanks again to Kimberly for letting me post this week! It's been an absolutely incredible experience.

Labels: church, Faith, God, Gospel, Spiritual, Testimony, tuesday

Testimony Tuesday

Good Morning! It's that time again for Testimony Tuesday!

Today Kerri is visiting us from Love Always

Guys...she is seriously AMAZING and she is here to share her testimony with you.

You can feel through her words the love that she has for the Lord.

WARNING: Be prepared to get chills all over

Hey! I'm Kerri
I blog over at Love Always

This is me and my cute Husband.

and this is my testimony....

I contemplated sharing one of those- oh wow miracle stories of mine.
because i figured i should since it is testimony tuesday.
then i really started thinking about a testimony and how it is gained.
testimonies are not born from the once in a while big miracle moments.
those moments are special situations when he decides to come down and write his divine signature on your heart, just because He loves us.

a testimony is gained from little moments- and not all at once.
those everyday tender mercies that we receive because of the Lord's love for us.
they nurture our soul and allow a beautiful faith and confidence to continually grow in our hearts.

for example- last sunday night, i was on the verge of tears at the thought of enduring the monday ahead of me. scratch that. the verge had come and gone. i was in tears.
the dreadful monday.

chalk full of classes, studying, appointments, and an opening and closing shift at work.
i am 9 weeks pregnant right now which means i have about 2% of my normal energy.

i honestly didn't think i could get through the 18 hour day.

i prayed. i prayed that i could just make it through the day.
and guess what? i did.

throughout the day, i found little comforts.
finding a new song i could listen to that seemed to re-energize me,
venting to a doctor about all my pregnancy symptoms,
work wasn't as busy as usual, and i was able to get in a quick nap,
and biggest shocker of all, i was in a happy mood all day.
i randomly felt like giggling or hugging a stranger
my husband hardly recognized me
because I've been quite sick and sluggish the past month and a half.

these sorts of things happen to me whenever i am humble enough to turn to the Lord.
they seem small, maybe even sound insignificant-

but praying and asking for divine help; although it doesn't necessarily make life perfect-
it does allow to me to live my days with my eyes open a little wider and i am able to recognize the small blessings i am always receiving.

my testimony is not based on the big huge miracles that have happened in my life,
although those didn't hurt ;)

it is a compilation and a combination of all the love i have felt and all the blessings i have received from my Father in Heaven; and all the love i have consequently felt towards the Lord and so many of the His children on this earth, the love that is undoubtedly rooted in Him.

thank you so much for having me Kimberly!

Want to participate in Testimony Tuesday?!?!
Email me if you are interested!
bostonksox@gmail.com

Quote of the Day:

"Our hope is not in any one election...

The most important election in your lifetime is your election into the household of God....

Labels: God, Heavenly Father, humble, love always, miracles, Prayer, Testimony, tuesday