Gratitude List - Week 3

Our group is collectively writing a list of things we are grateful for as we work our way through the study One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. The list will be numbered from the bottom to the top, with the most recent additions added to the top. We're excited to watch the list grow as we work our way through the study for the next few months!

Morning Blend Gratitude List:

127. A cozy bed to sleep in
126. Teddy bears
125. Games
124. Puzzles
123. Good naps
122. Sleep
121. Cute baby hats
120. Warm feet
119. Sharp knives
118. Friends to play with
117. Green things - grapes, celery, lettuce
116. Warm slippers
115. Shoveled sidewalks and corners
114. A child's glove perched on a fence looking for its owner
113. My cat, Willow - healthy, cuddly
112. Over-sized, worn-out, warm, non-skid slippers
111. Mittens made by my mom
110. Answered prayer when I asked for wisdom
109. The beautiful wedding dress I wore in October
108. My friend's cancer-free biopsy!
107. Fresh snow that makes the inside of the house bright
106. Vanilla Ice Cream
105. For new and promising opportunities
104. Interesting conversations with people while waiting for the bus
103. Hot Showers
102. Cake
101. Although small, financial income
100. For Healing
99. For restoration and grace
98. For the Lord's constant provision
97. Tortilla chips

96. Cooked onions
95. Netflix
94. Internet
93. Blog posts by friends

92. The warm feeling in your lungs when I am doing physical work
91. the way Brayon looks at me when he says "I love you Mom"
90. feeding ducks
89. the song of a Cardinal
88. they squirrels look when they are eating
87. soft rock from the 70's
86. blackberries
85. Listening to Mikayla talk about something she is excited about
84. hugs
83. encouragement from unlikely people (if that makes since)
82. time to myself
81. chatting with friends
80. Touch of a baby's head against my cheek.
79. Hug from husband
78. Cardinal's call on a still winter's day
77. Safe, comfy, warm bed to cuddle in at the end of a long day
76. Monthly tea time with a friend
75. The Bible studies we have done
74. The Women's ministry at Park
73. People with singing ability
72. Swimming
71. Clouds that look beautiful
70. Text messages from my son-in-law
69. Favorite coffee mugs
68. Cold press coffee
67. Google video chat
66. Sunshine on the snow
65. Snow Day off from school!
64. Snow--beauty on the lilac tree.
63. Snow---able to bless the girls that shovel for us
62. For God sending us the girls to shovel for us
61. Double stick tape
60. Paper cutter
59. Adjustable 3 hole paper punch
58. Mini Payday candy bars
57. Valentines

56. Roses

55. African Skies tea from Tea Source

54. The ability to communicate via text

53. The excitement of a long awaited outing

52. Stories of athletes who overcome

51. Baby long underwear

50. Experiencing the beauty of frozen Lake Superior on a sunny winter day

49. A car with over 200,000 miles that still runs

48. Beautiful sunrises

47. Chocolate covered strawberries

46. A lovely dinner with former housemates

45. Friends who remain in my life even with times of little communication

44. Ability to be content with little

43. The memories the sock monkey evoked

42. Thankful for God's presence wherever I go and becoming aware of it in the moments I notice

41. The love and acceptance I experience in this group

40. The color purple this season

39. The gift of dancing

38.  I enjoy the quiet moments

37. My easel

36. Yarn and things you can make with it

35. Colors

34. Women who are my friends

33. The ability to walk and get around

32. My Job

31. My GOD -heart Family

30. My blood related Family

29. My Dear Sister Friends

28. Enjoying the Listening

27. Growing in understanding

26. Snuggling under my down comforter

25. Watching snow fall out the window

24. baby laughs

23. Warm slippers

22. Massage
21.Momma
20. Kindle
19. Pom-poms, scissors, construction paper, ribbon and glue
18. Momma's teething necklace
17. Ice cream and popcorn and the Olympics 
16. Heat in winter
15. Freshly fallen snow blanketing the earth while I sleep
14. Axel finally stopping his crying jag and smiling
13. The French press
12. Birds darting through shrubs next to the train station on a 5º day
11. Bright Moon in the clear sky at night
10. Getting up early enough to see it again out my west window in the morning
9. Ability to Read
8. Books to read
7. Ability to financially Share this gift with other
6.  Birds on the windowsill
5. People I love this Valentine's Day!
4.  Houseplants
3. Grapefruit
2. Nadia Bolz-Weber's book Pastrix
1. Ceola's horse shirt

