Category: faith

In this month-long series of praising God and counting gifts, I cannot neglect to include one of my favorite passages: Psalm 100.

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!

Worship the LORD with gladness.

Come before Him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the LORD is God!

He made us, and we are His.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving;

go into His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the LORD is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and His faithfulness continues to each generation.

Friday’s theme: three unexpected gifts

1. a high school football story that brings tears:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuxejhBOCOo

2. a dear friend’s voice on the other end of the phone line

3. the invitation to a first birthday party

Saturday’s theme: three unconventional gifts

1. a Saturday morning field trip to the horse barn

2. learning to ride Chevy while she trots and canters

3. watching my children shovel horse manure

Sunday’s theme: three undervalued gifts

1. a lazy afternoon spent with friends

2. long talks around the kitchen table

3. playtime for strategy games like Pente and Gobblet Gobblers

Today’s theme: a gift silent, a gift still and a gift strong

1. silent: 45 minutes in the afternoon

2. still: the 7-year-old reading on the couch

3. strong: the determination of my almost-10-year-old as she adjusts to the challenge of talking with a mouthful of new retainers

The theme for each day’s gifts comes from the Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience.

“…this world, though fallen, is filled with delights and experiences and marriage and food and sunshine and beauty. And none of it is the permanent possession of the ungodly. These experiences and delights were invented by God and distributed to us by Him with the original intent of blessing His children and stirring our hearts toward thankfulness.

If that is true now in our daily lives, how much more will the new creation be our experience of God’s ceaseless outpouring of gracious gifts, given to us as we thank and worship Him forever!”

-John Piper

What’s stirring your heart toward thankfulness today? I’m still counting gifts, and praise God, He’s still sending them!

Tuesday’s theme was three gifts burning:

1. the warm autumn sun

2. the fiery orange maple leaves

3. the rubber on the soles of my Keen hiking shoes as I flee from yet another garter snake sunning itself in the grass

Wednesday’s theme was three gifts ugly-beautiful:

1. a Boxelder bug creeping on the wall

2. the story of the Exodus

3. the process of cleaning out the refrigerator and pantry

Thursday’s challenge was a gift shared, a gift saved, a gift surrendered.

1. shared: the stick of birthday bubble gum kindly shared by the youngest daughter

2. saved: her creative writing assignment nearly lost forever in the deleted abyss of Microsoft Word

3. surrendered: the school newsletter surrendered to the hands of the helpful print shop lady

Each day’s theme comes from the Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience, which is a lovely site overflowing with thought-provoking words about pursuing joy. Don’t miss the latest post, “Why the Battle for Joy is Really Worth It.”

“God gives gifts and I give thanks and I unwrap the gift given: joy.”

–Ann Voskamp

This month of counting gifts continues, and it’s half over already!

Friday’s theme was small, smaller and smallest gifts.

1. small black Juncos skittering on the patio

2. four smaller hands diligently helping me clean house for a showing

3. the smallest ones reciting their memory verses in our small group Bible study

Saturday’s theme was three gifts read.

1. the pastor reading First Corinthians 13:4-8 to the beautiful bride and groom as a light mist fell softly on the crowd of umbrellas

2. the bride’s kind thank-you note

3. my husband reading aloud Proverbs 31:10-31 during family devotions

Sunday’s theme was three gifts said.

1. her thoughtful answer to the teacher’s questions about Genesis 3

2. the 4th grade boy’s prayer at the end of Sunday School

3. “I’m going to the barn. Want to meet me there?”

Today’s theme is three gifts re-read.

1. Gail Gibbons’ book Horses!

2. her kind, gracious words in an e-mail

3. a sweet poem written just for me by a lovely 9-year-old

Each day’s the is supplied by the Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience). Head on over to read Ann Voskamp’s post “How to Stop Fears From Stealing Your Joy.”

Today is 10-11-12, which is cRaZy fun to type out. And today is Day 11 of counting gifts. Three gifts of change is the theme.

1. summer changing into fall

2. the change in his work schedule that allowed him to be home this morning to help with science lessons

3. the sisters’ change in sleeping arrangements, because they really do enjoy other quite a lot

The theme for the three gifts posted each day comes from the Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience). Don’t miss today’s post by Ann Voskamp: “Why the Chicken Really Crossed the Road… And Other Important Things.”

