A Giveaway!

It's THAT time again... time for another book Giveaway here on The Journey!!!

I am super excited to announce our next Women of Thanks bible study!

Thursday evenings, beginning April 19, we will be offering a brand new bible study entitled Duty or Delight.

















This 6-week bible study written by bible teacher, Tammie Head, is sure to challenge us as we discover God's best for us.

God is not looking for us to perform for Him, He's looking for us to delight in Him. Many of us hit invisible barriers when we seek the Lord with questions like:

~ Is God happy with me?
~ Does He really love me?
~ Am I doing enough?
~ Why do I feel guilty all the time?
~ Why can't I seem to grow more spiritually?

We will embark on a journey together to overcome spiritual insecurity using six foundational truths from Ephesians 1:3-23. We will discover the beautiful news that God has not only chosen us for a deep, soul-satisfying relationship but He also constantly supplies everything we need to know Him this way.

ENTER TODAY to win your FREE COPY of Duty or Delight (a $12.95 value).

To register to win:
Leave a comment on the blog (below this post).
Tell us your name and contact information (email address).
Tell us the area you seem to struggle with most in your spiritual walk or one area you would like to see improved through this study.
Become a follower of The Journey (upper right hand portion of the blog).

Entries must be submitted NO LATER than midnight on Thursday, March 22. The winner will be announced via the blog and facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-of-Thanks/201699266562560) on Friday, March 23.

Below is Tammie talking about this new study. Check it out! (Make sure to pause the music below in order to hear the sound)...



I can't wait for this study!

Praying for YOU!

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Five: A Perfect Mess

It was another exciting night as we continued our journey through A Perfect Mess by Lisa Harper. Chapter five, When God's People Lose Their Groove, proved to be another rich chapter as Lisa shared with us, her readers, how God's love frees us to grieve honestly while never losing sight of the supernatural hope we have in Him.

The basis for this chapter was this... What does Psalm 42 teach us about dealing with our less-than-lovely emotions?

What? Less-than-lovely emotions? Are you kidding me? Are Christians entitled to having less-than-lovely emotions?? Really?

Well I certainly hope so!

Last night I shared very openly and candidly with our women's group about my most recent messy-life story. I bore my soul about a situation that happened recently with my daughter and how I let my less-than-lovely emotions get the best of me during an event that should have been nothing less than joyful for her. But thankfully we serve a God who is bigger and better than any problem we face. Thank God for His mercy and grace and for allowing us second chances as we struggle through the failures and frailties this side of Heaven. And as Lisa says on page 77, "Thankfully, the gospel frees us from pretending everything in our life is honky-dory when it's not. God doesn't demand that we be perpetually perky." I really needed to read this... especially this week!

We see a sort of internal wrestling match going on in Psalm 42 as the descendants of Korah express their obvious lament for happier times in their lives. You can see the struggle they had between knowing that their God was the rock of their salvation and finding hope and strength in Him, all the while feeling so defeated by their obvious struggle. It's clearly demonstrated in verses 9 and 10 when these words were penned from utter despair... "O God my rock,” I cry, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?” Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”

And isn't that our struggle at times. Lisa describes an example of this on page 80. Our mind wonders why suffering takes place at the very same time our hearts are praising along with "How Great Is Our God" on Sunday morning. Hands raised with heavy hearts.

I remember a time recently when I experienced this type of lament. When I felt this sort of wrestle with God.

It was 4 days before Trevor's surgery (a major life-threatening surgery) last June and I was at church. Here I was... a believer. A Christ-follower. The first person to tell about the goodness of a merciful God and yet I couldn't stop the flow of tears from my eyes as the worship music began. I knew my God "had this" and that no matter what the outcome would be - God was still good and I was still loved. But even as my head was filled with this knowledge, my heart was hurting and heaving for all that we were facing as a family. I can relate to the words of Psalm 42 as these were my own in those terrifying days of uncertainty.

And so I was comforted when I read Lisa's words on page 81... "There is no shame in confessing we feel far away from God; it certainly doesn't surprise Him."

We all face those times when we feel as though we've lost our groove. And you know what? It's okay! Psalm 42 "reminds us of the freedom we have to pour out the messy sorrows of our hearts to our heavenly Father instead of trying to suppress the sad stuff." (Page 83.)

I was stopped dead in my tracks as I read the line on page 83 that says, "And trying to cruise through life in the single gear of 'happy' makes for an ineffective witness. How can we expect others to connect with our faith story when we've edited out the hard parts, the parts they most identify with?"

WOW!

And so... I ask you this...

Are we becoming a road-block for people on their faith journey because we lack authenticity and a life that demonstrates our weaknesses thus highlighting God's goodness through us?

Our society tends to think censoring our pain is the real deal... but I disagree. I think it's time to "do real" with others. Just be real. By being real we will allow them to see that God can do so much more with us through our brokenness than He would ever be willing to do with our attempted perfectionism.

Lisa says on page 85, "Some of the most joyful people I know - certainly the most believable believers - are those who've waded honestly through woundedness. Those who've trudged through difficult seasons only to come out communing with God more deeply."

Through our brokenness... we can be made whole with our Savior.

And she says it again on page 86, "Authentic joy is often forged in the kiln of ache. Horrible messes really can lead to hope-filled messages."

She ends with this most beautiful imagery on page 87... "When we tell God where and why it hurts, we will experience divine embraces that last until our souls stop quivering. We will hear comforting whispers that mute our cries of distress. We will sense nail-scarred hands, reaching down to tilt our faces toward Him, followed by the promise, "I'm right here... I'll never leave you."

Oh thank you Jesus!

And so I end with asking this question of you... What happened on your most recent terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?

Tell God about it. Tell Him where it hurts and how horrible you feel. He understands the suffering. Remember - He too felt the shame of undeserved punishment. He felt alone and deserted. He felt rejected and abandoned. He knows. He cares. He loves and He has promised to never leave you or forsake you.