Counting Gifts, Slowing Time and Sabbath

This is a post from my personal blog this week. Thought I would share:

Last week we talked about how slowing down enough to notice the gifts in our lives may actually make us feel like we have MORE time. We constantly feel like we don't have the time to stop, notice, and give thanks. And, yet, when we do, we feel somehow as though we've done more, lived more...in fact, had more time. 

Ecclesiastes 4:6 says, "Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind."

Abraham Joshua Heschel said,

"One who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal of embezzling his own life. He must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man."

"The world has already been created..." I cracked a smile at this. Do we really somehow think that everything will cease if we cease our toil? "Better is a handful of quietness..." Why?

I think that when we stop we recognize who we are and who God is. We see that our work will never be done, and yet, that is just fine because God created this whole world for us, and the world is held in existence by God. It is all held together by God. Our work matters, yes. But our connection with God and with each other matters more. When we are quiet, we see God...in creation, in the people around us, in the gifts we have dared to count. And then we can go about our work, mindful of those things.

This practice of quiet, of mindfulness, of ceasing toil isn't easy, I think. So, God made it mandatory. Among the ten commandments we find, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8) Holy means set apart. We set this day aside. "...the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it, you shall not do any work..." (Exodus 20:10)

The Sabbath Manifesto project (a non-sectarian project, by the way) says it this way:

"Way back when, God said, 'On the seventh day thou shalt rest.'  The meaning behind it was simple: Take a break. Call a timeout. Find some balance. Recharge."

"Somewhere along the line, however, this mantra for living faded from modern consciousness. The idea of unplugging every seventh day now feels tragically close to impossible. Who has time to take time off? We need eight days a week to get tasks accomplished, not six."

Blogger and former YWAM missionary, Andrew Odom, puts it this way,

"We are destroying every sense of our being by not observing a day of rest. Remember the tortoise and the hair? There is a reason we run faster and work harder, but only fall farther behind. Our lives are too hurried, too full, and subsequently too out of balance."

We are not very good at stopping, but it is only in the stopping that we are restored. In the words of Rabbi Wolpe:

"Shabbat means stopping. Pursuit slows and ceases; grasping and getting are no longer our aim. The world still spins but we do not. Balance is restored. We give ourselves a day to celebrate God's giving us a world. Flash and dazzle dim. Meaning slowly ripens. As the poet wrote, peace comes dropping slow. Shabbat Shalom."

Strangely enough, the practice of Shabbat seems to free me all week long. Yes, my work is more productive when I have rested. But, somehow, greater productivity does not equal more frazzled and hurried. Stepping out of the toil once a week teaches me to step into the moments of daily life. And there I can count my thousands of gifts...

Gratitude Journals and Research

From Ann Voskamp's blog: A Holy Experience:

Researchers studying those who kept gratitude journals concluded:

At the end of the 10 weeks, participants who’d kept a gratitude journal felt better about their lives as a whole and were more optimistic about the future than participants in either of the other two conditions. To put it into numbers, according to the scale we used to calculate well-being, they were a full 25 percent happier than the other participants. Those in the gratitude condition reported fewer health complaints.

People who kept a gratitude journal reported feeling more joyful, enthusiastic, interested, attentive, energetic, excited, determined, and strong than those in the hassles condition. They also reported offering others more emotional support or help with a personal problem— supporting the notion that gratitude motivates people to do good. And this was not limited to what they said about themselves. We sent surveys to people who knew them well, and these significant others rated participants in the gratitude group as more helpful than those in the other groups.

