Welcome to this weeks installment of the year-long study “iChoose2 Love my Life” by the iBloom team. Should you care to read all the posts in this series, click {HERE}.

“Joy is something we intentionally “do”. This choice enables us to see God’s goodness, even when life is hard and messy…Choose to live above your circumstances and tap into love and peace that can only come from God.”   The iBloom Team  iChoose2 Love My Life pg.34″

It is easy to forget that joy is a verb. You know…those action words we learned about from “Sunshine Saturday on ABC”…

http://youtu.be/5RG5V7MMA8I

http://youtu.be/US8mGU1MzYw

Okay, people…PEOPLE!!! Over here. Back to the post because I bet, if you are anywhere close to my age, you are singing along and saying “I REMEMBER that!”. To be honest, the Verb Song was my least favorite…but I digress.

In my life, it seems the subject of JOY has come up often over the past several months. You know how it is when something just “happens” to come up a lot. We start to ask; “Is this a coincidence or is God trying to get our attention?”

That little girl with the flower is just oozing joy {my dear friend’s youngest….could you squeeze those cheeks!??}. For many children, joy comes as natural as picking flowers for mom. Rarely does a five-year old wake up and worry what misery the day may hold. {Yes, there are sad instances where this is not so, but let’s choose  optimism:0).}

How awesome to be able to live out that childlike trust in/with God. Just waking up in the morning and knowing that the God of wonders and creator of all things really does have our lives in His hand and we need not fret and worry about everything things. 

Some days that joy is simply no where to be seen in my life. I get flustered and frustrated when little things don’t go my way. I can list ten things off the top of my head that are my “joy stealers”.

It takes effort to not fall into the “blues trap”. But when you think about it, the “blue trap” can often be just an excuse to complain and REFUSE joy. It is such a waste of energy to refuse joy. I mean, does it take much more effort to FIND joy??

Yeah…we all know some days it takes so much more energy that we think we have. 

I KNOW I have referenced the Ann Voskamp Joy Dare here a few times. I hope it is not tiresome for you to read it again.

It’s just that the REAL answer to finding joy and gaining the strength to “tap into love and peace that can only come from God” is to express thankfulness every moment we can.

In giving thanks, we SEE reasons in the simplicity
of life to have JOY! <click

Here is a sampling of my Joy Dare for 2013. This will give you the idea of how the Joy Dare works in helping to find tangible appreciation in our every day experiences.

• A gift found: outside: snow inside: warmth on a plate: mac n cheese
• 3 graces from people you love: laughter, hugs, encouragement
• Dusky Light: early morning Surprising reflection: my children Lonely shadows: from tall trees
• 3 gifts that might never had been: my entire life, our home here in 2013, Meg’s life now!
• A gift: wrinkled: Gramma’s face and hands smooth: apples unfolded: clean, crisp sheets
• 3 gifts in the kitchen: a stove that runs on gas, running, clean water, my “rotato”!

You can go to Ann’s website and print up monthly collections of prompts to find three Joys a day. Over the course of one year, you will have accumulated over one thousand simple, day to day gifts from God.

It is illuminating and I would think it awesome to have many journals filled with these lists so my next generation might look back them. How cool would it be for them to see their names and shared memories hidden in the lists? WHAT a legacy that would be!

Have you thought about the legacy you might be leaving for the next generation? It does not need to be this list in particular. It could be something you have made like a quilt or family sampler. Even recipes that might have a family ‘story” attached to them. Something that might be handed down so they can know your walk with Him.

Who knows. Maybe the legacy we leave behind might be the one thing it takes to draw someone to Him simply because they “heard” us from the past!

I am joining up here! Take a minute to stop by for a visit!!