Monday, June 13, 2016

From My Heart


I'm not one to push a product or a website, but this one is very dear to my heart.

As you may have read in a previous post, my grandfather passed away nearly 6 months ago after being diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer only two months prior to his passing.  My family was delivered devastating news with hardly any time to process the enormous loss we would soon face.  

My grandfather was given his diagnosis in October, so as we crept up to the holiday season, my cousin and I were trying to find a way to encourage our grandparents during this difficult time.  My sweet cousin, Katie, came up with the idea of sending scriptures to our grandparents for daily encouragement beginning December 1st leading up to Christmas day.  

Together, my cousin and I searched through our bibles, finding scripture that not only encouraged us, but would remind our grandparents of the glorious day that was ahead for our grandfather.  We quickly printed scriptures on individual pieces of paper, enclosed them in an envelope and instructed our grandparents to open one envelope each day and read the scripture together.  

Every day, until December 25th, our grandparents read scripture together and then hung each card on a ribbon in their hallway to allow themselves the reminder of God's promises.

My grandfather closed his eyes to the world only four days after Christmas.

Our grandmother shared with us that she continued to reread the cards everyday and she had actually begun to memorize each scripture (that's a lot of scripture - I still have a hard time memorizing one!).

Seeing the encouragement our grandparents felt, and the encouragement my grandmother was still receiving, Katie and I were compelled to do something greater with God's word.

And so, Petunia Diaries was born.

Katie and I have joined together to continue sharing encouragement with the world around us.  Our homemade, home printer quality encouragement cards have been revamped into beautiful personally designed, professionally printed cards that can be used for anything your heart desires.  Send a note of encouragement to someone in need; place your favorite card in a frame to keep in your home, or you can do like I do - I keep several cards tacked to a cork board in my "war room" for daily encouragement and reminders of God's love.

Are you wondering why we chose the name Petunia Diaries?

It comes directly from our hearts.  Our grandmother would lovingly refer to each of us as her petunia, and since this project began with our grandparents, we wanted to incorporate something sentimental in our name.  

Ever since I was a little girl (7 years old, to be exact), I've always kept some type of diary or journal to record my deepest thoughts, my heartfelt desires, and my intimate prayers.  Diaries are the place where we are free to expose our hearts.

So, in a way, we are sharing our diary with you.  

Please stop by our Etsy shop and take a look around.  We are just beginning and are planning to have many more wonderful things available to you (we already sold out of our journals - can't believe it!).  

As a special THANK YOU to all of my subscribers, we are offering a 10% discount off your entire order (coupon code: SSfriends - this code expires on 06/21/16)

I am SO thankful for each of you and the many ways you have encouraged me over the last couple of years as I have shared my "diary" with you through this blog.  Each of you mean so much to me, and I am truly so thankful for your continued support.  


"Love one another..." (1 John 3:23)

Thank you for loving me.

xoxo





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