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Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

September 24, 2015

Thankful {Book Review}

Thankful
By Eileen Spinelli 

About the book:

Bestselling and award-winning children’s author Eileen Spinelli combines charming rhymes and whimsical illustrations to convey the importance of being thankful for everyday blessings. Thankful, by bestselling and award-winning children’s author Eileen Spinelli, combines charming rhymes and whimsical illustrations to convey the importance of being thankful for everyday blessings. Like the gardener thankful for every green sprout, and the fireman for putting the fire out, readers are encouraged to be thankful for the many blessings they find in their lives. 

Spinelli exhibits her endearing storytelling with this engaging poem, reminding children how blessed and special they are. Meant to be read aloud, this heartwarming picture book will be a treasured keepsake for parents and children alike.

One thing is for sure, I just adore how Thanksgiving and this season give us a good reminder to be thankful.  And this book is a great way to convey that to the littles in my Sunday School class!  Thankful by Eileen Spinelli is an absolutely wonderful book to remind children to be thankful. I love that this book teaches children to be thankful for the everyday little things in life. It’s easy to be thankful for the big things but when you focus on the little things you can truly see how blessed you are. This book has beautiful illustrations and my kids enjoy reading it!

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Eileen Spinelli is a poet and picture book author with a talent for lovable stories that tug at the heart. She is the author of more than forty books for children, including Heat Wave, When You Are Happy, I Know It’s Autumn, Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’, Sophie’s Masterpiece, and Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch. Ms. Spinelli lives in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Filed in: book review, Uncategorized • by Amy • 1 Comment

September 20, 2015

TWENTY | GUILTY PLEASURES

Today’s prompt: It’s guilty pleasure time! Shows, books, songs, foods, whatever it may be.

Just a snippet of my current guilty pleasures…

Watching Big Brother with the entire fam, we all love it!

Black Bean Salsa and chips.  Oh my lanta is this amazing! {recipe below}
Outback’s Blooming Onion with their ranch.  Pure bliss.  Not something I easily share.
Shoop by Salt n Peppa, taking it old school.  And it’s currently my littles fav too!
Little Woman LA…Jade and I watch it every single week.  
Black Bean Salsa
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
onion to taste {I omit onion from mine}
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
4 oz. feta cheese
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
Chop peppers and onions and put into a bowl.  Dump corn and black beans in colander and rinse well, then add into bowl with peppers.  Add feta cheese into the bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix oil, vinegar and sugar.  Mix well to dissolve sugar then pour over the bowl of veggies.  Eat with tortilla chips.
* It’s better to let it sit for a bit in your fridge to allow the flavors to marry.  I usually can’t resist and eat a bite or two straight away.  

Filed in: blogtember, recipes, Uncategorized • by Amy • 2 Comments

September 19, 2015

NINETEEN | BEST DAY EVER

Today’s prompt: Tell us about one of the best days of your life.

This prompt was a hard one for me and took quite a bit of thinking.  I’ve had some days throughout my life that could arguably be deemed the best one yet.  How do I narrow those down to just one day?  I started thinking about which great day made the biggest impact on my life?

The day I was adopted.



While I don’t exactly remember this day {I was only 3 days old y’all} I’ve heard the story many times. I’ve wrote about it a few times on my blog and thought today would be a perfect time to republish those posts.

A young teenage girl found out she was pregnant.
She was afraid.
She was ashamed.
She was embarrassed.
She was judged.
She was confused.
The road ahead was filled with tough decisions.
Running away from them was not an option.
In front of her sat a “quick fix”.
It meant no one would know.
The shame would end.
She would no longer have to be afraid.
Though her baby was just starting to develop, she already loved it.
She couldn’t take the quick fix.
Her faith was strong.
She knew what was right.
She chose life.
The most selfless decision she could make.
God brought a wonderful woman into her life.
A woman who heard her story, but never judged.
She reminded her of God’s love and grace.

She hugged her while wiping her tears.
She told her of a dear friend who struggled with infertility.
And with that, a decision was made.
A decision she knew would leave her heartbroken.
For 9 months, the life grew inside her.
She felt every bump and every kick.
She watched her belly grow twice it’s size.
Every passing day her heart broke a little more.
She knew the hardest day of her life was right around the corner.
Eventually the day came.
She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
The reality fell heavy on her heart.
Tears rolled down her face.
She had so many fears.
And felt a void already.
But she knew it was God’s will.
She handed her baby over to the wonderful woman.
And watched her walk away.
In her young mind, she had no idea what an impact that single moment would make.
That one day, she would be that baby girls hero.
For choosing to give her to an amazing family.
For choosing to have a selfless heart.
For choosing life.
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
Jeremiah 1:5

Two women who didn’t know each other made a decision that would forever change their lives and the life of a sweet baby girl. They both had such a selfless heart, one making the ultimate sacrifice and the other opening her home and her heart. I am so thankful for the hand God had in all of our lives.

It makes my Mama heart ache when I think of my birth-mother handing me over to that sweet lady. Watching her walk out of the hospital and get into a car and drive away, knowing that there was a possibility she would never see me again. The strength and selflessness it took to make that decision at such a young age still amazes me.

It makes my Mama heart jump with joy when I think of my adoptive mother waiting for her precious new bundle to be delivered to her. How she must have felt so over-the-moon but still felt a little ache in her heart knowing someone else gave up their baby so she could experience motherhood.

So today, I am reflecting back on the absolute greatest day of my life. A day I don’t remember, but one that impacted every aspect of my life. My adoption was such an amazingly beautiful thing and I love telling the story. I am truly so blessed to have never once felt an ounce of resentment or anger, to have somehow understood from an early age that it was just right.  To have never questioned it, to never have felt different but instead felt fortunate that I had two sets of parents when most kids only had one.  And  most of all to have an adoptive Mother and Father that absolutely supported me in finding my birth parents and understanding why I needed that.  My mama told me that she never felt threatened by it because she knew she had raised me with enough love in my heart for all of them.  She’s an amazing, amazing woman.

It’s a perfect example to me of how God has His hands in our lives, even when we don’t realize it.  And oh how thankful I am for that!!!


Filed in: blogtember, Uncategorized • by Amy • 1 Comment

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Wife & Mama • Iced coffee seeker & curator of chaos • Collector of words & magic • Obsessed with laughter & bright lipstick • Dreaming & homesteading in the hills of PA

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