The Song

Count Your Many Blessings is a great song.  I can relate to the songwriter's words.  The first verse starts out, "When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed".  Been there.  More times that I would like to remember.   

The dictionary definition of a billow is a great wave or surge of the sea.  I've never been on the sea, but my brother told me he was fishing and the waves got to be 17 feet high.  Definitely a billow!  A tempest is a violent windstorm, especially with rain, hail or snow.  Not a fun place to be...a storm at sea.  

I am reminded of the song, It Is Well With My Soul.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, 
when sorrows like sea billows roll; 
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, 
It is well, it is well with my soul.

I am learning to give thanks in all 

situations so that I, too, can say 

"It is well with my soul". 

What a blessing!

February's Joy Dare: 24
Three gifts before 11 am.
cookies baked
a play date for my son
thank you from Husband for unexpected love note :)

One Thousand Gifts

Geocaching

Today I awoke with a nasty head cold.  I did not even want to get out of bed. But I did.  Son #2 needed to be taken to school.  After that there was a trip to Wal-Mart to get fuses. There were two different kinds.  Which one to get?  Nothing to do but go to the car and see what the manual suggested.  Got it.  Walked back to the Auto Department got the fuses indicated.  Went home.  They were the wrong fuses.

Isn't that the way it is in life sometimes?  Something needs fixing in our lives, we go to the worlds "manual" and think we have the right "fix", buy into it and take it to heart, only to find out it's the wrong thing after all.

This afternoon, #3 son and I went Geocaching.  It was great exercise, lots of fresh air.  We didn't find anything, though.  I looked online at the coordinates, description and hint for the geocaches we were looking for.  I found some new clues, so we looked again and this time found two out of three geocaches that we were searching for.  It was exciting.

When there is a blessing to be found, we will search for it diligently until we find it. As we go about our day to day lives, let's look for blessings in the people we interact with each day.  Be surprised at how many blessings the Lord will give to you when you diligently seek them out.

February's Joy Dare: 23
A gift of tin, of glass, of wood
cans that can be recycled
my eyeglasses that enable me to see God's gifts
the wooden cross my husband wears and holds tight when he prays

One Thousand Gifts

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday.  The day commemorating the first day of Lent.  One day out of 40 to begin fasting, giving up something in order to focus that time on God, in prayer.  I give up certain foods, things like chocolate, yes, chocolate, and pop, and other unhealthy things that aren't very good for me.

Why do I give them up?  Just so I can see if I have the self-discipline necessary to do it?  Is it so I can tell others what I'm doing during Lent?  Do I give them up because it's tradition?  Am I that shallow?  That I do it for me?

I pray that during Lent, as I fast from the above mentioned foods, it will be a reminder of what Jesus did for me, how he gave up so much for me, to be my Savior from sin, death, and the devil.  I pray that as my stomach hungers for food, it will be a reminder of how much my soul hungers for Jesus and I will be blessed in that.

February's Joy Dare: 22
Three gifts that changed today:
seeing "The Ugly Duckling"
filling in for the administrative assistant at school
a head cold

One Thousand Gifts

Fat Tuesday

What a name for a day.   What about Fat Monday, Fat Wednesday, Fat Thursday, Fat Friday, Fat Saturday or Fat Sunday?  That's what most days feel like when I pull on my blue jeans.  I like to think that the dryer shrinks them, but the truth is, I eat more than my body really needs.

It's almost Lent.  I give up something during Lent.  The last two years I've said I was going to give up 10 pounds during Lent.   The most I've ever accomplished was 4.

I spend way too many of my waking hours thinking about food.  I love food.  I love to buy it, prepare it and eat it.  Maybe it's not so much that I love food as much as it is that I love the taste of food.  Has food become my god?  At times, sadly, yes.

This year during Lent I want to focus on Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.  It will be interesting to see how the Lenten season unfolds for me in regards to this verse.

Please consider giving up something in your life for the next 40 days (the number of days in Lent, not counting Sundays) and see how much you are blessed.

February's Joy Dare: 21
Three gifts white:
porcelain sink, empty of dirty dishes
roses blooming full on the kitchen counter
freshly laundered dish towels

One Thousand Gifts

Counting Them

For the past several months I have been reading a book by Ann Voskamp entitled, "One Thousand Gifts" A Dare to LIVE FULLY Right Where You Are.  Never would I have imagined that this book would become one of my favorite.  I recommend it to everyone.  I also subscribe to her website, A Holy Experience.  She encourages, even dares others to list the gifts they receive.

I have begun doing this on a regular basis and am amazed at how this task has changed me, my perspective on life.  I truly want to live with a thankful heart for the gifts God has and does and will bestow upon me during this lifetime.  Today I took the DARE to write down one thousand gifts during 2012.  Three gifts a day, three.

From today on, I will try to blog each day and end the blog with three gifts that I am thankful for.  I started a while back and will add those onto today's list.

1. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit
2. pure white fluffy snow, warm air from a furnace vent, the gurgling sound of a coffee maker when the coffee is done brewing
3. toes on little feet, warm water from a shower, conditioner making hair soft
4. inspiring books, a home-cooked meal, washing machines
5. clothes dryers, electricity, a place to take recycle-able items
6. fingers, crochet hooks, yarn
7. exercise equipment, hospitals, doctors and nurses who care for patients
8. sunrises, water for houseplants, warm French Toast
9. hugs, cook-books, prayer
10. ice tinkling on the lake, a frog swimming in January water, oatmeal
11. pecans, the quietness of early morning, a 70 degree day in January in the Midwest
12. geese honking as they fly by, music, pianos
13. sleep, baptism, technology
14. colors, quiet times with family, guitars
15. the bubbling sound of soup simmering in the crock pot, authors, frozen chocolate chip cookie dough
16. rainy days, pastors, popcorn
17. computers, the internet, information at my fingertips
18. children, grandchildren, newborn babes
19. window panes, creativity, the hard gift of painful events
20. friends, neighbors, a clean vehicle
21. flashlights, a fireplace, frankincense and myrrh scented hand lotion
22. socks, shoes, warm winter clothing
23. cell phones, teachers, mothers
24. family in heaven, unity, the wine and the bread
25. wedding preparations, dinner at a nice restaurant, pillows
26. helping hands, helping hearts, smiles
27. new acquaintances, camaraderie, tickling
28. bicycles, running shoes, legs
29. basketball games, dogs that can catch a Frisbee, little girls with red fingernail polish
30. field trips, children singing, finding out a friend is expecting
31. our house, clean clothes, clean dishes