Sunshine Blogger Award

Good news, today! I’m excited to tell you that I have been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award given by bloggers to their peers in recognition for creative work that inspires positivity. I’m honored to receive this award, because, though Disciple Mama is still just a few months old, blogging has already become really important and special to me. I want my writing to be making a positive difference in peoples’ lives; it’s a way that I can have a ministry that reaches outside my home without leaving my home, after all! The fact that my little corner of the internet is being recognized for being a happy inspiration is such an encouragement to me.

Who gave me the Sunshine Blogger Award?

I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by Jessica Brodie, who blogs over at JessicaBrodie.com. Jessica is a Christian, a wife, and a mom like me, and she is also an accomplished author (an amazing writer…#goals…). I encourage you to check out her blog and her books, but you can also follow Jessica’s social media accounts: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Thank you so much for the nomination, Jessica! It really means a lot to me, and I hope to continue to write in a way that makes me worthy of the Sunshine Blogger Award. You’ve been such an encouragement to me, and I am thankful to have this opportunity!

My Sunshine Blogger Award Questions and Answers

1. Who is the first person who taught you about Jesus? The first person who taught me about Jesus was my mom. She started from the very beginning (she beat my dad to it because he wasn’t able to be there for the first few days after I was born. He was serving on a submarine in the Navy and couldn’t get home in time.), and I am thankful to say that there’s never been a time in my life that I didn’t know Jesus.
2. Who is the last person you recently had a face-to-face conversation with about Jesus?  I am extremely fortunate that I live a life in which I am able to have face-to-face conversations about Jesus on a daily basis. The most recent was with my 3-year-old son before he went to sleep tonight. We talked (as we do every night) about how Jesus loves Him no.matter.what. I want that unconditional love to be in his mind as he goes to sleep every night so that it really stays with him throughout his whole life.
3. If you lost your ability to communicate with words (e.g. writing, speaking, full sign language), how would you share the Gospel with someone else? First of all, I just want to point out that, without words, I would feel pretty devastated. I’m very word-oriented and, ugh, I just shudder to think of it. BUT, I think if I had to share the Gospel without words I’d start with a smile, and from there? I’d just try to help people and show them that they matter. Hopefully I’d still be able to listen, and I think that listening to, sharing joy with, and loving people is a huge part of the Gospel. If you can’t tell people about Jesus, the best you can do is to be as much like Him as possible.
4. What are some things you do to find the Light again when you feel like you are in a time of dark or sadness? I try to spend extra time in prayer, first of all. Also, I’ve always found that retelling my stories (whether verbally or by writing them out) helps me to process them and find the positive or funny in them (if there is any to be found). I always say that the sooner I can laugh again, the better I feel about everything, even if it means I have to laugh at myself a little bit. If there isn’t anything happy to be found in the situation, I think just talking to God and my family or friends helps, because it feels like I’m bearing less of the burden on my own shoulders.
5. What are your three favorite spiritual practices right now? Prayer is always on the list, and has become so much more precious to me since I’ve become a parent. I’m also enjoying Bible journaling when I can find the time to do it. The third spiritual practice that I really enjoy right now is family worship with my husband and my kids.
6. What is your favorite Bible verse right now? Lately I just keep coming back to 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, which says, “…”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
7. What do you do for a living/vocation? I’m a pastor’s wife and a stay-at-home-mom right now, and I do a few odd jobs for my church and also for the local private school that I used to work in. I also write for my blog, Disciple Mama, which is my little way of ministering to Christian parents (mostly other mamas, but dads are welcome) who are trying to raise little disciples for Jesus. Before I had kids, I was a teacher/administrator in the Seventh-day Adventist school system (the second largest faith-based school system in the world) for 11 years.
8. Who are three Christian authors who inspire you and why? There are many, but I guess for my first two I’m going to go old school. Ellen White‘s books, but especially Education, inspire me, because she had a lot of amazing and insightful things to say to parents and teachers about how to raise kids in a wholesome and loving way, and she says a lot that the world is learning all over again about the importance of letting kids be kids, not starting school too early, and how good it is for kids to work outside gardening, etc. C. S. Lewis also makes the list, because I didn’t really think philosophically about religion until I read Mere Christianity in college, and Lewis provided a great introduction to apologetics that was profound, but still easy to grasp. A new (to me, anyway) author on my list is Sally Lloyd-Jones because of The Jesus Storybook Bible. I love it because of what it’s done for my son, which is to break down the huge mind-boggling stories of the Bible which seem to be about myriad different concepts and shown him that really, it’s all about Jesus and His love for us. My 3 year old gets it to an extent that, quite honestly, astonishes me, and Sally Lloyd-Jones is a key reason for it. So inspiring!
9. How did you become a blogger/writer? I have had a tiny personal blog off and on for 10 years or so, but after my first son was born I began feeling that the parenting struggles, thoughts, and different ideas that my husband and I were journeying through, puzzling out, and trying might be helpful for other people to hear about. After about a year of thinking about what I’d focus on in a parenting blog, I settled on a focus on intentional family discipleship, because it’s what my husband and I spend a lot of our time and energy on. So, I got started in June of this year, and a few months later, here we are. I’ve got a little blog and I pray that God uses it to reach people who need it!
10. How did you become a Christian? As I mentioned before, I’ve always known Jesus, and I honestly can’t remember I time that I didn’t know Him as my personal savior. I was baptized when I was 10 years old. Of course, I’ve gone through valleys of doubt at times in my life, but I’m thankful that I have never had to live without being a follower of Jesus. Being a parent has caused me to go to the next level of examining my life and asking God to do more work on me to help me become more like Him so that my kids have the best leadership possible.
11. If you could choose any vocation (other than your current), what would it be? I’m not sure that I’d choose anything different than being a mom, wife, and aspiring writer. But, if I could choose anything, I think it would be pretty fun to be an enigmatologist like Will Shortz, but as much as I like puzzles, I haven’t got the same talent for it that he does, so I’ll probably just say I’d choose to go back to teaching (which I loved doing, anyway).

