PIXbyemily: September 2012

it is simple really... there is always something to be thankful for. the key is to slow down enough to see the somethings & to give thanks for them.

i began this throwing joy semi regular giveway for the same reason i spend spare time crafting menu boards and recipe binders. my hope is to bring joy to the routine & ordinary. but there really is no "bringing" at all. it is all about noticing. because, it is already surrounding you.

i want to be clear. i am not suggesting that joy is found in a home decorated with thoughtfully handmade burlap banners, or a kitchen that is uber organized and smoothly run by recipe binders and menu boards. when i post future giveaways for knit accessories, inspiring music, organic body lotions etc. i am not suggesting that you find joy in those things.

rather, i am suggesting that joy, true joy, comes from our creator & father in heaven. he

created us to want joy. and in him we find it. "you will make known to methe path of life;

in your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand there are pleasures

forever. " psalm 16:11

over 13 years ago, my life was changed by a drab little book filled with empty lined pages. a challenge to record three things daily…three things that i was thankful for. most of you who know me, know that i am competitive so it is not surprising that i would dive into this. most of you who know me, also know that I often struggle with follow-through. so it isn’t surprising that i have had a less than perfect record of writing down three things a day, over the years. having said that, when I am ‘actively’ recording my gratitude to him, my perspective is changed in a huge way. it is funny, i have noticed that when i pause and take notice of his blessings in my daily life, it is as if i gain a superpower of awareness. i begin to see him pouring out on me and all around me in both big and small ways. he grows bigger each day and i grow smaller.

humbled that he loves me…loves me enough to meet me in my routine and ordinary.

just this past year my sister-in-love (we are sisters by law, but our love overrides! ) shared a book with me. a thousand gifts, by ann voskamp. ann’s message of gratitude.grace.joy, and the new light she sheds on familiar scriptures had me in awe at times.

“i name gifts and go back to the garden of god in the beginning who first speaks a name and lets what is come into existence. this naming is how the first emptiness of space fills: the naming of light and land and sky. the first man’s first task is to name. adam completes creation with his maker through the act of naming creatures, releasing the land from chaos. when i name moments i am adam and i discover my meaning and god’s, and to name is to learn the language of paradise. this naming work never ends for all the children of adam. naming to find an identity, our identity, god’s. the naming really does call now a gift, a gift of god. to name a thing is to manifest the meaning and value god gave it.

in naming that which is right before me, that

which i’d otherwise miss, the invisible becomes

visible.” -ann voskamp

giveaway details.

included in the giveaway is:

one red moleskine journal, filled with empty lined pages waiting for your joy to be recorded.

one copy of ann voskamp's book, "a thousand gifts"

note: this is a bundle. one winner will receive both