Still counting gifts, and Tuesday’s theme was three gifts praised for:

1. God’s unfailing, soul-satisfying love that makes us sing for joy and be glad

2. El Elyon, the Most High in power, mercy, goodness and love

3. that God is good all the time, and all the time He is good

Today’s theme is three hard eucharisteo. If that sounds Greek to you, it is. Eucharisteo is a Greek word that means “to be grateful, feel thankful, give thanks.” And so a hard eucharisteo is a God-given gift that’s hard to accept as a gift. Yet we give thanks for these less-welcome moments, struggles and difficulties because God is always good and we are always loved.

1. the “for sale” sign that’s a constant reminder our house still hasn’t sold

2. the cranky 7-year-old, struggling hard to cooperate during school time, who accidentally tears a page in her brand new picture book, Owl Moon, as she reads it to me for the very first time

3. the wild, blustery wind that blew the trees bare, making this October day leaf-less and gray

The themes I post for each day are plucked straight out of the Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience).  For more about Crazy Joy, jump over to read Ann Voskamp’s post “Why You Should Smile Right Now… Crazy Joy Day 10.”

Still counting gifts through a busy three-day weekend.

Saturday’s theme was three gifts redeemed:

1. a coupon redeemed for a free croissant at the French bakery

2. time redeemed for the great and important purpose of celebrating a wedding

3. a coupon redeemed for a box of silk flower petals and two satin baskets

Sunday’s theme was a gift baked, a gift stirred and a gift eaten:

1. a horse-shaped chocolate cake for the dear birthday cowgirl

2. chocolate milk at breakfast

3. baked potato casserole from Dickey’s BBQ

And Monday’s theme was three gifts prayed for:

1. the dear, sweet daughter God blessed us with 7 years ago

2. kind, godly friends for her to love and grow alongside

3. the sweet big sister who gives generously of her time and talent

For every day in October,  I am posting three gifts using the Joy Dare calendar from A Holy Experience).  Counting gifts, too? Share them in the comments area if you wish.

Three gifts returned. That’s the theme for today as I continue counting gifts and thanking God for each moment He graciously gives.

1. a pile of library books

2. a favorite devotional book that strayed downstairs

3. the call for baked goodies

Right here every day in October I’m posting three gifts with a specific theme (from this wonderful Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience).  Feel free to join the fun! Add your gifts in the comment section and hop over to A Holy Experience to read about 31 Days of Crazy Joy and the latest post: “Starting Now? The End to the Cynicism” by Ann Voskamp.

On our fourth day of counting gifts, the theme is gifts reaped. Since I’m not a gardener or farmer, I’m going with three gifts we reaped in our homeschool today.

1. a flexible schedule that permits a tired child to sleep in when the crazy, noisy wind has kept her up at night

2. her freedom and creativity to invent her own crossword puzzles for 4th grade spelling words using Bananagrams and graph paper

3. enough downtime together to enjoy sipping steaming cups of hot tea during the lunch hour

The theme for the three gifts posted each day comes from the Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience). Head on over to read Ann Voskamp’s post “How to Make Joy in the Hard Places.”

Another day of counting gifts, and today’s challenge is threefold: a gift caught, a gift let go, and a gift mid-way.

1. the glimpse I caught of a chickadee at the finch feeder in the backyard

2. letting go of my laptop long enough to allow my almost-7-year-old continue writing a story about little girls named Zowe and Anna

3. the tired, mid-way-through-a-lap smile of my 9-year-old as she struggles to master the butterfly stroke in her swimming lessons

The ideas for the three gifts I post each day come from the Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience).  Please add your own gifts in the comment section and then jump over to read Ann Voskamp’s post “When You are Feeling a Bit Lost: How to Find Your Way Back to Joy.”

Today’s theme for counting gifts is three gifts falling:

1. the legs of my youngest, still six years old for a few more days yet, rising and falling as she kicks on the swing in the backyard

2. the fallen leaves we trace with oil pastels for art lessons this morning

3. our friends’ two-month-old baby boy falling asleep in my arms

Every day in October I’ll post three gifts using the Joy Dare calendar from A Holy Experience).  I invite you to add your own gifts in the comment section and then hop over to (in)Courage to read Ann Voskamp’s post “One of the Key Secrets about Joy.”