Blog it Forward

You may have noticed that over there to the right of this post you’re reading,

yes, right there, under the links to my TV appearances and the button to subscribe, there is a new badge, and one that I am so honored for Mommy, Ever After to wear.

I am now part of the Wayfair Homemakers program. This means that I will be able to combine my passions for home decorating (I have SEVERAL design projects in store) and helping to make peoples’ lives better in real ways. So much more to come on this, but for now, let’s stick with the latter of my two passions: bettering lives.

I have been blessed with an amazing tribe, comprised of my nearest & dearest,

and, truthfully, people whom I have never even met. And I want to give back.

And, Wayfair has encouraged me to do so.

They have encouraged me to Blog it Forward.

A year and a half ago I wrote a post called Acts of Loving Kindness

and it ended with this line:

“…I will make it my mission to perform acts of loving kindness to others.
Because I want to keep believing that people are good. That the world, even though sometimes strange and scary and sad, is beautiful.
And there is no better way to do that than shining from the inside out.”

And, my New Year’s resolution last year was to do more for others. In the years prior I would often think about the nice things I could do (sending a meal, picking up a “just because” gift) but for some reason I would never follow through.

And that changed in 2015. 2015 was my year of “just because” and these tiny tokens (both tangible and intangible) were small, but, for me, oh so mighty. They made me feel so good. I love love love love love to make people happy.

And they were all little things. I gave drive by hugs, left desserts on doorsteps, picked up gifts, wrote special songs, dropped of dinners, hung inspirational post-it-notes, had flowers delivered, filled refrigerators, had gifts waiting for my husband at home, sent “I love you” emails…

and now this has become a part of me. Just because.

Recently, I met someone–it is hard for me to describe who she is in plain words, but this woman is someone with whom I share stunning similarities. Our meeting was serendipitous.

Our stories are the same. We are from the same star.

I believe that we are meant to be.

And so, to show my gratitude for her, I had the chance to “pay it forward” by giving her a gift that was so special when it was given to me: The gratitude bracelet.

And I hope–with all of my heart–that this bracelet lives up to it’s claim and makes her year better. She deserves it.

And so, I am adding this badge right here:

which seems almost silly to me, because my “good deed” was a gift to me.

But, because I had the honor of giving back, Wayfair will be doing the same and in a big way.

There is a catch here. I “had” to do my good deed, but the second part of the challenge is this:

I now am tasked to challenge two other bloggers to do the same.

And the bloggers whom I have chosen have no idea.

I chose these two women for a very specific reason:

While their stories may seem so different on the outside–while their blogs may be completely unrelated–they have both overcome adversity in ways that make me feel humbled and proud.

Their stories are not mine to tell, but I can say that they have both shown me what it means to be courageous. They haven’t always had it easy, but they have smiled through the hard times. They have inspired bravery in so many others in this world.

So, I hereby challenge:

Chelley of A is for Adelaide

and

Maggie of Maggie’s Les Vegan Kitchen