A summary of findings from a University of California study on keeping gratitude journals may be found here: Gratitude and Well-Being. This is possibly the study Ann Voskamp was referring to on her blog (she posted a link, but it's outdated). If you go to the Gratitude and Well-Being link, click around on the others in the left sidebar! There's some very interesting info there!

Sunday Morning Sermons

In case anyone was wondering how to access the sermons from the Sunday services at Park Ave, here's the link:

http://parkavechurchmpls.com/podcasts/

Morning Blend Gratitude List - Week 2

Our group is collectively writing a list of things we are grateful for as we work our way through the study One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. The list will be numbered from the bottom to the top, with the most recent additions added to the top. We're excited to watch the list grow as we work our way through the study for the next few months!

Morning Blend Gratitude List:

92. The warm feeling in your lungs when I am doing physical work
91. the way Brayon looks at me when he says "I love you Mom"
90. feeding ducks
89. the song of a Cardinal
88. they squirrels look when they are eating
87. soft rock from the 70's
86. blackberries
85. Listening to Mikayla talk about something she is excited about
84. hugs
83. encouragement from unlikely people (if that makes since)
82. time to myself
81. chatting with friends
80. Touch of a baby's head against my cheek.
79. Hug from husband
78. Cardinal's call on a still winter's day
77. Safe, comfy, warm bed to cuddle in at the end of a long day
76. Monthly tea time with a friend
75. The Bible studies we have done
74. The Women's ministry at Park
73. People with singing ability
72. Swimming
71. Clouds that look beautiful
70. Text messages from my son-in-law
69. Favorite coffee mugs
68. Cold press coffee
67. Google video chat
66. Sunshine on the snow
65. Snow Day off from school!
64. Snow--beauty on the lilac tree.
63. Snow---able to bless the girls that shovel for us
62. For God sending us the girls to shovel for us
61. Double stick tape
60. Paper cutter
59. Adjustable 3 hole paper punch
58. Mini Payday candy bars
57. Valentines

56. Roses

55. African Skies tea from Tea Source

54. The ability to communicate via text

53. The excitement of a long awaited outing

52. Stories of athletes who overcome

51. Baby long underwear

50. Experiencing the beauty of frozen Lake Superior on a sunny winter day

49. A car with over 200,000 miles that still runs

48. Beautiful sunrises

47. Chocolate covered strawberries

46. A lovely dinner with former housemates

45. Friends who remain in my life even with times of little communication

44. Ability to be content with little

43. The memories the sock monkey evoked

42. Thankful for God's presence wherever I go and becoming aware of it in the moments I notice

41. The love and acceptance I experience in this group

40. The color purple this season

39. The gift of dancing

38.  I enjoy the quiet moments

37. My easel

36. Yarn and things you can make with it

35. Colors

34. Women who are my friends

33. The ability to walk and get around

32. My Job

31. My GOD -heart Family

30. My blood related Family

29. My Dear Sister Friends

28. Enjoying the Listening

27. Growing in understanding

26. Snuggling under my down comforter

25. Watching snow fall out the window

24. baby laughs

23. Warm slippers

22. Massage
21.Momma
20. Kindle
19. Pom-poms, scissors, construction paper, ribbon and glue
18. Momma's teething necklace
17. Ice cream and popcorn and the Olympics 
16. Heat in winter
15. Freshly fallen snow blanketing the earth while I sleep
14. Axel finally stopping his crying jag and smiling
13. The French press
12. Birds darting through shrubs next to the train station on a 5º day
11. Bright Moon in the clear sky at night
10. Getting up early enough to see it again out my west window in the morning
9. Ability to Read
8. Books to read
7. Ability to financially Share this gift with other
6.  Birds on the windowsill
5. People I love this Valentine's Day!
4.  Houseplants
3. Grapefruit
2. Nadia Bolz-Weber's book Pastrix
1. Ceola's horse shirt

Morning Blend Gratitude List!