He can and WILL use you if you give Him all of the broken pieces of your life.

You are beautiful. You are loved. You are a child of God.

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Three: A Perfect Mess

Wow! If there was a chapter that has ever hit me square between the eyes... it was this one. Chapter Three: Tumbling Toward Approval, was indeed a chapter this weary soul needed to read. And will need to keep reading in the future I'm sure of it!

This week our Psalm focus was Psalm 139... and how it describes the way God sees the beauty behind our blemishes. I love the quote she highlights at the beginning of the chapter... "Unfortunately, often our faith doesn't penetrate to our unfavorable feelings about ourselves." - Marva Dawn.

And isn't that true? We know we serve a God who loves... we know the scriptures are clear about the way He loves and we tend to believe it with our whole hearts yet its often hard to accept the personal application to our lives. We struggle with the hard questions like "I know God loves me, but how can He love me intimately?" and "How can God love me after the messes I've made?" These are questions I know I have wrestled with in my own life. And more often than I'd care to admit.

My personal struggle isn't that I don't see how God could love me intimately or even after the messes I've made (and I have had my FAIR SHARE of mess-ups in my life). My struggle seems to be with the expectations I put on myself. The expectations to be perfect. I seem to struggle with the person I am and the person I know God has called me to be. It's the gap between that seems to be my biggest weakness. This hole leaves room for doubt. I place so many expectations on myself that when I fail at any of these I feel as though I've disappointed more than just me. I feel as though I have let others down and fear that God will be displeased with me as well.

I hope I'm not alone in this struggle.

On page 43, Lisa says, "It's easy to fall prey to the feel-good addiction of other people's approval." But she continues, "life-by-scorecard is exhausting."

I've been there before. Saying yes to anything I was asked to do just to be accepted and respected. Always trying to outdo my last big thing so that others would take notice and perhaps like me more. And so much of these feelings stem back to our youth, don't they? If you're like me, you spent years trying to make your daddy proud of you. Maybe this manifested itself in negative ways - like acting out to get his attention. Perhaps we had a mom who demanded excellence from us leaving us feeling as though we could never quite measure up to her expectations. Maybe your parents expected all A's from you on your report card, so when you brought home that C+ in Biology your Junior year of High School, they're disappointment in you was almost unbearable. Maybe it's a boss you've always worked so hard for or a husband you're always striving hard to please. But chances are - at some point in your life you've struggled with gaining approval of others. In one way, shape or form, you've wrestled between the excellence factor and the label of perfection.

Lisa begins the introduction of Psalms 139 on page 44 with these words, "On those days - or weeks! - when we feel like we don't measure up, like our lives are one long blooper reel, we can find hope in what King David wrote in Psalm 139: 'O Lord, You have searched me and you know me.' (Psalm 139:1)"

We continue on with more of that same Psalm, "You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord." (Psalm 139:2-4).

Ladies - God KNOWS us. He knows our thoughts. He knows our ways. He knows us completely and intimately. And I don't know about you - but that is reason enough to SHOUT with joy!

Lisa says on page 45, "He doesn't merely deliver me, but wholeheartedly delights in me." Amen!!

I had a recent experience with my daughter that left this mama reeling with emotions. Chloe is 11 and she is really struggling in her sixth grade year! I have to admit that I saw it coming. I remember my sixth grade year and I can honestly tell you that it was the worst year of my entire school career. But Chloe has always LOVED school... so it's been completely out of character for her to come home in tears day after day expressing her sincere detest for school. It's gut-wrenching to see her precious face marked by sadness when just last year she craved school on a daily basis.

One evening as I was on my way to bed, I heard some whimpering coming from Chloe's room. My first thought was that she didn't feel well, but upon further investigation I discovered it was, once again, tears of sadness at the mere thought of facing another day of school.

We spent some time talking about "so-called friends" who had changed and no longer hung out with her. We talked about bullying and how hard it was to stand by and be a witness to sixth grade injustice. And I tried like any good mom to reassure her that these times, they would soon pass. That these kids, they all still liked her and furthermore were probably going through the same emotions as her. That these experiences, were something each of us had to go through. I tried to explain that God calls us to go THROUGH these difficult situations, and not just "in" to them, expressing to her that there would indeed to a light at the end of the tunnel. But as hard as I tried to explain away these frustrations, the more I realized all she really needed was a mama who listened. All she really needed was for me to "know her" and "love her" intimately enough to not allow her to be alone in her misery. So - - I crawled right up beside her in her bed and with my arms wrapped snug around her... I cried with her.

I knew no other way to comfort her soul... but my prayer was that my presence with her on that Sunday night, would be felt by her years later as she recalled the difficulty enduring sixth grade.

And oh that's so much like our Heavenly Father! On page 47 I find Lisa's words so comforting, "On our worst days, when we're trying to hide our misery or conceal our failures, our perfect God doesn't stand at a distance, waiting for us to pull ourselves together. He crawls right in beside us, amid the dust bunnies and clutter of our lives, to show that we're never alone in our messes." She continues, "No matter where we go, no matter what we do, God is with us. His holy hands won't let go of us."

He crawls right in beside us! What wonderful imagery!

Psalm 139:13-14 says, "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Ladies... WE are fearfully and wonderfully made! And more reassurance comes from the pages of 48 & 49, "Before your biological dad ever made the first pass at your birth mom, God knew there would be a YOU. He planned your first breath long before your mama's obstetrician smacked you on your bare bottom. God fashioned every cell, sculpted each bone, and painted the color of your eyes and skin. Then He stepped back and said, 'Isn't she lovely?'"

Isn't she lovely?? (You've got that Stevie Wonder song stuck in your head now, don't you? ;)

You see - there is no one we should aim to please more than our Heavenly Father. He adores us. We are His craftsmanship and His prized possessions. He longs for us to spend our lives concerned only with what He has to say to us and about us.

"God's love frees us from performing so we can relax and rejoice with the assurance that He knows us completely and adores us just as we are." (Page 53).

