Adopt A Grandparent

If you are reading this it means that I believe that you are a giving person and might like to participate in what I am doing for Christmas. I am running a program called "Adopt a Grandparent". My goal is to donate at least 200 mugs of Mary Kay’s "Cocoa & Cream" to a local Nursing Home here in the Chattanooga area this Christmas. I will purchase a Christmas mug and in it I will put a MK Mint Bliss Foot Cream, Hot Cocoa Mix, and a peppermint stick. I will be wrapping them beautifully & writing them each a hand written note from YOU! For some of the residents, this small gesture may be the ONLY Christmas gift they receive. You can participate by donating $15 per gift... You can send a check to me or I also take credit & debit cards. If you have questions, would like to participate, or KNOW someone that can participate, please email me. If you are a business owner or know a business owner, it is a GREAT way to give back into the community as well as spread the word about your business. I need to get everything ordered on the 15th so I can get it here & put together before Christmas. If you would be a sponsor, I would greatly appreciate it and PLEASE pass this on to your friends and family!

*If you are not local to me and want to do something for a nursing home that is local to you, please let me know. If you are local to me and would like to go with me to distribute the gifts, you are more than welcome to!*

Thank you, IN ADVANCE and God Bless your giving hearts!!

Help For The Holidays

My heart is heavy this morning because I have been sitting here thinking about how many people need help this time of year. Then I thought, well people need help whether it's holiday time or not. But I think this time of year makes it especially painful for those who are struggling. Whether it's financially, emotionally, physically, or all 3. I always want to help everyone who I hear about, but I can't help everyone by myself. God can.....He can help through people like YOU and me. So I'm writing this morning to encourage you to help someone this holiday season. If you are unsure of who to help or where to look, I can gladly point you in the direction of some people who really need help.

I am personally doing fundraisers for several people right now, so if you would like to contribute, please email me. Right now I am focusing on helping the homeless so they can have food, hats, blankets, coats, & toiletry items. I am also doing several specific fundraisers for some people who truly need our help. One is for a great guy in CA. who works full time, but has had a run of bad luck and is now living in his car. Another is for a sweet widow who has cancer and her insurance is not going to pay for all of her chemo treatments. Both of these great people would be especially grateful for any help that anyone could offer. I don't know them personally and they don't even know that I am doing this for them....and I don't care if they know. I don't do this for a "pat on the back", I do it because my heart is to help. I do it because I feel that I have been called to do more with this business other than just earn money for my family.

My goal is to sell 300 lipsticks per fundraiser...I'm trying to keep it simple because I know how easy is to get overwhelmed with what product to buy. I also know that most people who will read this probably can afford a $13 lipstick, but might not be able to afford to give several hundred dollars to a fundraiser. So if you would please pass this along to all of your friends & family, I would greatly appreciate it! I am offering a $50 gift certificate to the person who brings in the most orders.....bringing in 10 to be entered into the drawing. Once you have your 10, you will be entered and then whoever brings in the most after that, WINS!

I take debit & credit cards on my website, so it's super easy for you to order. Also.....I would highly suggest that you order one of the 3 Limited Edition Beauty That Counts Lipsticks! Not only will the profit go to help someone, BUT Mary Kay will donate $1 for every lipstick purchased to the MK Foundation for cancer research....how awesome is that?!?! They are appropriately named Give Dreams, Give Hope, and Give Joy.

If you would like to help give to any of these projects that I am currently working on, but you aren't interested in purchasing MK products, please email me. I'm happy to send you info. on how you can directly help these lovely people without purchasing products through me. After all, this is about helping people....however we can do that!

