motherhood Archives - Page 13 of 32

This giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to Jen and G, the winners!

It’s day two of our week-long giveaway, and I am proud to be offering two very special prizes.

First, I am pleased to introduce you to my bloggy friend Emily Cook.

Emily is the big kid in the middle

Emily is a mother of six who has captured my heart by her honesty, her real but messy love for Jesus, and her aptitude for finding beauty in heartache. Her story has not been picture-perfect because it is not fiction. It is truth.

One of Emily’s children has struggled with epilepsy. She wrote about it in her book Weak and Loved: A Mother-Daughter Love Story. I know some of you were able to get that as a free download when I shared the offer with you. I know this because I have heard from you about that book. I have heard how it moved you, how it touched you, and how thankful you were to get to know Emily.

“It is not the quantity of children,

but it is the blessed weight of any number of children,

that makes us what we are: mothers.”

–Emily Cook

When Emily asked if she could donate her book Tend to Me: Devotions for Mothers I was honored and grateful. To be able to give one of you rest and hope and truth, well, that is the kind of thing I love to do. Her words are beautiful, encouraging, and true. You will be blessed by Emily as I have been.

Photo source: Hazelaid.com. Used with permission.

Our second prize today comes from a company I adore. I have written about Hazelaid before, and I’m afraid I used such glowing terms that some readers thought I was making a profit.

So before I begin talking about them, let me be completely honest: I am not an affiliate for Hazelaid nor have I ever been! I do not profit in any way from any sales made through my links. None! In fact, I began using their products long before I started my blog and actually purchased my first giveaway prize myself because I love their products so much. This time around, Hazelaid graciously donated this prize but I have chosen not to become an affiliate because I feel it’s a conflict of interest in this case.

That being said, Hazelaid products have changed my life, pure and simple. They are donating a $25 gift certificate so one of you can shop around and try their products for yourself!

My family has been particularly impacted by the Baltic amber necklaces. You can read my original testimonial here. I still remain almost completely pain-free after suffering years and years of joint pain and mysterious aching in my body. I am still free from taking over-the-counter medications in order to deal with this pain. Coming from a girl who used to pop Advil four at a time, this is remarkable.

This natural pain relief makes amber perfect for teething babies, elderly patients and everyone in between. It becomes more and more effective with time, I have noticed, to the point that I do not have to wear my necklace every day. I kept it on 24/7 for a few months because I was afraid to take it off! I didn’t want the “magic” to end! Now, I wear it at night or whenever I think about it and have continued to enjoy the benefits of the amber even though it’s not in contact with my skin all the time.

But amber is not all Hazelaid has to offer. Their hazelwood jewelry is remarkable as well.

In fact, one of my first purchases from Hazelaid was a hazelwood bracelet. I have eczema that flairs up on my hands in the winter. I wore the bracelet on my left wrist, and within one day, the bumps on my left hand were about 50% better than the bumps on my right. Within a few days, they were gone completely. I have not found any lotions or treatments for his eczema that work so well–and it’s completely natural! No steroids, no artificial ingredients, just wood.

One reader will win the $25 gift certificate and earn the burden of trying to decide which product to choose! Good luck with that! As a bonus, Hazelaid is offering a 10% off code to all Five in Tow readers. Simply enter fiveintow10 at checkout. This code NEVER expires, so hang on to it for future orders!

So…how do you enter today’s giveaway?

1) I like to keep giveaways simple. All you have to do to be entered for this giveaway is to comment below! That’s it! It would be fabulous if you also subscribed to my blog, followed me on Twitter, or liked my Facebook page, but I can’t make that a requirement because of Facebook policies (and it also complicates things and that sort of defeats the whole “simple” thing).

2) Now, I know some of you are over-achievers and want to do more to increase your chances of winning. Okay. Here you go: you may earn extra entries by visiting and commenting on our sponsors’ blogs, Facebook, or Twitter pages. Why not subscribe, like, or follow them while you’re there? Come back here and leave a separate comment to let me know you went a-visiting so I can enter your name twice.