At the end of my life I long to hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And really... that is all that really matters.

Thank you for continuing on this journey with us through A Perfect Mess. I trust that God is working on your heart as you seek to please Him!

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Two: A Perfect Mess

I am blessed beyond measure for the privilege and honor of being with some amazing women on Thursday night. I know I'm sounding a bit like a broken record, but there is no where else I would rather be than with these ladies for this hour and a half on Thursday night! Thank you, Jesus, that you made a way for us to study Your word and for loving us enough to meet us where we are but for not being content to leave us there. I am in awe of Your mercy and grace!

Chapter two, Leaping Over Legalism, proved to be another rich chapter as we discussed the ways "religious rules" can get in the way of our relationship with the Father.

It was my Senior year of high school and I was... well... to put it mildly... a little on the rebellious side. I didn't care for "rules" so much. I don't think it had as much to do with rules not applying to me as much as it did with my inherit desire to see how far I could test the waters and get away with something clearly identified as a "rule". I knew rules applied to me. I knew I was expected to follow them, I just wanted to push the limits as far as I could to see if I could actually get away with disobedience.

And it worked a lot of the time. It worked for me my Junior year when our skirts would get measured at the beginning of the school day to make sure they were to the knee or below. I'd get measured and then immediately run to the bathroom where I would hike it up and roll it down at the waist in order to look cooler with a shorter skirt. And it worked my Senior year when I would park in the teachers lot because it was closer than the Senior lot and no one ever noticed. Well.. until that teacher came back from maternity leave. And even then I figured something else out that worked even better.

And here's the thing... I know we have rules to live by. I know that. I know you shouldn't kill your neighbor. I know you should drive the speed limit. I know you should not wear white after Labor Day. I know these things. But I just wonder how many of our "rules" as Christians are actually tripping up new believers in such a way that it's actually turning them off to their faith in Jesus.

I heard the lyrics to a song the other day that made me thing of this very thing. It's called Jesus Friend of Sinners by Casting Crowns. There's a line in the first verse that says, "People are on there way to Jesus, but they're tripping over me."

I don't want to be a stumbling block for people. I don't want to be in the way of their authentic relationship with their Savior. Just the opposite. My heart's desire is that when people who are non-believers look at me - they will see something in me that they want for themselves. In other words... I want God to use me in such a way that my daily walk with Him alone will make such an impact on the world around me that they, too, will want to know how they can have a relationship with the Living Water.

That is my sincere desire and my daily prayer for my life.

But living in our world is messy. It's difficult. And often times painful... even (and sometimes especially) for Christians. We give our lives to Christ with sometimes a view of perfection for our future, yet the opposite is true. Carrying the cross... which Jesus instructs us to do (Luke 9:23)... is a difficult task. A serious act of obedience and a necessity of Christian living.

And there's clearly been rules spelled out in scripture that we must live by if we desire to live a Christ-filled life. Rules like the ten commandments which God designed for our protection and well-being. But focusing on rules as opposed to a relationship can often times be a deterrent for a seeker in search of grace.

I love what author, Lisa Harper, says on page 29, "Walking in faith means trusting in God alone, not in what we say or do or wear. It means being honest about the fact that each of us is a mess and we need God's mercy. It means recognizing our complete dependence on His protection, provision, and providence."

She goes on to say on that same page (29), "I think fixating on our own competency - or obsessing over our incompetency - is one of the biggest mistakes believers make. Because when we focus all our energy on trying to be in control, we forget our innate sinfulness and our desperate need for God."

Our Psalms verse this week is Psalm 62. It's a psalm written by King David during a time scholars believe he was facing a family crisis involving his son, Absalom, who betrayed his father in some of the worst ways imaginable. In the beginning of the Psalm (vs 2) David pens these words, "He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken." However, when you hop over to verse 6, David seems to have shifted his thinking and gained some strength by saying, "He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken."

I shall not be shaken. Period.

Lisa writes on page 33, "David's still the same mistake-prone man he was when he started the Psalm. In fact, the slight mood swing from verse 2 to verse 6 reflects the genuine wrestling of a regular guy, not the fake piety of someone pretending to be perfect. David isn't playing the part of a big hero here; the Holy Spirit just reminded him of how huge his God is."

I wrote at the bottom of my page, "In our weaknesses and inadequacies - our job is to make God great through them."

And you have to love what she says on page 34, "No one but God deserves our absolute devotion. Whether prosperous or poor, human beings aren't worthy of worship. If we put our hope solely in humanity, were going to need a whole lot of Prozac." Amen to that!

Lisa ends the chapter with this on page 36, "God's love frees us from meaningless rules and religious propriety, which means we can live authentically and abundantly by relying on Him instead of ourselves."

Here are some of my bottom lines to this chapter:

We, as believers, are called to stand out. To be set apart from the world. But we can't allow our rules and regulations to misguide people who are in desperate search for the Savior.

We must seek God's face daily and listen to what He has to say to us.

We must recognize our complete dependence on His protection.

God used David in a mighty way in spite of all of his failures... because he learned how to give praise to God in and through anything and everything.

It's not about us - it's all about Him.

Thank you for joining us for another week of A Perfect Mess. I believe God is just getting started with the transformations He wants to make in our lives! Praise Him!

Enjoy reading friends!

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week One: A Perfect Mess

I have the sincere blessing of meeting with some wonderful ladies every Thursday night for a book study. No where else I would want to be on a cold, snowy Thursday night! This will be our second study since the inception of Women of Thanks and we are studying an amazing book entitled A Perfect Mess by Lisa Harper. Lisa describes her book this way...

"On those days when french fries litter the floor of your minivan, when you think bad words about other drivers, when your smile hides an anxious heart - in those moments when you fall short of all you'd hoped to be - what does God see when he looks at you? In your less-than-lovely moments, God sees a precious daughter in need of His perfect love."

