Exactly one year ago today—March 26, 2012—I used the title “Chalkboards and Changes” for the first blog post published on Petals from the Basket. What an incredible year this has been! In that first post, I shared the following:

One week ago today, my life went pear-shaped (i.e., the bottom fell out)…Change. But a change appointed by my unchanging God.

A few moments ago I walked from one side of my apartment to the other and dropped off some freshly-folded towels in the bathroom. As I turned to leave, I glanced up at the never-touched-by-chalk chalkboard on the wall. I stopped to wipe away tears of joy as I thanked Him that I’m facing each new day, each change, with fresh mercy! (Click here to read the entire first post.)

And that is exactly what this year has been: a year of seeing the grace and mercy of God at work in my life and in the enlarging scope of this blog and website.

I humbly admit that I had absolutely no direction when I hit “Publish” for the first time. I just knew that I love to write. Over the first few months, I tried things that I thought would please readers; I even asked for random people to “like” the Facebook page (which I no longer ever do); and I tried doing what famous blog writers do to get “followers.”

But while preparing a devotional one night, I read my life verse, I Corinthians 10:31, and felt the complexity of its simple truth hit my heart: “Do all to the glory of God.” That’s when I began to love the process of blogging—because I was finally doing it for the reasons that were right for me!

To those who have taken time to read some of the 194 posts, I thank you! To those who have participated by leaving one of the 279 comments, I thank you! To those who have stuck with me through the zig-zagging journey of my life—reflected in this blog—I thank you!

Your notes of encouragement, promises of prayer, Facebook “shares,” and contest participation have been used of God to bless my life, and I am sincerely grateful. I’m aware that you have many options, and I am blessed that you even occasionally choose this site as one of yours.

As a way of saying thank you today, available only through a visit to the actual website, I am giving away a set of seven beautiful, Christian greeting cards from the Ed G Biv Etsy site. You even get to choose which seven cards you would like! In fact, I’m feeling so grateful today that I am going to randomly choose (through a third party) two winners to each receive a set of seven cards!

Simply leave a comment with your name and last initial and the city and/or state (or country, for overseas readers) where you live, and you will be entered! The winners will be announced on Thursday, so you must submit your “entry comment” by midnight tonight! (Example: Susie A., Chicago, IL)

Thank you for reading Petals from the Basket. Thank you for uplifting my spirit at times you didn’t know you needed to. Thank you for sharing in the joy of this anniversary!

And thanks for coming back tomorrow—this is a three-day celebration!

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