Small Business Saturday

Hello friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family! We had a great time at my parents house and of course, ate too much. Ha! I made a ham, homemade macaroni & cheese, and mashed potatoes. My oldest made a homemade French chocolate mousse cake, and my 11 yr. old made homemade truffles! They were both YUMMO! We arrived and brought in all of our goodies and helped my parents with last minute preparing.....okay, I helped. Hubby and kids watched TV. Then we feasted, but not before we prayed and thanked God for all of our many blessings. We had so much food, it was UNREAL. Turkey, ham, GIANT turkey legs, stuffing, squash casserole, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (2 kinds!), beans, fried corn, broccoli slaw, and MORE! Seriously, I didn't know what we would do with it all. It was so nice to sit around with my family and just enjoy each other. No rushing, no agenda, just ENJOY each other. Love it!

So what did all of you do for Thanksgiving? I would love to hear your stories! Did you guys know that today is Small Business Saturday?! Did you know that I can supply you with A LOT of your Christmas gift needs?! Well, I can! I have gift sets for moms, dads, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, friends, co-workers, etc. If you have someone you need to buy a gift for, I can help you! I have gift sets starting at $12! I have GREAT stocking stuffers too.....and who else do you know that will gift wrap & ship/deliver your gifts for FREE?!! No one! So please support local today, support small business's who are truly trying to make a difference in this world.

I gift wrap & deliver for FREE.....support local & shop with me! www.marykay.com/summerwillard

All of my gift sets are custom, so you won't see what I can do on my website. It's just to give you and idea of what products I use. If you would like pictures of my custom work, please email me and I'm happy to send you some! Happy shopping friends! And know that you are helping to support a business that helps others!

Thankful

For the month of November, I have been posting on facebook everyday, something that I am thankful for. Honestly, I think we should take the time to be thankful everyday, ALL year long. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day and not focus on being grateful. So I wanted to take the time to post here some of the things I have posted on facebook that I am grateful for. Feel free to comment here or email me with what YOU are grateful for!

- I am thankful for a husband who loves me no matter what and will ALWAYS stand by me. I am always his # 1 priority after the Lord and that is something to truly be thankful for!!

- I am SO grateful that my husband and I BOTH get to have our own business and work from home!!! The flexibility is amazing and there isn't that stress that you normally find with a job outside of the home. It is truly a gift from God and I don't ever want to take it for granted!! :)

- I am thankful for choices....that know matter what your circumstances are, we all have the choice to change them. With the Lord and being willing to choose wisely, we can overcome any situation that we choose! :)

- I am thankful for my 4 wonderful children. I start the day everyday in prayer, thanking God for all the many blessings that He has blessed me with and continues to bless me with. And my 4 kiddos I am truly, truly thankful for! I continue to be amazed at how awesome my children are, I am so very proud of all of them. It is a huge privilege and honor to be their mom!! :)

- I am thankful for our wonderful church Covenant Life Worship Center! Lead by such wonderful pastors who truly care and don't judge. They welcome you with open arms right away and truly want to KNOW you. It is such a refreshing experience and I am thankful for them every, single, day!!! :)

- I am thankful that the Lord has a plan for my life....that I don't have to wonder who I should be or what I should do. I just have to trust in Him and let Him lead me to do the things that He has for me.

- I am thankful for the positive influences in my life! For those of you who speak positive and stay positive.....thank you! It makes such a difference to surround yourself with people who ENCOURAGE and don't discourage with the words that come out of their mouth. :)

- I am thankful for Karen Hieb Bandel! She has been one of the best friends and mentors ever! She encourages me and gives me the best example of how to operate your business by the Golden Rule....I am truly blessed that the Lord brought her into my life! :)

- I am thankful for the Lord's promises!! He is so full of love, grace, and mercy for all of us....I am truly humbled by the goodness of the Lord. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

- I am thankful for my wonderful friends! I have friends who are genuine and real....who truly care. That is something that is rare these days, so I don't take it for granted....very thankful!! :)

-I am thankful for Mary Kay Ash. She allowed the Lord to lead her in starting a company that would truly end up being a ministry to women everywhere! She worked hard and didn't give up, even when negative people around her told her not to start this company. And now, almost 50 years later, MK Cosmetics is a debt free, privately owned company that helps MILLIONS of people world wide! And I get to be a part of it.....so grateful!! :)

