Happy Birthday Graceful Gaines!

Happy 1st Birthday Graceful Gaines!

Today is a huge day for me. It’s the one year anniversary of Graceful Gaines. For one year now, I have posted Monday through Friday my thoughts and reflections as I seek more of God in my life. I want to thank you all for reading and for the many positive comments you have given me here and on Facebook and through phone calls and in person. Every share, every note has meant the world to this fledgling writer.

I have always wanted to be a writer and I put that little dream on the back burner for a long time and then I felt an awakening of sorts, and that God was nudging me to write. I didn’t really know anything about blogging so I did a little research. He prompted me to start off with a small online Bible Study that was only open to the people I invited. I really enjoyed it and had a good response. There were times as I sat at my keyboard, that I knew the words were not mine, but came from the Holy Spirit. It was an awesome feeling. It wasn’t until about six months later that I felt in my heart, it was really time to proceed.

As I made the plans to get started, I had to come up with a name. I was praying about it and had bounced around a dozen or so ideas on paper. Then one day, right after I dropped my daughter off at school, the name came to me. When I did a search, I knew it didn’t exist already, because I felt as if God whispered it in my ear.

My premise for writing was simple. Watch for God in the world around me and share what I see and learn. It’s been such an amazing ride. As I seek God, He always gives me something to share. When I feel myself grappling with faith issues, I share them here because I think others may be struggling with the same. Isn’t that what community is supposed to be about? I have learned so much while writing in this space and you have shared so much and caused me to think harder and dig deeper.

I have a neat little program that shows how many people from different countries have read my words. People from 56 different countries have visited this site and some of the countries are not even Christian countries. People from places like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and United Arab Emirates have read encouraging words about Jesus. My simple words have been read around the world and that thought moves me to tears.

Here is a map of all the countries in the world who have someone living there who has visited Graceful Gaines.

God has been so faithful to me as I try to share my story intertwined with His and the response has amazed me. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for reading. Thanks for all of your encouragement and your comments. I pray that I can continue to encourage you and provide you with food for thought for another year. This journey has truly been a dream come true for me. Thanks so much for helping me make that happen.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