I think I mentioned before that I follow several different types of blogs: cooking, crafting, decorating, Christian living, and the list goes on. One wonderful blog that I have been so encouraged by is A Holy Experience and is written by Ann Voskamp the author of this outstanding book:
Last week I was reading her post about a habit my new year can not do without. I would encourage you to read her words, because they explain The Joy Dare much better than I can! But basically, I desire to grow closer to God and He used her words to inspire me:
"A habit of not complaining, but the habit of giving thanks; the habit of not worrying, but a habit of worshipping. The habit of repeatedly giving God praise that our lives might become a prayer. Small is always the leverage of large. It's on moment after the other, the small moments that turn a life. It's the small actions that can change a life. It's habits that can imprison you and it's habits that can free you and when thanks to God becomes a habit, so joy in God becomes your life."
So I will be taking The Joy Dare, and I will be keeping a list for 2012 of specific gifts from God's hand in my life. Ann even has a list of ideas to help me out for the month of January.
Yikes! Three things every day for 356 days. On the one hand it seems challenging - 365 days is a long time! But on the other hand literally EVERYTHING i have/see/touch were created by God and given to me as a gift from HIM! I was reading Psalm 139 this morning and the following verses just kind of jumped off the page at me
Psalm 138:7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
No matter where I go, His hand will guide me. Lord, guide me to Thankfulness and Joy that can only come from you! I skipped ahead to the 3 things for day 9 (I am going to do back and fill in #1-24 using my regular pen and paper journal)
25. A card game played with Grandparents
26. church rows filled with people singing praise to God
27. Sitting down to lunch with my family
Anyone else out there want to take The Joy Dare? Happy Monday!
I loved this book and recommend it to people all the time as the book that helped me most cope with the grief from my mom's passing. Ironically, the habit of thankfulness for everything is one of my mom's greatest legacies! Thanks for reminding me of this book. (Did you think the WHOLE book was outstanding?)
ReplyDeleteI'm doing the dare too. I have my list on my fridge and I add to it each day. I love Ann. She is so profound and yet so simple. God is really using her.
ReplyDelete@CZ I guess 'outstanding' may not be the correct word... challenging and thought provoking, maybe... to be perfectly honest I had to put the book down several times when I was reading it because my heart didn't always wanting to hear what she was writing. Parts of it were to hard to read at the time I was reading it. I read it last year, and maybe I need to re-read :) I just need to find my copy...
ReplyDeleteWhat a great daily ritual! Is there a rule about counting blessings more than once? I've got 3 that top my list every day, Jackson, Milo, and Stella!
ReplyDelete@Cassy What about Paul ;)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great, Veronica! I have been keeping a list of 1,000 gifts (at the bottom of my blog) since I read the book, but I don't add to it every day... Maybe that should be my new year's challenge!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! And I love the verse you chose today. Like you, I find it amazing how God can put the exact thing that I need in front of me at the moment I need it. In fact, instead of a New Years Resolution, my goal is to be more open to inspiration when its presented to me. I look forward to reading more from you, I'm a new blogger too & would love a follow back!
ReplyDeletehttp://mymeller.blogspot.com/