"Show Us Your Life": My Favorite Blogs

I just recently (and by "just recently", I mean like within the past week) started following a very well-known blog called "Kelly's Korner". Several of the blogs I already followed are followers of her blog, so after checking it out and reading up on her a bit, I decided to jump on the bandwagon.
Kelly does a blog series called "Show Us Your Life" which gives her readers a chance to get to know her and her other readers better by discussing different topics and linking up their own blog posts to hers. On Friday, Kelly posted a new "Show Us Your Life" discussion topic, asking her readers to share their favorite blogs, and I decided I'd participate.
So, in this post, I'll be sharing my top four favorite blogs of the blogs I follow. Why four? Well... although I enjoy reading all the blogs I follow, I didn't want to spend all day discussing each one (I don't have time for that), so I figured it'd be best to cut it down to the four I read most often and that inspire me the most (each in their own ways). The first two blogs are more well-known in the public blog world, both with thousands of followers, and both written by women I don't actually know personally. The other two blogs are written by personal friends of mine, and well... I just love them.
So, without further ado, here they are - my favorite blogs:

First up is a blog called "Another Day Stronger" written by a woman named Kellie Staats (I've posted about her/her blog a couple times in the past few days). I first discovered Kellie's blog back in February through a link a friend of mine posted on Facebook asking for prayers for her and her family. When I checked out her story, I ended up sobbing on my couch for probably an hour. Kellie and her husband, James, tragically lost their only child, a precious baby girl named Madison, to SIDS when she was just four months old. As a mommy of a little girl myself (and now with a baby boy on the way), I felt so overwhelmingly heartbroken for Kellie. I absolutely cannot imagine what I would do if I ever lost either one of my babies. Kellie's blog is not one for the faint of heart, but her courage to share her story with the public and face each new day in the midst of her heartache is inspiring on so many levels. I am reminded every day to NEVER take a single second with my babies (or any of my loved ones, for that matter) for granted. I truly believe I am a better mother because of Kellie.

The next blog is called "In This Wonderful Life", written by a sweet-spirited woman named Megan. I've been following Megan's blog for several months as well, and if I'm not mistaken, I actually discovered it through Kellie's blog. Megan has a sad story as well. Megan has PCOS (just like me), and she and her husband, Brent, struggled to conceive a child. However, in June of last year, she gave birth to a precious baby boy named Cohen, who was born with congenital heart defects. Sadly, when he was just twelve days old, he passed away. My heart broke for Megan and her family. Cohen was just over a week older than my Rylee, so once again, I was reminded to cherish every moment with her. Megan's story gets "brighter", though... although she and her husband still miss their Cohen every day (and always will, of course), Megan was blessed to conceive again, and two weeks ago, they welcomed TWINS - a boy named Knox and a girl named Sloane - into the world. Thankfully, Knox and Sloane are both healthy and doing very well (and both absolutely precious!). I look forward to watching them grow through the updates and pictures Megan posts.

My third favorite blog is called "Stones of Remembrance", and it's written by a wonderful Godly woman I'm blessed to know personally. Her name is Lesley, and she is the wife of the associate pastor at my church, and a stay-at-home mommy to two beautiful little girls named Reagan and Gracen. I love reading Lesley's blog, because it always leaves me feeling so encouraged and uplifted (and sometimes even convicted) spiritually. She often shares what she is currently reading in her Bible studies, and she isn't afraid to make herself vulnerable by revealing the areas in her life where she is struggling or feeling convicted. She also often shares her "adventures" - both the highs and lows - of taking care of her girls, which always encourages me as a young stay-at-home mom. Reading her blog reminds me that, even though I may strive every day to be like Christ, I'm still human, and I'm still going to make mistakes sometimes. No one is perfect - not even a minister's wife. And that's okay. Lesley has such a desire and a hunger to constantly draw nearer to God, and I am blessed to have women like her in my life to look up to.

The fourth blog on my "favorites" list (and dare I say it?... my favorite of the favorites) has to be "I am my Beloved's and He is mine." This blog is written by my lovely friend Katrina. Before I go any further, I must say that she actually just started this blog last month. However, before this blog, she had another blog called "Whimsy and Wonder", which she retired last month. Anyway, I absolutely LOVE reading Katrina's blog. And I do mean LOVE. (Just read her final post in "Whimsy and Wonder"... I was one of the people BEGGING her to come back to the blogging world when she went on a blogging hiatus for a while recently. It was a terrible time. I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to survive, but thankfully, she heard my cries and pleas for mercy and finally came back.) One of the biggest things I love about Katrina's blog is that she freely shares her heart. She has such a beautiful, Godly spirit, and her love for Christ just overflows in her words. She is truly in love with her Savior, and it is such an encouragement to me. I desire to have that same love for Him. Katrina also has a Christ-like love for people, especially those who are hurting or in need. She is one of the most compassionate, gentle people I know. If Katrina could have her biggest dream come true, it would be to adopt every single orphan in the entire world. (Okay, let me correct that last statement just a bit... it would be to marry Tim Tebow and THEN adopt every single orphan in the entire world. She wants/needs a good "baby daddy" in the picture.) I don't know many people like that. Another thing I absolutely love about Katrina's blog is that it almost ALWAYS leaves me cracking up laughing. It doesn't matter what she's talking about... she can make just about anything at least a little humorous. She is just hilarious, and I love it. If I'm ever having a rough day and need something to brighten my spirits, I know I can always count on a blog post from Katrina to do the trick.

So, there you have it - my four favorite blogs. I hope you'll check them out!