Noonday Blog Train Giveaway.

Happy New Year everyone!

And welcome newcomers to my blog

in search of the giveaway of the day for our

NOONDAY BLOG TRAIN!

What is a blog train, you ask?
Each day in January,
one of us Noonday Ambassadors will be hosting a giveaway
and sharing a little tidbit of our choice.
What will result is 31 different perspectives
for increased awareness, sharing favorite products,
and vessels for spreading the Noonday love.
Oh yeah, and 31 awesome giveaways!!!

 Jan. 1st~McCall at www.leemeandthegirls.blogspot.com
 Jan 2nd~Beth at www.foundbyhope.blogspot.com

If you are following the train,

you have already heard some pretty powerful motivation 

for why you might want to get on board and follow the movement 

{that is growing and hopefully here to stay}

to be a conscientious consumer.

My focus for today's post is...

I am probably not the only one who is currently looking around,

assessing the debris that is left from a season of my life that wasn't in "the plan."

For me, it was an irretrievably broken marriage.

The last place that I ever thought that I would find myself was as a single mom.

With the weight of the world on my shoulders as I walked down a path

 of raising a little girl on my own

 and make ends meet while also not disappearing 

from the simple moments of her day-to-day life.

For you, it might be the loss of a loved one.

A child, a parent, a sibling, or friend.

Or the tired longing for a relationship that hasn't yet come.

The baby.  The husband.

It may be an untruth that was told of you.

Or an injustice that was done that has resulted 

in a dramatic shift in your circumstances.

It might be an addiction that is out of control.

Or maybe it's the horror of an abusive relationship.

Suffering in it's many forms feels the same for all of us.

All that we hoped for or dreamed of is ripped away without warning.

{If hope or dreams was ever ours in the first place...}

The dignity and wholeness that we were created for are gone.

This is the verse that gave Noonday it's name:

We have a very real enemy that delights in our demise.

That laughs as we flounder around in the rubble of our brokenness.

What he wants is for us to get lost in our own suffering.

To give up hope that any light is out there.

But what if we outwitted him?

What if, as we trusted God to work out the details of our own personal messes,

we also reached out and attempted to do something 

about the suffering and oppression going on around us?

I believe that God has called me to be a part of The Noonday Collection

so that I can experience the bright light of the Noonday sun IN TANDEM

with the artisans that create our products.

As I share their remarkable stories of victory and promote their righteous cause,

I delight in the hope of redemption that the Lord offers to all of us.

There is something so beautiful about kindred suffering.

That if someone on the other side of the world can overcome the odds

and thrive in the midst of circumstances that seem so very bleak,

then certainly we, living in a land of golden opportunity, 

{with so many conveniences and privileges that offer us favor}

can experience that same kind of victory.

Daily, with God's help, I am trading in my own personal ashes 

for the hope of beauty, folks.

It's fitting that because Noonday was a part of that trade,

that so many B-E-A-utiful pieces are now in my closet 

just waiting to share the ashes to beauty {ATB} message.

{I think I just coined a new acronym, ladies??}

So, there you have it.

Why I am blessed to be a part of The Noonday Collection.

And now, for tangible beauty in the form of our Ancient Ways earrings:

It's no secret that our Ethiopian products are amongst my personal faves.

You can read more about their "ATB" message here.
Warning: the story behind these little beauties is pretty darn amazing...

These lovely earrings can be yours if you are the lucky winner of

my Noonday blog train giveaway. 

You've got 5 days and plenty of ways to enter.

Ready? Set? Go! 

Click below for your chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***TUNE IN TOMORROW TO www.sarahthacker.com FOR DAY 4 OF THE BLOG TRAIN. :)