Category: Joy Dare

2021 Joy Dare- Day 39

Posted on by Mary
Dare

Good morning friends! When I stumbled upon this Dare back in December I was going through a time of real struggle when I was seriously having trouble being grateful. I found myself being grateful for the same thing over and over again. Coffee…..coffee…coffee…sunshine (not that there was much in December here in upstate New York) and a few other things. I’m not saying that it’s bad to be grateful for the same things over and over again, but sometimes we have tunnel vision and we lose sight of all the other blessings God has given to us. And then I “just happened” to stumble upon this Dare while scrolling through Pinterest. I had already read Ann Voskamp’s Book One Thousand gifts so I was intrigued. I checked out all the images and I was certain this is what I needed When I chose this challenge for this year I had no idea what the rest of the year held BUT God did!

Are you willing…..

So I want to ask you are you willing To take this Dare? The great thing is- you don’t have to commit to the full year! You can just start with one month AND you can start Any time! It really is so simple and it changes your perspective! I Dare you to take this challenge~

Day 17- 3 Gifts Ugly Beautiful

  1. gloomy gray skies-so sad yet intriguing
  2. broken lives changed by Jesus- amazing
  3. Dying fields- turning brown- yet there is a beautiful fall aesthetic

Day 18- A Gift fixed, folded, freckled

  1. fixed-Hubby putting LED light fixtures in my craft room
  2. folded- clothes that are folded in the Cedar Chest for the future
  3. freckled-Kiddo’s #4’s freckled face!

Day 19- 3 gifts In Conversation

  1. Conversations with my prayer team this week
  2. Conversations with our future Bible study leader
  3. Hubby had a very encouraging conversation with a friend in ministry

Day 20- 3 gifts in Salvation

  1. Grace
  2. Hope
  3. Peace

Day 21- 3 gifts in information

  1. Books
  2. Podcasts
  3. Conferences

Day 22- 3 Gifts rattling, receding, redeemed

  1. Rattled- my emotions this week as I have continually come face to face with some hard realities and broken relationships (not mine but ones of close friends-it’s hard to watch)
  2. Receding- a falling away- it hurts to see. it’s painful to watch
  3. redeemed- Countless stories that I can name right now where God took brokenness and turned them into something beautiful. He redeemed those moments for His Glory

Day 23-  3 gifts in silence

  1. early mornings
  2. Outside devotions
  3. spare moments stolen away in my craft room

I’m so glad you came by for the Joy Dare this week and I’m praying You all have a fabulous week full of gratitude and Joy!

And how about You what have you found joy in this week?

For more Joy Dare posts click here and for more Choosing Courage Posts click here.

To Check out The Joy Dare and One Thousand Gifts  by Ann Voskamp click here.

2021 Joy Dare

Posted on by Mary
Joy

Welcome to Day 32 of my 100 day writing project! I so enjoy looking for joy in the little things each day and I pray that you are taking the time to find Joy in your days as well. We are commanded to give thanks in all things. That means in the good AND the Bad! and you will see that on day 11- with the 3 Hard Euaristeos )hard gratitude- thankfulness)

Day 10- 3 Gifts moving

  1. The kids and hubby are always on the move
  2. Clouds- the sky is always changing
  3. The seasons- Never Changing

Day 11- 3 Hard eucharisteo

  1. Remembering 9/11
  2. waiting
  3. not knowing what insect- builds faith and trust

Day 12- 3 Gifts in His Word

  1. Hebrews 10:24- purpose statement for the blog
  2. Joshua 1:9 The verse to begin my blog series
  3. James 1:2-4 A great reminder of endurance

Day 13- A gift scented, scrawled, and started

  1. scented- Candles
  2. scrawled- notes to self in my writing notebook
  3. started-New Journey– a new journal, , a new found excitement and passion for writing

Day 14- 3 gifts drawn

  1. all of Child #3’s artwork
  2. Hubby’s sketch of the Dawn Treader
  3. little drawings on the sides of my Journal pages

Day 15- 3 Gifts paired

  1. Hubby and I
  2. SHOES!! It’s awful when you are missing one of every pair!
  3. wireless headphones to my phone. So I can listen and work at age same time!

Day 16-  3 gifts shared

  1. gluten free Oreos with my gluten free partner in crime!
  2. A cup of English Toffee Iced tea from our favorite drive through Coffee Shop!
  3. Laughter over a TV show I loved as a kid- The Belly laughs were intense tonight!

I’m so glad you came by for the Joy Dare this week and I’m praying You all have a fabulous week full of gratitude and Joy!

And how about You what have you found joy in this week?

For more Joy Dare posts click here and for more Choosing Courage Posts click here.

To Check out The Joy Dare and One Thousand Gifts  by Ann Voskamp click here.

One Thousand Gifts -Joy Dare

Posted on by Mary
Joy

Happy Thursday everyone! And welcome to another Joy Dare!  It’s been a great week.  we are well into our homeschooling year and have hit a rather nice rhythm already!