Lisa is a master story-teller who weaves her real-life stories with humor and honesty. It's a breath of fresh air to read from a writer who is authentic about her faith and how God used her in all of her messes and mistakes, to make significant Kingdom impact on this generation of women!

You can watch more on Lisa here as she describes how she came to writing this book... A Perfect Mess...



What I appreciate about this book is that it takes you through the Psalms in a very practical way. We're not reading about people who had their lives all together. We're not reading about people who were perfect... in actuality, we're reading about people who in Lisa's words are "bemoaning something". People who came humbled before God who were imperfect. Who messed up. Who were broken and weary and tired and weak. And who can't relate to people like that?

As children we loved to play dress-up... but as adults, don't we do the same thing? Don't we try to mask our true feelings in an effort to "compete" for perfection? I know I am guilty of this time and again as I look back over the course of my life. And I'm sure you've found yourself there too... in a similar situation... You're on your way to church... you get into an argument with your husband about the lack of attention he's given you lately, you're yelling at your kids because they made you late AGAIN and you have NO desire to go to that family picnic later in the day that you still have to make eight pounds of potato salad for and you haven't even been to store to get the potatoes yet! Oh - but as you walk inside the church doors, anxiety still at an all-time high, you burst through all smiles. And when someone greets you with "Good Morning, how are you today?" you confidently lie and tell them, "GREAT! How are you?"

Really? Great? And just moments before you were ready to start a war with the very people you love more than anything on planet earth including the family dog?

But isn't this what we do?

Because heaven help us if we don't "appear" to have it all together!

Lisa speaks very clear to this in the opening pages of chapter 1, Walk This Way. She talks about an experience she had purchasing a pair of black, knee-high, leather boots in Chicago with her girlfriends on the night before a big event in which she was a speaker. As much as she loved them - they were extremely uncomfortable. In fact her girlfriends could tell that she was having a difficult time walking in them - but she was not about to let them think they were anything less than perfect! She ends up buying the clearenced boots and wearing them the following evening to her speaking engagement. I laughed out loud when I read her words on page 8, "I no longer had any sensation in my toes. I limped mincingly to the podium and tried to focus on speaking while fearing my feet were in the initial stages of gangrene."

And so the question... when was the last time you hobbled around in pain due to your own foolish choices?

I can think of countless times when I metaphorically "hobbled around" due to some poor choices... Poor eating habits, poor exercising habits, poor choice in boyfriends growing up. You name it! Lisa says it best on page 8 when she says, "we must follow our heavenly Father's path instead of being lured off course by what ungodly people proclaim to be fashionable. And this ode to obedience includes a warning as well: attempting to be hip in ways that aren't cool with God will ultimately lead to hobbling around in pain, separated from the only One who loves you unconditionally."

The Psalm focus for this week is Psalm 1:

"Happy are those who don't listen to the wicked, who don't go where sinners go, who don't do what evil people do."

The Hebrew word for "happy" in Psalm 1:1 can be translated as "blessed". Here we aren't talking about being happy people all the time. People with fake smiles to mask the pain. No. Instead we who know Christ as our personal Savior, understand that there is a BIG difference between being happy and being filled with JOY. This should bring us all a little relief. While we are here in this world there are going to be days when we just don't feel "happy". When the smile won't come... when the road is hard... when the pain runs deep. But we DO have reasons to be women filled with the joy of the Lord. Because when we follow His path for our lives... when we live in obedience to His commands... JOY will come. It will indeed flow from our relationship with the Father.

And the bottom line to Psalm 1 is this: happiness can't keep company with wickedness. We must keep ourselves away from those things that lure us away from the best that God has for us. God calls us blessed. We were made for so much more than this world has to offer!

Psalm 1 continues:

"They love the Lord's teachings, and they think about these teachings day and night. They are strong, like a tree planted by a river. The tree produces fruit in season, and its leaves don't die. Everything they do will succeed."

We are to be like trees planted by a river whose roots grow deep. Nourished. Strengthened. Spiritually healthy. That is God's desire for His children. For our roots to run deep in Him.

Lisa takes us through the New Testament scripture in Matthew regarding sheep and goats. When Jesus teaches on doing to the 'least of these' (including feeding and clothing and housing) He says "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored that was me - you did it to me". Sheep will be the ones who do this as Jesus... while goats on the other hand will be the ones who didn't do as Jesus and by doing so ultimately ignore and reject Jesus.

I love her illustration of sheep here. And she describes this well on page 19, "they (sheep) have walked closely with Jesus and have begun to mirror some of His mannerisms. It's not that they're inherently better than the wicked guys; sheep and goats are both stinky; hairy manure machines." She goes on to say that "furthermore, my veterinarian friends tell me that goats are actually smarter than sheep. That means that sheep don't have more intrinsic value than goats. The real reason they're elevated in this gospel imagery is their relationship with the Shepherd."

So - wait a minute. Goats are the bad guys and they are actually "smarter" than sheep?? It's more proof that God uses the weak in the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27). It's another demonstration of sheep being elevated in scripture due to their inherit ability to obey they master. We are ultimately and thankfully separated from the goats because of our RELATIONSHIP with Jesus.

And so the next question... am I a goat or a sheep?

I'm looking so forward to our time together during this study on A Perfect Mess. I believe God is going to do amazing things as we discover all the ways God loves us!!

Enjoy reading friends!

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Giveaway: Winner!

A couple days ago I announced a book giveaway here on The Journey.

... and the winner of the book is....

MARTHA!

I will be contacting you soon about the details of getting your book to you!

Thanks for those who entered to win! And stay tuned for more giveaways here on the blog!

Happy Reading!

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

A Giveaway!

Well - it's that time again! Time for another GIVEAWAY here on The Journey.

Our next Women of Thanks study will be on the book, A Perfect Mess, by Lisa Harper. In this beautiful book, Lisa takes her readers through the Psalms in a very honest and fun way. She teaches us in very practical ways how we can apply some honest truth mixed with God's graces as we seek to unpack the way God sees us... as His precious daughters in need of His perfect love.













