The Joy Dare

When I was younger, I always picked to tell the truth instead of risking a dare when playing the game "Truth or Dare" at slumber parties.  It felt safer... more secure.  But as I've gotten older, I find myself a little more intrigued by a dare.  Could I really do it?  Is it worth trying?

I'm a perfectionist.  An all or nothing kind of girl.  If I'm going to do something, I want to do it all the way, do it right, do a good job, and not fail.  Sometimes (many times) the fear of failure is enough to keep me from trying something new. 

But a few years ago a sweet friend of mine dared me to start reading through the One Year Bible... I must say it was a dare that has changed my time in the Word and my relationship with God in so many ways for the better.

Now this time it's a new type of dare... a dare to find JOY.

One of my favorite blog writers wrote a book last year that I know can be truly life changing if one grabbed onto the simple principal and let God work through it.  How do I know?  Because I experienced it... I felt it work on my heart... producing a simple joy and different perspective that only comes from Him.  I tried it and did it for awhile, but... new habits are hard to keep and my flesh is strong and it's so easy to slip into old patterns of behavior and thinking.

But with a new year, I'm ready to try again with this new dare.

A dare to simply give thanks... to record blessings from Him... to see God in my moments...  
I want to do this because I don't want to fail to not see Him... in a sunset... in the way my little boy smiles... in the way chocolate tastes so yummy...   :)

Her dare is to count 1,000 gifts from Him in 2012... record three gifts a day... and I'm determined to do it.

As she says on her blog...

A habit of not complaining, but the habit of giving thanks; the habit of not worrying, but a habit worshipping. The habit of repeatedly giving God praise that our lives might become a prayer. Small is always the leverage of large. It’s one moment after the other, the small moments that turn a life. It’s the small actions that can change a life.  It’s habits that can imprison you and it’s habits that can free you and when thanks to God becomes a habit, so joy in God becomes your life.
-Ann Voskamp

I'm taking the joy dare... and if you want to join me, you can find it here.

Finding Joy in 2012...

A gift in my hand... a cup of hot tea to sooth a very nasty cold I have.

A gift I walked by...  the warmth and heat I feel walking by my kitchen window.

A gift I sat with... I sit with this boy for a good three hours every day.  There are smiles and laughs, there are frustrations and discouragement.  Wanting to see this season sitting with him as a gift.

Simply reminded today to take each day moment by moment. 

Depending on Him. 

Seeing Him. 

Taking a breath and enjoying the journey.