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Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Operation: Share Kindness

Hello, everyone! I have exciting news. 😀 My friend Kate (from Kaitlyn Krispense, Author) and I teamed up to launch Operation: Share Kindness, a blog where, twice a week (every Tuesday and Friday), we post challenges to prompt our readers (and us) to kindness. If you want a sneak peek of some of these challenges, check out our intro post. In a sin-scarred world full of sin-scarred people, our goal is to shine Christ's light through these random acts of kindness. 

We hope you'll join us for the journey!!

Please consider following Operation: Share Kindness via email and/or Blogger so you'll be sure not to miss out on any of the fun challenges we have planned, and if you can share the word, that would be great! Our first challenge goes up next week, on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. 

Thanks so much, and Happy New Year!


Blessings,
Ellen

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Blog Birthday Giveaway WINNER!

Sorry to get this posted so late . . . it's been a busy day. I did volunteer work this morning, and tonight was thoroughly enjoying the cool new features of the latest edition of Word (I just got updated from the 2016 version and now I have DICTATE and READ ALOUD on my COMPUTER . . . and I LOVE it!)

Anyway, on to the news I know you all really came on to hear . . .

THE WINNER OF MY BLOG BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY IS . . . 

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HEAVEN!

Congratulations, Heaven! Please send your mailing address to my email (listed in the comments below) and I'll get your prizes shipped out ASAP! 

Thx to everybody who entered my giveaway . . . I got some great feedback and ideas of what you would like to see in future posts, which is super helpful!

Merry Christmas



Blessings,

Ellen S.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Happy Blog Birthday, Ellen's Musings! 😄

*hops on humming Happy Birthday to You . . .* I cannot believe my blog is 3 years old!!! The occasion is fully worthy of a giveaway, which is exactly what I have planned. 😄

Image credit: Sawyer Marie
THE PRIZES:


*A signed paperback copy of The Whispers God Gives


*A small notebook with the color of the cover similar to that of my devotional book

*A $10 Starbucks gift card


HOW TO ENTER:

Simply drop a comment below telling me how long you've been reading my blog, what your favorite post has been, or what posts you'd like to see from me in the future! Bonus entries if you follow my blog via Blogger (although being a follower is not a requirement to enter), give me a follow on Goodreads, leave a review for my book on any social media platform, or share the news of this giveaway with a friend. If you do it all, you'll get a total of five entries. Please note that, due to shipping costs, this giveaway is only open to US residents. Sorry, international friends ☹️


Have fun and good luck! This giveaway ends on Monday, December 20, and I will announce the winner the following day!


Blessings,

Ellen

Saturday, December 11, 2021

"All for Christ" // Short Story Repost

I'm so excited to have entered December! My family has been enjoying doing advent every morning as we meditate on the wonder of our Savior's birth. <3

On December 15, 2021, Ellen's Musings will be 3 years old, which is crazy to me! I went back to reread one of my very first posts. It seemed appropriate for the Christmas season, so I thought I would copy, paste, and share it again with you all today. :) Enjoy!


All for Christ
by Ellen Senechal


Eleven-year-old Emma clutched her papers and swallowed hard. This had been a dreaded moment. Her pulse quickened, and her stomach clenched. Her lips moved slowly as she mouthed her part of the Christmas pageant.

           Why, oh why, did Miss Cleaver choose me to be Mary’s cousin Elizabeth?
           She tried to tell herself that she had no reason to worry. She’d practiced her lines over and over again. She could say them in her sleep. But…
          What if I forget them suddenly? Horrid thought! Emma’s cheeks flushed just thinking about it. 

            Sweat oozed from her palms and soaked the papers she held. The sheets of paper were lined with the quotes “Elizabeth” was supposed to say…in front of all those people.