Taken from the back cover...

"In this liberating look at how God adores and transform imperfect people, Bible teacher Lisa Harper weaves poignant stories of her own personal foibles with a fresh take on selected psalms to reveal a loving Father who remains your greatest champion, even when you don't feel anywhere close to Holy. Join Lisa in discovering what happens when we stop trying to hide our inadequacies and doubts and instead trust God with our anger, frustrations, flaws, and regrets. As you accept God's loving invitation to exchange your junk for His joy, you'll find the imperfect pieces of your life shaped into a glorious pattern of divine grace."

Beginning on Thursday, January 12, a group of women and I will begin our 12-week journey through this book together. In addition, I will sharing our insights and some highlights from our group discussions with YOU here online at The Journey.

I am so looking forward to diving in after the first of the year! And I believe this book is going to knock you socks off!

Okay... on to the GIVEAWAY info!

Here at The Journey, I will be giving away ONE copy of A Perfect Mess by Lisa Harper (a $13.99 value). The following are the rules for participation:

1.) Comment HERE on the blog (bottom of this post - click on comments). Provide your first name, contact information (email address), and a little bit about yourself and why you think this book is a MUST READ for you. :)

2.) Submit your entries no later than Friday, December 16, at midnight.

3.) Check back on the blog as I reveal the random winner on Saturday, December 17.

That's it! Simple stuff! One lucky blog reader will win... and it could be YOU!

Ready... set... enter!

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Weeks 10 & 11: One Thousand Gifts

I was SO sad to see our study of One Thousand Gifts come to an end!! But I am SO grateful to have shared this journey with all of the women who fulfilled their commitment to stick it out with us in our study on Thursday night and SO thankful for those of you who have endured these weeks with us online! As I said in the beginning, this was a project that was MANY months in the making. I did a lot of praying over this particular study and spent literally months praying for the women God was going to bring to this study. I hope this book challenged your thinking on gratitude and thankfulness. I pray that this book has been a blessing to you and that you've been encouraged to share the principles found in this book with those closest to you.

I'm going to do something a little different with these last two chapters and simply jot down a few quotes within the chapters that really struck a chord with me personally. And then, as always, I will add the video sessions at the bottom.

Chapter 10, Empty To Fill

"A life contemplating the blessings of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ."

"Jesus is about to let flesh be broken with nail, heart be broken with rejection, the chains be broken with bleeding love. And in His last hours before His earthly end, He doesn't run out to buy something or catch a flight to go see something, but He wraps a towel around His waist and kneels low to take the feet of His forsakers gently in hand and wash away the grime between their toes."

"I am blessed. I can bless. Imagine! I could let Him make me the gift!"

"Christian hands never clasp and He doesn't give the gifts for gain because a gift can never stop being a gift - it is always meant to be given."

"He calls us to serve, and it is Him whom we serve, but He, very God, kneels down to serve us as we serve. The servant-hearted ever serve alone. Spend the whole of your one wild and beautiful life investing in many lives, and God simply will not be outdone. God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we year for: Joy in Him."

"The way through the pain is to reach out to others in theirs."

"I give happy thanks for the daily mess with a smile a mile wide, because this is again my chance to wholeheartedly serve God, to do full-bodied eucharisteo with the hands and the heart and the lips. I can count each task a gift, pure eucharisteo. Grace! This work - the thousand endless jobs - they each give the opportunity for one to become the gift, a thousand times over! Because with every one of the thousand, endless jobs, I become the gift to God and to others because this work is the public God serving, the daily liturgy of thanks, the completing of the Communion service with my service."

Here is the video session with Ann Voskamp for Chapter 10. Don't forget to go to the bottom of this page first and pause the music from my playlist on the blog so that you can hear the audio. :)

One Thousand Gifts: Chapter 10 from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Chapter 11, The Joy of Intimacy

"He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." (Zephaniah 3:17)

"It really is like C.S. Lewis argued that the most fundamental thing is no HOW we think of God, but rather WHAT God thinks of us. 'How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important.' Years of Christian discipleship, Bible study, churchgoing had been about me thinking about God; practicing eucharisteo was the very first I had really considered at length what God thought of me - this ridiculous and relentlessly pursuing love, so bold. Everywhere, everything, LOVE!"

"Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are... a divine choice." (Perhaps one of my FAVORITE lines in the entire book!) ;)

"Nothing I am counts for anything, but all that I count of Him counts for everything - seeing eyes might illuminate the glory of Christ in all."

"... we're called to do more than believe in God; we're called to live in God. To enter into Christ and Christ enter into us - to cohabit."

Here is the video session with Ann Voskamp for Chapter 11. Don't forget to go to the bottom of this page first and pause the music from my playlist on the blog so that you can hear the audio. :)

One Thousand Gifts Chapter 11 from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Blessings my friend! Again - thank you for journeying with us!! We have LOVED every minute of our time with you!!

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Weeks 8 & 9: One Thousand Gifts

I am couple weeks behind and I hope that you can forgive me! I decided to go ahead and post both for chapters 8 & 9 and in 2 weeks I will post for chapters 10 & 11 since December 1 will be our last (boo-hoo) week for this study together.

It is my sincere prayer that you have enjoyed each of these weeks as we dove headlong into this idea of gratitude. I pray that we will each find our own way of living out Eucharisteo every single day of our lives!

Chapter 8, How Will He Not Also, is a very honest chapter about Ann's life. What she would describe as "messy".

Stories. We all have them. Some of them as messy. Most of them contain a balance of joy and pain... but each one containing a single common ingredient... GRACE!

The big question... Can we learn how to be grateful through situations we don't understand? Can we trust when we don't know what's coming ahead?

If you are ANYTHING like me - you might be a bit familiar with a need to control everything. But God asks that we TRUST. And that means leaning back and letting God take over. And taking over EVERY aspect of our daily lives.

