Joy Challenge - Day 16 - Gratitude

I am going to combine my Joy Challenge with my Gratitude Challenge - because really, I don't think you can have one without the other!

"Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms."
Psalm 95:2

I am thankful and joyful for:

- rain showers two days in a row!

- Dad is doing so much better now that the doctor has said, "Let him eat whatever he wants."

- a husband who tirelessly serves his family

- a friend who prays

- safe travels for our daughter - in Paris again!

- wise words from our Pastor and Music Minister

- the Father's faithful provision

- birthday celebrations

- the little blessings the Lord slips into the every day moments


I thought this Crown of Thorns plant would never bloom - but today I noticed.....


a sweet little blessing

- a friend who, with great wisdom and love, challenges me to examine the things I believe, shares her heart and then listens.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man (woman) sharpens another."
parenthesis mine :-)
Proverbs 27:17

Blessings,
Linda

For other gratitude posts visit Ann's blog - A Holy Experience

Joy Challenge - Day 15 - "Ode To Joy"

ODE TO JOY

1.
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

2.
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

3.
Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

4.
Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

To Joy" (German: An die Freude, first line: "Freude, schöner Götterfunken", in English often called Ode to Joy) is an ode written in 1785 by the German poet, playwright and historian Friedrich Schiller.

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day 14 - Dance

dancing with Aunt Susie

When I was a little girl, I loved to dance. I danced all time - with anyone who was a willing partner.

dancing with my little cousin

It was quite natural, then, that my Mom would enroll me in dancing school. Alas, I was so terribly shy all I did was cry and beg to go home. So much for a career as a famous ballerina.

dancing with Uncle Tony

I still love to dance. It makes my heart soar when I see the kids in our church dancing. Would I have been brave enough to do that if our church hadn't frowned upon such things? I like to think I would have. I live a little bit through those graceful girls and find great joy in just watching them.

We sing a song in church that says: "I'm gonna dance for You, like nobody's watching." I confess I do that sometimes when I'm home alone. It is a natural expression of worship and spills out from a joyful heart. I am looking forward to the day when we dance down streets of gold. I won't be too shy then!

"Let them praise His name with dancing..."
Psalm 149:3a

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day Thirteen - Knitting

Before Uncle Joe swept into her life to rescue her from spinsterhood, my Aunt Fannie lived with us. It is always a great blessing for a little girl to have the undivided attention of a doting aunt. In her eyes, I could do no wrong.

Aunt Fannie was a master knitter. She turned out sweaters with stitches that were absolute perfection. I watched in fascination as her skillful fingers plied the needles and the yarn. When I was four years old, she began to teach me to knit. Mom preserved my efforts on film, as I sat in the little white chair that was once hers (which I have sitting in the guest bathroom now) beside the wringer washing machine, trying to master that art.




The little piece I produced looked a bit more like swiss cheese than a baby blanket, but it was the beginning of a life-long love affair with needles and yarn. There is something about the needles slipping in and out of the yarn that brings me great peace and comfort. I enjoy the finished product, giving gifts that I've made with my own hands, but it is the process that I really love. Whenever I set my knitting aside to work on something else, I find that before long I feel a pull back to it.

It brings me joy.



Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day Twelve - God Is Good

This is the very first picture I have of my Dad and I. I have been blessed to have him in my life for a very long time now. He has always looked, in my eyes, just as he does here - strong, protective, loving - a man of great faith and solid character.

He has always looked young for his age even as he entered his eighties. I think he has less gray hair than I do - but we'll never know because I have hidden mine. In recent months, though, illness has taken its toll. He has lost a great deal of weight and walks slowly, using a cane for support.

We went out to dinner last evening. As we sat talking the conversation turned, as it inevitably does these days, to his health. He sighed as he spoke of the difficulties involved in having dialysis three days a week - how it has changed his life. I looked across the table at him, into eyes that haven't changed in the sixty-two years I've known him, and he smiled and said, "God is good."

Yes Dad, God is good. It brings immeasurable joy to hear him say that. It encourages me to know that all those things we have learned and heard about the Lord are true. They have great meaning and value when we see them lived out in the lives of those we love and esteem.

My father has taught me much about my heavenly Father. He has given me a Godly inheritance worth more than the greatest fortune this world can offer. He has taught and modeled faith - his faith in a loving God and God's faithfulness to His children.

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting."
I Chronicles 16:34

Blessings,
Linda

Joy Challenge - Day Eleven - He Knows You

"You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in Your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God,
They cannot be numbered!
I can't even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up, You are still with me!"

Psalm 139: 15-18

Whenever I feel as though my life is out of control; whenever I feel as though heaven is silent and God has left me alone; whenever I look at the future with fear, I am reminded of these precious words.

The book of my life has been written by a God who loves me so much His thoughts about me outnumber the grains of sand. I can rest in that. I can rest in His perfect love and the truth of His word. I can trust Him with the stories He has written about the ones whose lives are more precious to me than my own.

That truth fills my heart with JOY!

Blessings,
Linda

picture:flickr Imotos

Joy Challenge - Day Ten - Hannah

This is Hannah. She is one of my five beautiful granddaughters. She is six years old and is in first grade this year. She has the sweetest little pixie face and precious chestnut colored curls.

I talked to her Daddy (my younger son - whom I can't believe is all grown up and a Daddy) yesterday and asked how school was going. I was especially concerned about Hannah because school wasn't at the top of her list of favorite things to do last year. I'm not sure it was even on the list.

Daddy said she was doing really well. She has apparently found her niche. She has taken charge! She tells everyone when its time to get in line and corrects anyone who hasn't done it just right. She organizes and reminds and instructs and has generally made herself unofficial teacher's assistant.

I love it! It is so Hannah. Grandchildren are an absolute joy. There is no doubt about it. I wish I had been able to just relax and enjoy my children the way I am enjoying these five girls and two boys. I think they are the reward for slugging it out in the trenches of parenthood. They are a precious treasure that make this season of life rich and rewarding. I highly recommend it.





Blessings,
Linda