Dare to Be Joyful

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This Sunday I'm leading the adult Christian education session at Good Sam through a book that profoundly impacted my life: how I see the world, and how I respond as a follower of Christ. I started this back in April with three sessions, and now in November will finish with the last two videos (the author’s publisher released a DVD study), plus a catch-up session, with some additional new material for those who came in the spring.

The book is Ann Voskamp’s "One Thousand Gifts", a New York Times best seller.

My mum introduced me to the book and it took a while for me to actually start reading it. It's Ann's journey of gratitude -- how seeing and writing down God's gifts transforms an ordinary, dull day into one filled with God and his delight and love for us.

Ann's book has changed me. Writing down God-gifts reminds me to look for God every day, even when times are troubled or hard. And when I forget to look? It’s like the light has gone from my day. And when I remember? I can see the gift and respond in love. 

i’ve stopped writing gifts the way Ann does and continues to do. I find that rather than scribbling down the words or snapping a photo and then moving on, I want to stay in the moment, make it last.

So now I watch a butterfly flit across a courtyard or leaves cascading down a wall from a leaf-blower without having to think “Oh, I must remember this and write it down” or scrambling to dig out my iPhone.

I am just there with the moment. With God.


Watch the trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2AEFRDI91U)] and come try it out on Sunday, around 11:15am-ish.

(I posted a version of this back in April.)

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