3) Share any story from Five in Tow that has impacted you. You can even share the giveaway! Comment below (in a separate comment from any of the above) with the title of the post you shared and you’ll earn a third entry.

4) This giveaway will remain open for three days. I will draw two winners on February 1 at 4 pm PST and notify the winners. Prizes will be delivered by the sponsors within 4-6 weeks.

5) Don’t forget! You still have two days to enter yesterday’s giveaway if you have not already done so. Come back tomorrow for two more great prizes! You can see the complete list here.

These are the months when the sky can’t hold up the clouds, they are so heavy with rain. Weepy and weary, those clouds hang close to the earth and close to my soul. Even though I have no reason to be sad, I feel it when day after day the heavens can’t stop crying.

It is raining harder than ever when my neighbor calls. Her refrigerator is feeling warm and the ice cubes are getting all melty in the freezer. I know nothing about large appliances, or small ones, for that matter, but I tell her I’ll slosh my way over to her house so we can stare at it together.

Mrs. Smith lives all alone now. It’s been over two years since her husband went into their bedroom to put on his shoes and never walked back out. She calls sometimes just to tell me what she had for lunch and to ask me if I think it’s safe to eat the mayonnaise that’s been sitting in a fridge that seems to be a bit too warm. She calls me sometimes, I think, just because she knows I was there that day.

“It’s not that old,” Mrs. Smith says while contemplating her refrigerator. “Mel bought it back in 2005.” But it was older than that, the service man tells her. It’s hard to believe it could have been that long because she remembers when they bought it. She remembers the fridge before this one and suddenly it seems like her entire life is parsed out between Whirlpools and Frigidaires.

Mrs. Smith tells me all this while I stand in her kitchen, vacuuming the coils on the back of her fridge like she’s asked. I wish I knew what to do. I know she wishes it too. Instead, I relive her of her condiments—two mustards, a bottle of Worcestershire sauce and a jar of hot horseradish she bought just for her grown-up son because she remembers he likes it—and I trudge back home.

I hear Mrs. Smith’s voice calling out from behind the door. It’s a heavy, metal screen door and I can’t see her face. She likes it that way because it makes her feel safe when she’s home all alone at night. “Thank you for your help!” the door speaks to me in Mrs. Smith’s voice.

I smile and nod, but I feel kind of bad because I really didn’t help at all. So I tell her to call me later, and I know she will because it’s crying outside, and on days like this, Mrs. Smith always calls. It wasn’t crying the day Mr. Smith died, but it’s been crying many days since. It helps her, I think, just to know someone is close enough to listen.

When I get home, the kids swarm the box of goodies from Mrs. Smith’s and discover the cookies she tucked into the box under a jar of ham glaze. I am fairly certain cookies won’t spoil no matter how long the fridge has been off, but that’s not why they’re there. They’re there because it’s been raining since November and Mrs. Smith has been counting the number of days it’s been since she’s seen my kids splashing around in her backyard.

They’re there because it’s been two years since Mr. Smith died and she can’t help but find someone closer to love. They’re there because Jeff had been gone for too many months, and Mrs. Smith understands something about that, and she feels it just about as much I do.

They’re there because it’s Mrs. Smith’s way of listening, of staring at the fridge with me even though she can’t really help.

It’s kind of the deal we have.

So on this beautiful day of motherhood, when the rain hung down and spilled over into my day, and I felt like I must have packed all my joy away with my Christmas decorations, I am thankful for the opportunity to listen even when I can’t help. I’m thankful for friends who hear even when I haven’t spoken a word. Most of all, I’m thankful for neighbors who let me in and keep me there just so I know someone is close enough to help.

1K Giveaway: Day 2

100 Beautiful Days of Motherhood: Dreary Days {18}

100 Beautiful Days of Motherhood: Moments {17}