Winner!!

The winner of our “One Thousand” Day Giveaway will receive: the book “One Thousand Gifts….

a one thousand piece Springbok puzzle…

and…

a slightly over 1000 piece goodie pack of a few of my favorite indulgences. Yes, yes–it’s ridiculous, I know. But I never promised you sanity–did I?

And our illustrious, and very thankful winner is…….

*****

Teresa Baker!!

Teresa Baker says:

April 2, 2011 at 7:01 am

“thankful for yard sales that make money for missions trips”

Congratulations Teresa!

Thank you everyone else for participating in our “1000 Day” Thankful Giveaway. This was so dang fun that I’m already planning the next one–so stay thankful and stay tuned!

April 1, 2011April 7, 2011

I rarely post stories like this because I like to be responsible enough to credit the author. Someone sent me this awhile back and sadly, we have no idea who wrote the original article. If it is you–please let me know and I’ll be happy to credit you with this fabulous piece. Today–April Fools Day felt like the perfect time to tell a wonderful story that unlike many things you’ll hear today–is actually true. It’s a good reminder to all of us that showing love and gratitude is one of the most important things we can do in this life.

*****

…The Whale… If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them.

Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

I pass this on to you, my friends, in the same spirit.

It’s a good life

693

Happy Birthday Emily!

March 31, 2011March 31, 2011

“One Thousand” Day

Although you may not know it–

today is a holiday.

This day–March 31, 2011 marks my 1000th post on Gracious Rain.

That, my friends is a lot of writing.

In the time it has taken to write those 1000 posts we have had 1,391,123 total views.

That, my friends is a lot of reading.

To thank you all for your kind attention over the years—we’ve decided that a giveaway is in order. But not just any giveaway— a One Thousand Day Giveaway!! No, no–not for the thousand dollar bill–but better! :}

The winner of this sweet little giveaway will receive:

1. “One Thousand Gifts: A Dare To Live Fully Right Where You Are” the best selling book by Ann Voskamp

2. “Candy Galore” 1000 piece puzzle by Springbok

3. 1000 pieces of something that I love—and I bet you’ll love them too. Trust me on this.

Now, then– all you have to do to enter this One Thousand Day giveaway is to tell us, in the comment section, something that you are thankful for. We’ll add each one to our Gratitude List and Quote Rotator.

Enter as often as you’d like–no limit! However–each entry must be a separate comment. Winner will be drawn next week on Friday, April 8 at 10:00 am.

Good luck my dah-lings and thanks so much for reading Gracious Rain.

We are grateful for you!