God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.
Use them well to serve one another. (1 Peter 4:10)

Today is my 49th birthday.

Gasp!

I’ve lived nearly half of my life (yes, I do plan on living to be 100!) and I have been abundantly blessed by the Lord in ways that I could not ever imagine.

July is not only my birthday month, but it’s also my 7 year blogiversary month. Yep, I’ve been at this writer thing for nearly 7 years. I wish I had the very early posts from when I first started out on TypePad under the name, “Moments for Moms”. I had such grandious plans to reach out to moms. What I realized back then was as a full-time working mom (who still is working full time), I did not have a moment to stop and write about how to have great moments with God.

So I scraped that one and started My Freshly Brewed Life back in 2008 with a passion to encourage the hearts of women of all ages.

I have had a passion for writing since I was young, but I never dreamed of where a simple desire to start a blog would take me. I have met so many beautiful woman through their on line homes and feel like I have hundreds of friends world-wide.

As I take a moment to reflect on all of the many gifts God has given to me in my 49 years, writing and being able to encourage others are two of the gifts that I treasure the most, next to my family.

Some days, I don’t know where I’m going, let alone what I’m doing. And this year so far has proven to be the most challenging of my writing seasons. I have yet to settle into a flow of writing again, but that’s okay. If there is one thing I’ve learned it’s that this writing thing must happen in it’s own time, but most importantly in His time. On those days when I lack words, I fall back on what I know.

[tweetthis]My life is a gift to be used for His glory to encourage others. @BarbieSwihart[/tweetthis]

Whether that be through word or deed, my life is not my own. I first belong to Him. I am thankful for all that He’s brought me through — the good, the challenging, the “I don’t understand what You are doing, Lord” seasons. Every year of my life has been stamped with His hand of blessing, protection and provision.

My life is a gift to give away to others.

God has given me the ability to write and encourage others along their journey. I don’t claim to have all of the answers, nor do I claim to be a Bible scholar with all of the glorious interpretations of scripture.

But what I do know is how God has moved in my own life.
What I do know is how God has brought me through to the other side of some seasons.
What I do know is how God remains with me through the valley seasons.
What I do know is that God loves me.
What I do know is that God loves you!

I am thankful for this gift that He’s given to me and pray that I will continue to steward it well. I am grateful for each and every one of you who visit here. You are treasures in my life. Whether we’ve been acquainted for 7 years, a few months, or are just getting to know each other, I count you all as gifts in my own life.

If I could give you one word of advice for your own life today, that would be this:

[tweetthis]When you don’t know what else to do, offer up the gifts He’s put in you to encourage others. @BarbieSwihart[/tweetthis]

What gift has God given you to encourage others with?

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