"Stress brings no joy." Ann says on page 147. We can say we are joyful... but when we live in stress... we cannot possibly be living in joy. Joy comes from trust. "Stress isn't only a joy stealer. The way we respond to it can be sin." (page 146) Ouch! What are we saying when we are stressed? That we can't TRUST in our wonderful Creator?

How do we slow ourselves? Because remember it... LIFE is NOT an EMERGENCY!

My favorite part of this entire chapter rests on page 156. She says this...

"Wasn't that too His way with Moses? 'When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back.' (Ex 33:22-23 NIV). Is that it? When it gets dark, it's only because God had tucked me in a cleft of the rock and covered me, protected with His hand? In the pitch, I feel like I'm falling, sense the bridge giving way, God long absent." She goes on... "God is in the tremors. Dark is the holiest ground, the glory passing by."

SUCH a beautiful analogy!!

When the way is dark... and all of us will encounter that darkness sometime or another... it is only then when God is covering us... protecting us from falling. He is our rock. He hides us to protect with His very hand. Oh praise God!!!

Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus!

We are called to live a life of YES! To THANK HIM in the midst of whatever He gives.

Thank you Jesus!

Below is the video from week eight. (Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog to pause the music from my playlist in order to hear this video.)

One Thousand Gifts: Chapter Eight from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Chapter 9, Go Lower, is a beautiful chapter of perspective. Ann talks about the perspective of her sweet little girl taking pictures... and how much different things look when you're only 3 feet tall. The looking up at everything. Just the way God desires for His children to look UP to Him!

We learn through this amazing chapter that my perspective changes when I see everything as something I don't deserve. Only THEN does it truly become a gift!

"The joy" Ann says, "makes life large." (page 167)

Oh how I want that!

Ann talks about expectations that we have. She says on page 169, "Expectations kill relationships - especially with God." And what happens when we expect the blessings to come and they don't? How does faith play a role in that then? Or does it?

Because all gifts... ALL gifts Ann says... are "unmerited luxuries".

On page 170 she says it beautifully... "Is it only when our lives are emptied that we're surprised how truly full our lives were?"

So how do we live a life of gratitude... being thankful with ALL we have... NOW... so that we don't miss the beauty of how full our lives are and risk looking back with regret?

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30.

"The FEELING of joy begins in the ACTION of thanksgiving." (page 176).

And I love what she says on the top of page 178... "And what do I really deserve? Thankfully, God never gives what is deserved, but instead, God graciously, passionately offers gifts - our bodies, our time, our very lives. God does not give rights but imparts responsibilities - response-abilities - inviting us to respond to His love-gifts."

She ends with this on page 181... "I can't be receptive to God unless I receive what He gives."

Let's receive what He gives. With palms up... let's allow Him to pour out to us the blessings we don't deserve. And together - let's respond with THANKSGIVING!

Below is the video from week nine. (Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog to pause the music from my playlist in order to hear this video.)

One Thousand Gifts: Chapter Nine from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Seven: One Thousand Gifts

"You have said, 'Seek My face.' My heart says to You, 'Your face, Lord, do I seek.'" Psalm 27:8 (ESV)






I can't help but remind myself through each of these chapters... "Hammer to the nail... building the wall of joy... so that we have somewhere to land, something to lean against... something to help us to stand when the crises comes." And they will come. "Hammer to the nail. Hammer to the nail."

Chapter 7 was all about being broken. The chapter about... toast. And brothers. And the ugly that can creep so quickly into our broken messes. Even in the midst of counting gifts. The beautiful blessings. The ugly can creep in so easily if we allow it an entry point.

And for Ann, this entry point for the ugly was the morning when brothers broke into battle over.. toast.

And isn't it always the small things that get the best of us? The insignificant? And why is that? How and WHY do we allow the small things to get at us the most? Could it be that it's not really about toast at all? Could it really be that there is something more going on?

Ann longs on page 124, to return to the moon.

Remember the moon?

Ah - the beauty of the moon.

"Why?" She asks. "Can I just go back to the moon and the brazen glory?"

And it's a reminder of the story of The Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). The story of where Jesus went up to a mountain and took with him Peter, James and John. It would be a time of prayer. "And as Jesus was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothing became dazzling white." (vs 29). Moses and Elijah appear before them and my bible records this event as being a "glorious sight to see." (vs 31). And then it was Peter who blurted out what I find myself relating to well, "Master this is wonderful!" (vs 33).

Oh - if we could only stay on the mountaintop with Jesus!

If we could only live in the blessing every second of every day!

If we could only feel this much joy all the time!

But we can't. The mountaintop isn't where the real life is lived out. And Ann knows it. She says on page 124, "But there's always the decent from the mount. The meeting of the crowd, the complaining, the cursing. Obvious and immediate transfigurations exhilarate the faith, but the faithful can forget transfigurations, faces that once changed appearances. We betray Who we know. Didn't Peter?"

WOW.

Didn't Peter?

Oh that's right. He really did.

... "I don't even know this Man." (Luke 22:57)
... "No I'm not [one of them]." (Luke 22:58)
... "I don't know what you're talking about." (Luke 22:60)

Three times. He denied. And He betrayed. Don't we too? There' ugly stuff - but there are also ugly people. And sometimes aren't we?

There's always the decent from the mount.
There's always a time when we have to get back to the real world.

And she asks the question that my heart longs to know the answer to, "How do I see grace, give thanks, find joy in this sin-stinking place?" (page 125).

That's the question we desire to have an answer for.

HOW?

Is it possible?

It's driving the hammer. Hammer to nail. Discipline. Practice. "The discipline of thanks only comes with practice." (page 135)

And it's hard. It's really hard. A daily struggle. But VITAL to our survival in this sin-stinking place. VITAL!

Ann chooses in the moment... albeit not immediately... to choose joy. To find out what the REAL problem is.

Because it's never just about toast. There's always more going on. Something else.