- I am thankful for God's word. It is the key to everything in life and any problem or issue can be solved with it. I am so very grateful for the word of the Lord! This morning I was reading Proverbs 3 and even though I have read it many times before, it was so encouraging! If you haven't ever read it or haven't read it in awhile, take a look a Proverbs 3 today. :)

I am thankful for the Lord's forgiveness, grace, mercy, and healing. I have made a lot of bad choices in my life, but the Lord always forgives and covers me in His grace & mercy. He always brings healing for whatever I need, whether it's physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. AND....He teaches me to make GOOD choices so I don't end up where I was before!!

- I am so thankful for my flexible schedule....I don't know how else I would be able to stay at home with my kids and really be there for them. Or be able to move things around if I need to when something comes up.....all without sacrificing my paycheck! Love it!! :)

-I am thankful for those people who have integrity and common courtesy. It has become very rare in today's world for people to have integrity and courtesy is not so common anymore.....so I am more and more grateful for those people who have these qualities! It is very encouraging when you don't see it very often. :)

- I am thankful for my mom. She carried me in her womb for 9 months; She felt sick for months with nausea, then she watched her feet swell & her skin stretch & tear; she struggled to climb stairs, she got breathless quickly; she suffered many sleepless nights. Then went through excruciating pain to bring me into this world. She became my nurse, my chef, my maid, my chauffeur, my biggest fan, my teacher, & my best friend. She's struggled for me, cried over me, hoped for the best for me, & prayed for me. Thank you mom! I love you!

- I am thankful for God's surprises!! God has GREAT things in store for all of us and you never know when He will surprise you with something wonderful!!! :)

- I am thankful for Saturday mornings with my kiddos. No getting up early, and watching movies in your pajamas until noon....while eating Oreos. Simple, but oh so wonderful!!! :)

- I am so thankful for where God is taking our family. We are in a wonderful place and headed for things even more wonderful.....I am truly, truly grateful & humbled!!

- I am thankful for those people in this world who have taken the time to help me with so many things. God has really blessed me over the years with compassionate, kind, WILLING people who have truly made a difference in my life. So much so that I can't even name them all on here.....something to really be thankful for!!

- I am SO thankful that the inside of our house is going to be painted very soon!! I am so, so grateful for this!!!! :)

-I am grateful for this blog! I really feel like God is going to use this blog for wonderful things!!

Funding for Missions

Well hello there! Yesterday I posted about missions and how my heart is to truly help others through my business. I wanted to take the time to share with you about another fundraiser that I started so that you can all have the opportunity to participate if you would like to. I obviously can't do this without the support of others, we all have to work together to make a difference.

Right now I am still supporting the Albania cause that I told you all about before. I will be doing that through the end of the year. I've also just started another fundraiser for a couple here local to me. They will be traveling on a missions trip in Jan. 2012 and need help raising the funds to do so. I just read about it yesterday and it truly touched my heart because they are so humble and kind. They truly want to help others through this trip and the main thing they have asked for is PRAYER, not MONEY. How often do you hear that?!?! But obviously they can't go without money, so that is where I come in. I'm going to share with all of you what I read about their request.....they are okay with me doing so. I feel it will better communicate what their hearts are. It is my honor & privilege to be starting an online fundraiser for them today. If you would like to participate, please email me so I can add you to the invite. If you would just simply like to donate without purchasing Mary Kay products, you are more than welcome to do that too. All of my profit does go to them, so it's really a win win if you do purchase product. I have some great holiday gift sets on sale right now, so you could do your Christmas shopping and help raise money for missions in the process! Thank you all so much and I pray you enjoy reading their letter:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Abby and I are pleased to share with you an opportunity that God has given us to be part of a mission team to Uganda, Africa January 5th-15th, 2012. We will be partnering with our church on this trip and feel humbled that God would even allow us the opportunity to be part of this trip. The purpose for the trip will be to assist in a pastors’ conference through University Baptist Church, conduct home, hospital and clinic work with ill patients, minister to orphans and widows and care for refugees in the Nakivale Refugee Camp.

