A Thousand Gifts

So I've decided to jump in on the "One Thousand Gifts" challenge, or "The Joy Dare" as the author is calling it this year.  I saw this last year both on a blog I follow and on facebook quips from a fabric designer I like.  It was intriguing.  I considered doing it but never followed through.  Then it popped up again tonight on Facebook under the status of a dear, long-time friend.  That was that.  I decided to jump in.
I read the blog post, read the online book reviews, read Ann Voskamp's bio, and then watched the video.

The video melted my heart.  I have known since I was about 17 that those precious, fleeting moments are God's intimate, personal gifts to me.  A first sip of coffee that is just perfect, sun beams filtering in through my curtains, the sweet sound of a violin, a sudden rain burst that was so needed in deep ways.  I have gotten busy the past few years and I've had to plow through a lot of hard things.  I've stopped looking as much.  But I have still felt those moments that are so heart-achy good you think you'll burst.  Having babies will give you lots of those kinds of moments.   Like the smell of newborns' hair, dancing silly jigs with your babe on your shoulder, and yes that first sip of coffee.  There's been lots of coffee.  Then this video brought it roaring back again that there is fullness and a sweetness I am missing out on.  It's time to look for more.
Going with my theme of being intentional this year (more to come), this seems to fit in.  Being intentionally grateful.  Seeing and focusing on the little joys all around me.  Opening my eyes and ears to God's daily gifts to me.  I have not read her book, nor have I followed this particular blogger before, but this concept speaks right to and out of my heart.

The challenge is to record 1000 things you are grateful for over the course of 2012.  She even provides you with prompts for each day of each month.  Just three things a day!  (Yes, you math whiz you, that is more than 1000 but why limit the goodness?)  Seems do-able.  Plus, I need to develop my self-discipline habits and a daily commitment that's simple and full of eternal reward seems like a good exercise for the heart.

So here we go.  Let's catch up shall we?

1.  Loyalty
2.  Tender-heartedness
3.  Passion
4.  Canadian geese in V-formation bursting over the rooftop just as I look up
5.  Soft, cushy pillows
6.  Much needed new "daily-use" dishes, and much wanted Christmas dishes
7.  My fantastic siblings
8.  Adorable new clothes given to my kids to wear
9.  The clarity and crispness of a Kansas January sky
10.  I Take Joy from my new hero, Sally Clarkson
11.  The soft, fuzzy yarn of a handmade baby gift
12.  "Cranford"
13.  Rocking my little one who doesn't feel well
14.  Budding friendships
15.  Affirmations


I'll try for some photos to go a long with from here on out, ok?