          “Emma, you all right?”
          Emma, already a nervous wreck, jumped at her sister’s soft-spoken question. She sucked in a deep breath and swung around. “I-I’m fine.”
          Charlene was one of the older students, so she’d requested not to be part of the Christmas pageant this year. However, after Fred Morris came down sick, Miss Cleaver had hired Charlene quick as a wink to be a “substitute shepherd boy.”
          This was Emma’s first time seeing her sister in her full costume, and Charlene looked quite comical. She was dressed in a long robe and sandals. All of her pretty, dark hair was shoved up into a raggedy head covering.
          Quite a difference from all these previous years, when Miss Cleaver always asked Charlene to be Mary or Elizabeth, Emma thought. She giggled softly. The butterflies in her stomach lessened their fluttering. “Thanks for helping me feel better,” she whispered.
          Charlene’s eyebrows rose high. “Huh?”
          “Never mind.” Emma waved her hand, and in so doing dropped one of her sheets of paper.
          Charlene knelt to grab it. Her eyes grew big. “Emma, this sheet is saturated.” She stood and handed the paper over, then wiped her hand on her robe. “What’s all that water from?”
         Emma bit her lip and showed her sister one of her palms. “I’m all sweaty.”
        “I’ll say.” Charlene shook her head and fixed her hazel gaze on her little sister. “What’s wrong?”
        “Well…” Emma ducked her head and said in a barely audible whisper, “I’m scared of going out there, Charlene. What if I botch my lines and everyone laughs at me?”
        For a moment, Charlene was silent. Emma kept her head down. The toe of her shoe traced a pattern on the floor. From behind the curtain, Carrie Onstrong’s voice could be heard, loud and clear, as she repeated The Magnificat.
        Emma’s fingers went back to clenching her papers. “Mary” is about to go visit “Elizabeth.” That means it’s almost to my part. Can I really do this? She shuddered. Carrie sounds so lovely. I’m sure there’s no way I could ever speak so—
       “Emma, look at me.”

        Emma raised her head. Her brown eyes locked with her sister’s hazel ones. “Yes?”
       “I want you to promise me something.”
      Emma swallowed. “What?”
      “When you go out there, I want you to pretend there is no one watching you. No one but Jesus. Can you do that?”

       Emma immediately understood what her sister was talking about. When I try to “people-please,” I turn into something I’m not, and I work myself into a dither for no reason at all. But if I want to serve Jesus, and focus only on bringing Him glory, I need to be me. I need to stop caring about what others think and focus my thoughts on Jesus. God didn’t make me like Carrie, or like Charlene, or like anybody! He made me in His Image, for His glory. I need to go out there and give it my all. For Jesus.
      She nodded at Charlene. “Yes, I can do that. I can be Christ’s servant, not man’s.”
      Emma breathed deep. Carrie finished her last line, and Emma stepped out from behind the curtain.
      She would do this.
      For Jesus.


“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” GALATIANS 1:10

p.s. So I won't be leaving anyone hanging, I'll tell you that Emma kept her thoughts focused on Jesus. The pageant went just as her Savior wanted it to, and she left with a peaceful heart and a confident soul. Charlene later told her, "You were marvelous, sister," and Emma knew her sister meant that compliment in more ways than one.

Have you read this story before, or was this your first time? 
Do you think I should do a blog birthday giveaway? (*spoiler* I may or may not have one already planned...) :D
Merry Christmas! Remember to live your life wholly for Christ...He is the only one you have to please, and He is pleased with you already for no other reason except that you are His and He is yours.

Blessings,
Ellen S. 💖💚💖💚💖💚💖

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Sign up to participate in the "Do Hard Things" Bible study!

Here is the official sign-up sheet for the Do Hard Things Bible study. Already I know there a few young ladies (besides my 13-yr-old sister and myself) planning to participate in the study, and I'm so super excited! The first Zoom meeting will be on December 16, but if you're unable to do the study/attend the Zoom meetings until after the New Year, that's fine, too. Chances are not everyone will make every single meeting we have, and there are 12 chapters + an afterword to go through, so you're welcome to join at any time!

Well, without any further ado: the sign-up form. Fill it out and click "submit", and I'll get back to you shortly! (also, if you plan to attend the meeting on December 16 and don't already own a copy of Do Hard Things, this allows you one week to get the book and another week to read your first chapter.) Eventually I will make a page for this form on my blog, so if you're not able to sign up now, you can later.  

I look forward to seeing how God uses this!

Blessings,

Ellen