Abby and I are both scared and not completely sure why God would choose to use us or how he will use us in Uganda; however, we do both feel compelled to go. For most of my life I have not wanted anything to do with missions. I have thought missions was something that was for super Christians who woke up one morning and had “go to Africa” written on their bedroom wall. Being part of our church has pushed us to think globally and not just locally. Through active and intentional exposure to The Word of God, we feel led to be part of this trip.

Our hope is that you will partner with us on this trip. You can help us the most by praying. Please pray that:

God will be glorified - Philippians 2:11
God will provide - Philippians 4:19
We will put down our selfish desires - Mark 8:34
We will share the Gospel boldly - Romans 1:16
We will be diligent in prayer - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
We will be diligent in study - 2 Timothy 2:15

You can also help us by supporting through giving. Please do not feel obligated in any way to give. Please only give if you can joyfully and responsibly support this mission financially. The trip will cost $5,000 for Abby and myself. Also, we just found out yesterday that we will have to pay $3,618 by next Monday (October 31st) simply for airfare. We thought we would have much longer to raise the needed funds, but there has been some difficulty in arranging the airfare for the team and the only way to secure travel is to purchase the tickets early. We still have a need of $2,818 for the airfare. The current total need is $4,200 and we are trusting that God will provide this.

We would like to know who gives so we can respond with our thanks. If you would like to contribute financially, please direct message Abby for our mailing address. If you would rather us not know how much is given, please simply write “Confidential” on the outside of the envelope.

We are so thankful for your support. Thanks for the prayers you have offered up for Abby and myself already. Thank you in advance for the prayers you will pray for us. We love you and we hope and pray God will use you and will use us to share his most amazing mercy and grace with everyone we come in contact with.

Love and blessings,
Corey and Abby

Missions Trips & Baseball

Yes, the title to my post is Missions Trips & Baseball....I think it's catchy, don't you?! I hope you all have been doing well in the past month or so. We have been fighting sickness in the Willard household.....still are. However, I think we are all over the hump and will be good as new within the next week! Yay! Since we have 6 of us in our family, it's easy for one person to get sick and then pass it to someone else a week or two later. Resulting in someone being sick constantly for weeks! Totally drives me crazy and I'm looking for immune boosting things online that I can order for my whole family to take. So if you know of anything that works great, please pass on that info. to me.

Baseball, baseball, baseball......I love baseball! Okay, I don't LOVE it. But my kids do and because they do, I do. You know?! My 12 yr. old has been playing "Fall Ball" and we just had our last game last night. I'm actually sad that it's over! I really do enjoy watching him play and have such a good time. I think sports is such a great way for kids to learn AND have fun at the same time. As long as it's about fun being the primary. I'm not one of those parents who screams at the top of my lungs at my son for making a mistake or not doing something "just right" or "the way it should be".......I HATE it when parents do that. I just tell him to practice, do the best he can, never give up, and have FUN. And he does have so much fun and I love every, single minute of it.

I am going to admit that I have never personally been on a missions trip. I know that one day I will, probably sooner rather than later. My hubby has a huge heart for going on missions trips. Not that I don't, it's just that he is really passionate about it. But I have always done my best to help support anyone I know who is going on one. Whether it's for 2 weeks or 2 years.....they all need support to be able to go and help others. I am very passionate about helping others whenever I can and I'm so grateful for my business because it allows me to do that all the time. It is my vehicle to help others....whether it is by doing a fundraiser for them, helping them feel better about themselves by correcting skin problems, or helping them build their own business to do with what they would like. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity on a daily basis and I never want to take it for granted.

I will be posting later about a specific missions trip that I am supporting right now and I pray that you will choose to participate. Thank you all so much for your support in what I do, it truly means the world to me!!

Praying for Direction

This morning I am praying for the Lord to direct me exactly where He wants me to go. I am so passionate about helping others....that is the main reason I started my business. To help my family, to help needy families, to make a DIFFERENCE in this world that we live in. I really try to make it my focus because that really is what matters most. And funny enough, that is also where the true blessings are....through blessing others, you are also blessed more than you could ever imagine.

I tend to get overwhelmed with all that there is to do in life. Husband, 4 kids, business, church, friends, etc. My heart is to give 110% to EVERYONE. But a lot of the time, I can't do that. I so struggle with that...my heart wants to do so much, but my body doesn't line up with that a lot of the time. So this morning, I am asking that the Lord direct my steps to where He wants me to be at the exact time that He wants me to be there. In that I believe I will find my true hearts desires....to make a difference for others. I just have to learn to trust the Lord that He knows what He is doing better than I do. It's easy to get caught up in your own thoughts and the way you think things should go. When all along, the Lord is patiently waiting to show you the way.

So even though I can't see it sometimes, I know that the Lord has purpose in all of this. In all that I am passionate about. Because I believe that the Lord places the desires of our heart there for a reason. And He doesn't give you a dream in your heart if He isn't going to take you there. You just have to be willing to let Him in HIS plan and not your own.

When is a lipstick more than a lipstick?

Well I have done better this time. It's only been 2 months since I posted and not a year. I really do love to blog....a lot. I have a hard time balancing between hubby, 4 kids, running my business, church, etc. And taking time to blog, well it does just that, takes time. BUT....I do love it. So I really am going to try and be better about it. Do you believe me yet?! ;)

So here is what I have been up to. My recent fundraiser (still going on) is to help raise money for the wonderful people of Albania. I have a friend who is sponsoring them and has developed a deep passion for everyone in Albania. She visited there and came back with all sorts of stories that, of course, broke my heart. One of which is that domestic violence is extremely high there. But at this point, they have absolutely NO shelters at all. I can't imagine being in a domestic violence situation, much less not even having the choice to go somewhere safe. So I set a goal to sell 200 lipsticks for Albania. I know, I know.....sounds weird. But hey, most women like lipstick (or Lip Gloss if you prefer) and they are only $13. So it won't break the bank for most people. It's not nearly enough to build a shelter, but it is a start. And who doesn't like a really good lipstick?! Guys, don't answer. ;)

Lipstick really can be more than a lipstick. This video says it all:

It Really Has Been Over a Year

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I have posted on here. Things have been off the wall crazy. My health took a turn for the worst and honestly, I just didn't have the energy to blog. I'm thinking that I will try to be more consistent with it from now on. But it still won't be all the time,
just being reasonable. So how are all of you? I hope well! I would love to hear from all of you
again.....I have missed connecting with you!

Okay, so what am I working on right now? Right now I am working on supporting 2 different
ministries. One is a ministry located in Arizona and the other is one here local to me. The one
local to me is to raise money for the people who live in Albania....that will be going on all year.
The other is more of a short term goal, I'm just trying to help out another ministry because I
simply love how passionate they are about helping others. If you want to be a part of helping,
please contact me and I will let you know what you can do.

On another note, I started some new things in my business! I'm doing skin care consultations
and facials over the phone now. How do you do a facial over the phone you say? Well, it's
really simple. I just put together everything you need and mail it to you! Then we do your
skin care consultation over the phone and I walk you through everything to explain what it is
that you are using and what it will do for you. Pretty fun, huh?!?!! And SO simple for those who
are busy, but want to try something new or address specific skin care concerns.

I'm also doing bridal makeup which is SO much fun for me! I love putting makeup on people,
whether it's a super simple look or a high glamour look. Either way, I love it! And working with
brides and their bridal party is fun because I get to be there for all the happy, giddy, emotional
times. I love it!!

So, that is a small update on me and what has been going on over here at Beauty Beyond Measure. If you would like to help out these ministries, please email me at: summerwillard@inbox.com and I will let you know different ways that you can help out. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day!