Ann so eloquently tells the story of Jacob and his wrestle with God as depicted in Genesis, chapter 32. The story of Jacob wrestling with a man... an unknown man... the day before making peace with his brother, Esau. The wrestle with this man left Jacob with a hip joint out of place. The sinew of the thigh. (Sinew means tendon, but also means the source of strength and power.)

The man... "breaks Jacob." (page 137) But Jacob refuses to let go. And he doesn't even know who this man is whom he's wrestling. "Just a man in the dark, a man he couldn't see. And in the black, all that night, it was the face of God over him that he was struggling against." (page 137)

"God is behind the face."

And there's always the wrestle before we can see God.

"The Lord has to break us down at the strongest part of our self-life before He can have His own way of blessing with us." (page 138)

Glass to God. Can we really see Him behind the faces?

Behind the faces of those we are angry with?
Behind the faces of those who are ugly with ingratitude?

It's a challenge that's for sure! And I know the struggle well.

Resentment or gratitude. Which will you chose?

Because it's not just the recording of gifts that's going to change us. It's the LIVING IT OUT.

We were created to bring honor and glory to the Father. HOW will we intentionally CHOOSE joy? Because we were created to point to Him!

Keep your gaze on heaven friends! Keep your gaze on heaven!

Below is the video from week seven. (Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog to pause the music from my playlist in order to hear this video.)

One Thousand Gifts Chapter 7 from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Six: One Thousand Gifts

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple."
Psalm 27:4 (NIV)

We had another amazing night at book club last night! I have to admit I am sad that we are already half way through the book. As one of our participants said, it feels as though we have to do the book over again to really get this discipline deep down in our souls. And it's true. There is so much to this book that I would encourage you to take the time to read it through again if you get a chance. I found that I got SO much more out of it when I took the time to read it again and I even found sometimes that reading ALOUD was very helpful as well. Ann's writing style can be a little hard at times... to fully comprehend, so that is just a way I found works really well to really absorb what's she's trying to communicate.

Please know that we are PRAYING for each and every one of you all the time! We are SUPER excited for this book club - and too, for those of you who are joining us online - we are THRILLED to have you! We are praying that God would reveal Himself to you through the pages of this brilliant book, One Thousand Gifts.

This week we reviewed Chapter six, What Do You Want? The Place of Seeing God. This was the story about the moon! On page 102, Ann's sweet husband, who understands her souls desire for finding beauty... for counting gifts (she had already been naming gifts for many months at this point and had passed 1,000), tells her, "You will want to see this."

In the rushing and chaos of her day - he interrupts her softly, inviting her to see something he KNOWS she won't want to miss. THE MOON. But for a moment, in her rush to put food for 8 on the table, she finds herself slightly irritated. Not at him, so much, as the disturbance of the rushing.

And for a moment I am Ann. And I can feel the irritation. I've been distracted... disturbed... momentarily by something that takes me away from the concentration that "the thing" is begging from me... and I can feel the same frustrations in myself.

But he... the husband... who knows the woman counting graces would be so hurt to have missed the opportunity to SEE this... THE MOON! "The moon rounds immense, incandescent globe grazing ours." (page 105)

But then again, it's just a moon. We'll see another. Or will we?
But then again, it's just a moon. We've seen one before. Or have we?

SEEING the moon THAT night was as if she were FINALLY seeing with eyes wide open.

Surely there had been another moon so... so magnificant before... but where had she been? Sleeping the whole time? And HOW had she missed such beauty... beauty that was RIGHT in front of her?

And yet aren't we that way?

Don't we notice beauty around us - but truly fail to SEE the beauty in it? The God-beauty?

On page 107 she speaks of Jacob, waking from sleep before full moon rising, "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn't even aware of it!'" (Genesis 28:16-17).

Isn't Jacob's words, our words? SURELY the Lord is in THIS place, and I wasn't even AWARE of it!

Surely I have been a witness to some beautiful sun rises... but did I fail to notice that the Lord was in it?
Surely I have seen the birth of my child... but did I fail to SEE that the Lord was there too?

And what about in the trees, or in rain, or in the falling leaves or the sunset or the ocean?

Are we really, truly choosing to SEE with eyes wide open?

"The only place we have to come before we die is the place of seeing God." (page 108)

Of SEEING God.

That's it!

I want to SEE God. In everything.

In the good. In the ordinary. In the spectacular. In the pain. In the suffering. In the light. And the dark.

I want to SEE God.

Because God is good and I am always loved.

Always.

I want to be paying attention.

On page 111 Ann writes, "I pay tribute to God by paying attention."

I want to be paying attention. I don't want to MISS it!

Because what if THIS is the last moon I will be able to SEE with these human eyes?

What if?

And Ann beckons us to ask the question of ourselves. The one she's wrestled with herself...

If I can see God in the beauty, can I, too, then, go back into the chaos of my life and find beauty THERE?

Can I see God HERE? And in turn can I find JOY here too?

Because joy can be found where God is found... so can I find God here? In the mess I've made? In the pain I've suffered? In my frailty and weakness?

God CAN be there too!

She closes the chapter with this on pages 120 and 121...

"The world I live in is loud and blurring and toilets plug and I get speeding tickets and the dog gets sick all over the back step and I forget everything and these six kids lean hard into me all day to teach and raise and lead and I fail hard and there are real souls that are at stake and how long do I really have to figure out how to live full of grace, full of joy - before these six beautiful children fly the coop and my mothering days fold up quiet? How do you open the eyes to see how to take the daily, domestic, workday vortex and invert it into the dome of an everyday cathedral? Could I go back to my life and pray with eyes wide open? Praying with eyes wide open is the only way to pray without ceasing."

Can we see... and count gifts (praying)... with eyes wide open?

Will you choose to SEE the amazing gifts He gives?

Because, truly, they are ALL around us!

Let's choose to SEE them together!

Praying for you!

Below is the video from week six. (Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog to pause the music from my playlist in order to hear this video.)