My Sunshine Blogger Award Nominees

I’ve chosen 11 beautiful Christian blogs to nominate for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Please, check out these blogs and follow these ladies’ social media accounts, as well!

1. Amanda | Maple Alps | maplealps.com
2. Katie | Cup of Tea | ktcupoftea.com
3. Jacquelyn | A Heavenly Home | blog.jacquelynvansant.com
4. Cynthia | Cynthia Cano | cynthiacano.org
5. El | El By the Well | elbythewell.com.au
6. Ariel | Seasoned with Sunshine | seasonedwithsunshine.com
7. Aiane Karla | Aiane Karla | aianekarla.com
8. Crystal | Crystal Whitlow Design | cwdesign.studio
9. Ames | Amusing Ames | amusingames.org
10. Winnie | Winnie Warner | winniewarner.com
11. Jamie | One Word Faith | onewordfaith.com
    

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Questions for My Sunshine Blogger Award Nominees

I want to get to know you better, so please forgive the fact that my questions are all over the place! Some of them are just for fun, and some of them are pretty serious, but I can’t wait to read the answers to all of them.

1. What is it about blogging that makes you keep at it, even on the tough days?
2. How do you find the time to blog, in addition to everything else you have going on?
3. Outside of your blog, what’s your favorite way to share your faith?
4. What’s one creative thing that you do that you don’t usually write about?
5. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year or two?
6. 5 years ago, where did you think you’d end up? Is it very different than where you are now?
7. If you had 3 weeks and free travel, where would you go and why?
8. Which Bible character can you most closely relate to? What have you learned about yourself from him/her?
9. Who is your biggest supporter? What do you want to tell him/her?
10. What’s your favorite way to spend quality time with your family?
11. What’s that one food that’s not hard to make at home, but you still prefer to eat it in a restaurant?

Sunshine Blogger Award Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions that were presented to you by your nominator.
3. Nominate 11 bloggers.
4. Ask 11 questions. (These questions have to be different from the ones you answered.)
5. List the rules.
6. Display the Sunshine Blogger logo in your post or on your blog site.

Thanks for reading!

Jessica, thank you so much, once again, for the nomination! And readers, thank you so much for visiting Disciple Mama today! If you liked what you read, please follow my social media accounts!

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