Leah Stirewalt

Hey everyone … Lisa Boyd here. I’ve hijacked Leah’s blog today to wish her a happy birthday and share some messages from her She Speaks sisters. Be sure to leave a comment today and share your special birthday message with Leah!

Hey Leah!

I had hoped to have your new blog ready before today so I could leave these messages there, but the timing just didn’t work out. I gathered messages – some video – some text – some graphics – from your Table #73 sisters 🙂 We all wish that we lived right next door so we could bombard you with hugs, presents, food, balloons, and of course, presents! But we have to settle for hijacking your blog.

I hope and pray you have a wonderful day, full of love, friends and family. I’m so thankful that I’ve gotten to know you online. You are one strong lady who loves Jesus! Thank you for the wonderful example you set for me and for others. Praying that Jesus continues to hold you tight in His arms and that He loves on you even more this next year! ~ Lisa Boyd

Happy Birthday Leah!!! Sending you BIG BIG HUGS on this very special day! I hope your heart is blessed and you receive love over flowing! I am so thankful for your friendship. You have richly blessed me directly and indirectly more than you know. I love you dearly!! And remember…we have a Papa’s and Beer dinner on hold that will need filling SOON!!!  TOOT TOOT….that’s my birthday horn. 😉 ~ Angie

Happy birthday, Leah! I’m so glad God brought you in to my life this summer. I have enjoyed getting to know you and your beautiful heart. Praying blessings upon you this next year. May 40 bring more true friends, fun adventures, and God-sized “coincidences” your way. Love you, friend! ~ Leigh

And … one more message from family 🙂

Happy Birthday Leah….there are no words to describe all that you are to me. We have been through so much together over these past 20+ years. No matter how chaotic things may have gotten in either of our lives…..one thing has always been a constant…YOU!! I appreciate you so much and I pray that God will bless you beyond belief as you begin this new decade (lol) in your life. Thank you for the inspiration that you are to me and so many….always remember….you are truly are the SISTER…I never had…. Love you always, Kandi

Happy Birthday Leah!

It’s here! Birthday week in our house, that is. One week from today (1/23) my daughter turns 15. Yikes. And even more yikes…I turn the big 4-0 on Saturday (1/21). Honestly, I still feel 25 sometimes, so this just doesn’t seem possible. However, I’m holding out with great hope that my 40s and beyond will be the best years of my life.

For the past two years, I’ve had such joy in doing a birthday blog giveaway. I’m doing that again this year…but with a twist.

My sweet friend, Amber, had her birthday earlier this month and spent the better part of a day doing a random act of kindness (RAOK) for each year of her life. You can read about it by clicking here. I thought it was such a wonderful idea, and I knew I had to steal it! I find so much pleasure in doing for others (especially those RAOKs) that I decided I would do 40 random acts of kindness for my 40th birthday. However, I don’t have the energy that Amber does to do it all in one day, so I’ve spread mine out over the 10-11 days leading up to my birthday. I’m in the middle of this birthday project and will report on it Sunday  – the day after my birthday, so you can see how everything turned out. But, let’s just say I’m having a blast so far! My daughter has even joined in on the madness and is doing 15 RAOKs for her 15th birthday. I loved watching her in action at our local Walmart over the weekend. It did this mama’s heart good! 🙂

Anyway, back to the giveaway….

Here’s how it will work. First off, it begins tonight (sorry this post is getting up a little late) and will run through midnight on Saturday (the 21st). I’ll announce the winner on Sunday evening (the 22nd). How can you enter you might be wondering?

1) Perform a random act of kindness for somebody this week and then come back here and leave a comment saying what you did. If you want to do 2, 3, 30, 50…you can come back here and leave that many comments. Essentially…for each unique random act of kindness you do…come back here and leave a comment. Each comment gets you an entry (don’t bundle all of your RAOKs into one comment, because that will only get you one entry). See what I mean? Now – as for the word “unique”. Let’s say that you buy 10 plants and plan to give them to 10 different people…that only counts as one comment entry. But, if you buy 10 plants & give them to 10 people and then carry groceries out for someone at the store, and giveaway 5 Starbucks cards – that would be considered 3 different entries (because that’s 3 unique types of RAOKs). I hope this makes sense.

2) The other way to enter is to post about this giveaway on Twitter and/or Facebook and provide the link back to this blog post. THEN…come back here and comment and tell me you’ve done. The comment is what Random Integer will pick up when selecting the winner.

So, you can get your first entries in immediately by spreading the word on Twitter and Facebook and then come back after you complete your RAOKs. They don’t have to be big and elaborate friends…just bless somebody…randomly…when they’re not especting it. Can you imagine all the smiles this week?

So, what will you win? I’ve got a picture of it below, but specifically…you will win:

1) A Daily Prayer Organizer – what better random (or intentional) act of kindness can you do for somebody than pray for them. This is a WONDERFUL organizer new on the market. I have one and LOVE it!

2) Two journals – one to keep and one for you to give away (another RAOK)

3) Two $5.00 Starbucks giftcards – one to keep and one for you to give away (and yet another RAOK)

4) Lastly, a box of blank notecards. Leaving a kind note for someone is another powerful way to express love and you can even do it randomly!

I’m praying for a great turnout with this giveaway, because I truly want to see all of us catch the “RAOK fever”. If you’ve never had much experience before with offering random acts of kindness…trust me, you will be so blessed!

Now…on your mark…get set…go bless somebody!!!

Don’t forget to come back and here and tell me about it and get entered to win! 🙂