Happy Val Day, Sister!

Here's praying your day is sweet!

Valentine's Event at "Simple Delights"

"Simple Delights" blog is hosting a Valentine's event!  To participate, too, click on the link here or in the sidebar & follow the instructions!

1). What is your favorite part about Valentine's Day?  The love part! =)

2). Your favorite romantic movie...  Belle & the Beast: A Christian Romance  

3). Dark or milk chocolate?  Both, of course!

4). What is something you do to make Valentine's Day special?  I've got sort of a tradition going that on every Valentine's Day I write a love letter to my future husband.  Plus, I pick out an especially cute outfit to wear & eat chocolate!    

5). Which would you prefer getting as a gift on Valentine's Day: Flowers or chocolates?  I find buying myself chocolates is easy {it is a source of nourishment, after all - & every once in a while we all could use some chocolate}, but as a single girl I have trouble rationalizing buying myself something just for the sake of beauty & happiness - especially when that something's petals eventually droop & fall to the ground.  So, I'd love to find a guy who thinks enough of me to buy me the flowers that I've been waiting for.  Give me flowers, please!   

6). If you're married, what do you enjoy doing with your husband to celebrate? n/a at the moment

7). If you're single, what do you hope to do with your husband if you get married someday?  I look forward to spending quality time with my prince - just me & him... chatting, taking a walk, having an adventure... 

I love love... & you, dear reader!

-Bess- 

New Year's Eve {In Pics}

Did you read my New Year's Eve post?  Here it is if you didn't {click me}, & here are a few pics from it...

my Martinelli's sparkling white grape juice, non-alcoholic, of course {such a cute mini bottle for 1}

my pizza {which I don't know why the pepperoni's are placed that way - I ate late & was so hungry I sorta just shoved it in the oven helter-skelter}

the back of the fancy dress I wore {it's not easy getting a good pic when you're the model & photographer}

midnight kisses =)

one of the songs I sang to bring in this sweet new year God has given us

Happy New Year, girls!

-Bess-

New Year's Eve for 1 Please

Special things can happen at midnight - think Cinderella at the ball when the clock struck 12... think New Year's Eve.  Yes, midnight can hold surprises.  As a single girl at this year's close, writing this in my fuzzy bathrobe with notepad on my knee, I know it can also be lonely, &, yes, even awkward, too.  Going to a party & watching everyone else smooch is a real crickets chirping, out of place, suddenly senselessly fascinated in a strange family portrait on the wall kind of experience.  Staying at home isn't always that much better, as you toss around ideas of just going to bed or waiting another minute to see if your fairy godmother shows up.  It doesn't have to be this way, though.  The King of the Universe - the great I Am before there was time - loves you & thinks you amazingly worth His all.  Rest in that & celebrate it.  I may be in a bathrobe now, but by 11:00 I'll be in my most fancy dress & ready to herald in the New Year singing praises to my Prince & Savior Jesus... solo in my apartment, yes, but joyful & never truly alone.  Even if your plans aren't what you'd like this year, celebrate Christ's love for you in your heart & then the whole 2013 through.  Even if your only kiss this New Year's is a Hershey's chocolate one, know you are loved by the best & truest love ever.

Happy 2013,

-Bess-

P.S.: I think this is going to be a great year!  Carpe diem!

Dear Single Christmas Girl,

I first published this post on Bess' Bag back in 2010.  It remains one of my favorite writings I've done on purity, waiting, & singlehood.  

Click here to read it @ Bess' Bag!

Hope you enjoy & find some encouragement for the Christmas season!

Love,
-Bess- 

Being Thankful

Sometimes the things we don’t have {& desperately want} can blind us to the things we do have. Holidays can be trying on the single girl’s heart, what with seeing others paired up sharing special moments, & relatives from out of town with their ever burning questions about your relationship status {or lack thereof}. But as Thanksgiving swiftly approaches, there is much to be thankful for if we just look outside the sphere that holds what we want, but don’t have, & look into the larger sphere of what we do. “Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done,” reads the lines of a hymn. I pray this Thanksgiving you will do as the old song says & “count your blessings…name them one by one…” & remember just “what God has done” in your life. There are hidden blessings all around, dear girl, just look.  

With Thanksgiving, 
-Bess-