Our group is collectively writing a list of things we are grateful for as we work our way through the study One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. The list will be numbered from the bottom to the top, with the most recent additions added to the top. We're excited to watch the list grow as we work our way through the study for the next few months!

Morning Blend Gratitude List:

31. My GOD -heart Family

30. My blood related Family

29. My Dear Sister Friends

28. Enjoying the Listening

27. Growing in understanding

26. Snuggling under my down comforter

25. Watching snow fall out the window

24. baby laughs

23. Warm slippers

22. Massage
21. Momma
20. Kindle
19. Pom-poms, scissors, construction paper, ribbon and glue
18. Momma's teething necklace
17. Ice cream and popcorn and the Olympics 
16. Heat in winter
15. Freshly fallen snow blanketing the earth while I sleep
14. Axel finally stopping his crying jag and smiling
13. The French press
12. Birds darting through shrubs next to the train station on a 5º day
11. Bright Moon in the clear sky at night
10. Getting up early enough to see it again out my west window in the morning
9. Ability to Read
8. Books to read
7. Ability to financially Share this gift with other
6.  Birds on the windowsill
5. People I love this Valentine's Day!
4.  Houseplants
3. Grapefruit
2. Nadia Bolz-Weber's book Pastrix
1. Ceola's horse shirt

Fly - Jason Upton

I thought I'd share the video of this song that Sara mentioned this week. It's a long video and a non-traditional song - more like a meditation set to music (13 minutes). So, listen when you have time...

Does Being Joyful Mean I Can't be Sad?

I found this wonderful article by Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit Priest, this morning, and it spoke to some of the questions we discussed last week.

Does Being Joyful Mean I Can't be Sad?

A quote:

So the believer must navigate between a grinning, idiotic, false happiness and carping, caterwauling, complaining mopiness. (Notice again that I’m also not speaking of clinical depression here, which more of a psychological issue.)  Overall, the believer will be happy and sad at different points of his life; but joy is possible in the midst of tragedy, since joy depends on one's faith and confidence in God.

 

To that end, one of my quotes about religion comes from the Scottish philosopher John Macmurray, who contrasted “illusory” religion with “real religion.”

 

The maxim of illusory religion is:  “Fear not; trust in God and He will see that none of the things you fear will happen to you.”  

 

Real religion, said Macmurray, has a different maxim: “Fear not; the things that you are afraid of are quite likely to happen to you, but they are nothing to be afraid of.” 

Happiness vs. Joy

As we begin our study of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, I have been compelled to think about the difference between happiness and joy. Voskamp challenges us to live a life of thanksgiving. She connects thanksgiving to joy and joy to to living fully right where we are.

I got to thinking about the plethora of literature that's been generated in recent years about happiness. A website called Happiness Club lists the top 20 books on happiness. Amazon and Goodreads both have lists and lists of books about Happiness. I've read a few of them myself. Most notably, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, where I learned that Happiness is about learning to simplify, organize my closets, and have more fun. Clearly, we live in a culture where we are longing for something. We call it Happiness, but I'm convinced we are really after Joy...because we are after something that can only come from outside ourselves...ultimately, God.

For an interesting little read on the Greek words for Happiness & Joy, check out this article: Joy or Happiness?

Happiness is the great feeling that you get when everything is going smoothly. Joy is what God gives you in the midst of trouble when you put that trouble in God's hands. Both happiness and joy have no fear. Happiness has no fear because nothing is wrong, and everything is on course. Joy has no fear because we have become willing to trust God that our suffering is serving a purpose -- a purpose that we have come to want more than anything else. Another way we might put it is that we have happiness BECAUSE of our situation, we have joy IN SPITE OF our situation. With happiness, fear and destruction might be just around the corner. With joy, the very things that others fear have become, in God's hands, a means of salvation. Fear, the greatest weapon of evil, has lost its power. It's what the Cross is all about.