the joy dare

There are a few books in my life that have had marked impact in my life.
One Thousand Gifts is one of those books.
My sister dared to give me this book this past fall.
She knew.
She knew I needed such a book.
She knew I was hurting.
She knew I needed joy.
She just knew.

And I will be forever grateful.
Because I will never be the same again.

A Holy Experience has now become a part of my daily ritual.
Topics like joy. pain. habits. gifts. fears. thanks. beauty. messes.
Addressed daily.
Written eloquently.
Explored honestly.
Renewed continually.

Ann Voskamp, the author, invites you to wake up to a thousand gifts.
Her book is a journey through her own discovery of the beauty of each day.
Her journey of writing down these gifts.
One Thousand Gifts.
One gift at a time.

Can you see where my one little word for 2012 arrived from? gifts.
I am a little slow.
My word did not show itself to me immediately.
But it did, eventually.
To incorporate olw with the impact of this book gives even more rise to this book and journey in my life.

Project Life.
Project Life too will be impacted by this book. by my word.
It is all working together as a theme in my life.
Looking for the beauty in everyday.
Looking for beauty in the mess.
Looking for beauty in the unintentional.

if you are still reading this...
i would share with you now part of my 1000 gifts...
as found this new year already.
writing down just three gifts a day
leads to 1000 gifts journaled in eleven months.

gifts #95-119
joyful girls
waffles cooking
little boy hair lines
a hot shower
Paul-lunch-Sunday
life long friends
faith
time to ponder
a fresh, new day
an embrace from my oldest son
that smiling baby
the mental ability to recover from a late waking start
reading to my daughers
photographs
intentional breakfast family time
relational insights
fun with middle schoolers
anticipation of a mailed package
inspiring thoughts
beautiful words
dinner in the crockpot
windows open in january
support of friends
anticipation of an evening with loved ones
celebrating epiphany with my kids

i invite you now to read about the Joy Dare over on Ann's blog.