So let’s jump into this week’s Joy Dare

Day 3- 3 Gifts yellow

  1. My new JournalI started today
  2. My unicron  mug I am currently drinking our
  3. sunflowers

Day 4- A gift cool, warm, sun soaked

  1. Cool-a cool breeze
  2. warm- a beautiful day
  3. Sun-soaked- kids playing in the water and soccer

Day 5- 3 Gifts Autumn

  1. Pumpkins spiced EVERYTHING!
  2. colorful leaves
  3. boots and sweaters

Day 6- 3 gifts growing

  1. The kids
  2. Our family relationships
  3. a better understanding of who I was created to be

Day 7- 3 gifts given

  1. a party for us ( a real blessing to us)
  2. Appreciation (one of the greatest gifts ever)
  3. words of encouragement

Day 8- A gift made, masked,  marveled

  1. Made- The gingham star and heart made by my mother-in-law
  2. masked- A Chinese mask  given to Hubby  by his  grandpa
  3. marveled- rainbows

Day 9-  3 gifts framed

  1. Some framed artwork  Scripture purchased from a small shop
  2. Family memories
  3. A painting of Montana

I’m so glad you came by for the Joy Dare this week and I’m praying You all have a fabulous week full of gratitude and Joy!

And how about You what have you found joy in this week?

For more Joy Dare posts click here and for more Choosing Courage Posts click here.

To Check out The Joy Dare and One Thousand Gifts  by Ann Voskamp click here.

Joy Dare – One Thousand Gifts

Posted on by Mary
Joy

Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to this week’s installment of the Joy Dare. I cannot believe it has been 8 months on this journey.

I have found this most helpful in my prayer time. In recent years as I have sought to grow in my prayer time but I always struggled with feeling and knowing I was forgetting important parts of prayer. So I went back to the very simple but effective Acrostic ACTS

ACTS

  • Adoration (Praise)
  • Confession (admitting and repenting of sin)
  • Thanksgiving (Gratitude)
  • Supplication ( prayer Requests)

I don’t strictly follow these in order though it REALLY helps my scatter brained nature in line. So I just added the Joy dare into the Thanksgiving section of my prayer time

8/27/2021-9/2/2021

Joy
Day 27- 3 Gifts New
  • New Beginnings
  • New School Year
  • New Journal to start next week
Day 28- 3 gifts long awaited
  • New church- still waiting- making closer steps
  • Soccer season has started
  • Wrapping up a study
Day 29- A gift one, two, three
  • One – God to worship and Praise
  • Two- more days left in August
  • Three-Planners- school, mobile (as in it goes with me)
Day 30- 3 Gifts small
  • little changes that change a church culture
  • words of encouragement- insignificant on their own- powerful when put together
  • a smile- full of love yet often taken for granted
Day 31- 3 miracles
  • every new day-to write a part of your Story Lord through it we get to share Jesus with the world
  • Jesus- everything about him!
  • flowers- They can withstand storms, poring rain and some can even withstand Cold and snow. They remain beautiful through the storm- what a testament to God’s care
joy
Day 1- 3 Gifts of summer
  • Adventures with Friends
  • warm sunny weather
  • longer days (aka more sunlight)
Day 2-3 gifts cut
  • Rosie’s haircut she is much cooler now
  • Family time Cut out of a very Busy Schedule
  • Paper Scraps cut to make cards

So how about you? What are some of the little things you are thankful this week and bring you great Joy. I know as I get older I am discovering that it’s the simple little things that bring me some of the greatest Joy!

Want more information about Joy Dare or One Thousand Gifts You can check them out on Ann Voskamp’s website.

And you Can check out my other Joy Dare posts

Also this is Day 18 of My Choosing Courage 100 day writing project. You can check out the rest of the series here

Joy Dare- One Thousand Gifts

Posted on by Mary
Joy

Happy Thursday and you know what that means! It’s Joy Dare Day. (It is also Day 11 of my Choosing Courage 100 day writing project) it’s the part of my week when I share about all of the little joys God has brought into my life. Those simple little blessings that I take for granted on a regular basis and this daily act of gratitude brings them front and center..

Joy

Day 20- 3 gifts in serving

  • watching people grow in their walk with Jesus.
  • seeing God meet unspoken needs
  • my own personal walk with Jesus growing leaps and bounds when I trust him to use me.

Day 21- A gift straight, curved, turn

  • Straight- colorful pencils (I got a great deal on a nice brand of colored pencils
  • curve- bananas
  • turn- the next bend in our path

Day 22- 3 gifts in Light

  • a new day
  • Christmas
  • our table outside

Day23- 3 gifts old

  • our parents -Both sets(they aren’t very old but older….) No way I can say this will turn out nicely! but I don’t mean it in a bad way!
  • our furniture handed to us from family. we have someaniques passed down from family and friends
  • Books!

Day 24- 3 gifts meaning

  • Our kids- they are always going on an adventure
  • Our animals are always doing something comical
  • our vehicle getting us from one place to the next.

Day 25- 3 gifts Fragile

  • Eggs- from our neighbor
  • cute little birthday gifts from my parents
  • Hearts opened to each other

Day 26- A gift cut, sewn and buttoned

  • Cut- A freshly cut lawn (I love that smell)
  • Sewn- A patched set of bean bag chairs that are well loved
  • Buttoned-Details all buttoned up- I love to finish things. and move forward.

I’m glad you could join me on this gratitude journey. It really is amazing just how much our hearts change when our perspective changes! There is always something to be grateful for- even in the hard stuff.

How about you? What are some little blessings that you are grateful for? What brings you Joy? Let me know in the comments below.

You can check out more about the Book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp by clicking here and you can check out more about the Joy dare by visiting her website here.

You Can also check our my other posts in my Choosing Courage Project by clicking here

Thank you again for doing me on my journey. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments