YOU are gifted!

Yesterday afternoon, as I was riding my bike up a rather large hill (in an artless attempt to work off an overindulgence of salt-n-vinegar chippies) I passed a church. Out the front was a large billboard and on it was this message:

"Some of God's greatest gifts are packaged as people..."

Given that I was only halfway up the hill, I had a while to ponder this.

And for some reason, it had a lot of resonance with me. People really can be a gift in themselves, can't they? I feel honoured to be blessed with some friends and family who really ought to be wrapped in paper and tied together with string, such is their gift to me, just by being themselves!

And then I thought, wouldn't it be a lovely Christmas gesture to recognise some of the special people in blogland who entertain, enrich, inspire and lighten our lives a little with their words each day?

So I'm creating my own award, it's called the 'you are gifted' award, and I'm going to give mine to a few special bloggers to recognise their gifts. And then I'm going to invite YOU to do the same.

Here I go:

Amanda from The Homely One. In blogland, I am yet to encounter a more supportive, encouraging person than Amanda. I know she visits many of your blogs, and faithfully reads and post comments week after week. Amanda, your gift is this friendship that you have extended to me and to many others. Thankyou.

Sonia from Tied with a Bouw.  You've got to admire this girl for her style - I adore her white, pristine modernist apartment in KL, and this is a girl who would like stylish in a paper bag! A girl with a taste for the finer things in life, she manages to write in such down-to-earthedness to inspire me to enjoy living vicariously through her! Congratulations on your beautiful (and no doubt stylish!) baby girl, Sonia!

Janette from My Sweet Prints. From humble beginnings, I've enjoyed watching Janette grow from a girl with a blog to a girl with a blog AND a thriving online print business! Janette, your gift has been your entrepreneurial get-up-and-go to inspire me (and many others) to just believe in our dream and go for it! Your prints are amazing, girl!

Maxabella from Maxabella Loves. Here's a woman whose posts are always witty, inspiring and written with such honesty. Maxabella's gift is her ability to recognise the beauty around her and motivate others to do the same. Loving your work, girl!

Jess from Life's Little Whispers. There is something organically gorgeous about Jess, and we share lots of the same decorating taste and ideas about living with and creating an environment for children. Jess' gift is in projecting such a positive energy about her and in making others appreciate the simple things in life!

There are so many others I could/should mention... but now its your turn.

It's simple. Just acknowledge 3-5 special bloggers like I have, writing a little line explaining their special 'gift'. Let them know about it, and invite them to similarly spread the joy! If you are the recipient of a 'gift' its always nice to acknowledge the person who sent it to you... but the fun here is in the 'giving', not the 'receiving' Feel free to steal my button above.

Special best wishes to every single person who has ever taken the time to comment on my blog, each of you hold a key to my little diary... where would I be without you? x