One Thousand Gifts: Chapter 6 from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Five: One Thousand Gifts

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:21 (NKJV)

Chapter 5, What in the World, in all the World, is Grace, was a difficult chapter. This was the chapter about the hard eucharisteo. Ann tells us the story of her sweet 7-year-old boy, Levi, who when working in the barn doing chores, puts his hand through a fan blade. As she runs to her son, unsure of what she'll see when she gets there, fear fills her body. And she knows... that THIS might be it. "The hard eucharisteo." As she describes on page 80. And she admits, "Now I know that I don't want to know it yet... Ever."

We pick back up on the bottom of page 80, top of page 81, when Ann and Levi return to the house following a three-hour hospital visit. "He has a hand." Ann says to her mom who knows the loss of a child. Who has lived the hardest eucharisteo. "He's cut up bad. But only the index is broken. They're booking us for a surgeon."

And in that moment... relief.
In that moment... praise.

But she wrestles with the tough question of this word... grace.

"And if his hand had been right sheared off?" She asks. "What of God's grace then? Can I ask that question?"

It's one thing to be thankful and to praise God in the good times. When things are going well. When we are in good health, when we are surrounded with the ones we love. When we get good grades. When our marriage is flourishing. When it's sunny. When bills get paid.

But what happens in those hard moments when God's grace is more difficult to see? What then?

Perspective is found on page 82 when Ann reflects back on what she hears on the radio on their way home from the hospital. "The obituaries after the noon farm news. A 13-year-old Mennonite boy, just down the road from the red-roofed dairy farm my husband grew up on. A farm boy, an accident. Date of death. Siblings. Funeral details. No mention of the state of his mama's heart, delta fractures slitting her through."

A boy. Only 13-years-old. Death. Tragic. Sudden. No warning.

Isn't THIS this hard stuff we've feared?

We're all faced with these hard days.

Maybe it was a call from a doctor... bad test results.
Maybe it was a call from a sibling... death of a parent.
Maybe it was a call from the school... a hurt child.

Maybe, like me, it was a call from a friend. A call that would rattle me to the core when I was only 18. Nothing up to that point had been harder. A call that came from a classmate in the middle of the afternoon. "Are you alone?" He asked. WHY was he asking this? Why in the world would it matter? "Yes." I said. "What happened?" And then I felt it. Maybe it's what I heard in his silence. Maybe it was the peircing sound of the silence that followed that gave way for fear to seep in. But I knew something bad had happened. Nothing could have prepared me. I hadn't rehearsed this part. And then it came, "Robbie's been in an accident, Wendy. And he didn't make it."

"He didn't make it."

In that single moment I couldn't define these words. I could not make them out. I heard him... but I didn't know what that meant. Didn't make it?

And then the whole world went black.

A shooting accident that claimed the life of my friend was a turning point in my life. It's amazing how these things change us. For me it was as if the life I had known up to that point ended. And a new one began. The old me was no longer. I was now looking through the lens of grief. Pain. Sadness. The hard eucharisteo.

And I had known Jesus. I had known about this love. This forgiveness. This grace?

But where was grace the day my sweet friend was ripped away, violently, from this world?

And I read it again on the pages of this book and I am reminded... "God is always good and I am always loved." (page 100)

Always.

And isn't that what life is? A balance of the grace moments and curse moments? And then what about thanksgiving? If in the grace moments we are thankful... what are we to do in the curse moments?

Perspective.

I love how her eyes are opened to the perspective.

"I hang up the phone" she says, "and I stand for a long while, just watching Levi breathe. Watching Levi live. He had an extra serving of ice cream on his plate last night and licked the mint right off his plate. He might not have. He slept in a bed last night, on clean sheets, and beside his brother. What if he hadn't? He woke and walked out across the dew grass this morning, the blades all sewed up in dangled gossamer of spiders. Why him? He worked alongside his dad in the barn, swept the broom hard; and when his dad said he was growing quite the muscles, he had laughed. He might not have. Who deserves any grace?" (page 93)

"Why are we allowed two?" Ann asks. "Why lavished with three? A whole string of days? Isn't even one grace enough?" (page 93)

Perspective. How we see.

And how can these pain moments lead to gratitude? CAN we be thankful through the pain? In the midst of pain?

How can we possibly be thankful for the death of a child? For the ominous diagnosis? For the accidents and the senseless crimes and the pure heartbreak? How?

Because the pain will come. For each and every one of us. One day. Maybe today. Maybe next month. Maybe 12 years from now. But it will come. And there's no warning. It will. Just. Come.

In chapter five's video I am reminded of the resurrection.

The resurrection was bloody. It was painful. It was messy. It was the hardest eucharisteo the world has ever seen.

And yet THROUGH the nail-pierced hands we can find hope.
THROUGH the blood-soaked rags we can find strength.
THROUGH the brutal beating we can find refuge.

Not IN this pain... but THROUGH this pain.

Because God wastes nothing. He "makes everything work out according to His plan." (Eph 1:11).

He wastes nothing. Not even your pain. Because God's grace... really is enough.

In the video Ann so appropriately illustrates how gratitude NOW paves the way for dealing with the darkness LATER. She says there's no warning for darkness, but we can prepare ourselves by practicing the discipline of gratitude so that when the days come we have a foundation to stand on.

It's what she calls the ugly-beautiful. "That which is perceived as ugly transfigures into beautiful." And she continues, "The ugly can be beautiful. The dark can give birth to life; suffering can deliver." (page 99)

God is always good and I am always loved. There it is again.

She closes the chapter... "Because eucharisteo is how Jesus, at the Last Supper, showed us how to transfigure all things - take the pain that is given, give thanks for it, and transform it into a joy that fulfills all emptiness."

God wants our questioning of Him to be smaller and our desire for Him to be bigger. Because I am convinced that He is using the pain in our lives to transfigure it and redeem it into something beautiful that only He can use for His glory! The question now is will we allow Him full access to transfigure our ugly into beautiful?

I am praying for each and every one of you.

Thank you for continuing on this journey with us!

Below is the video from week five. (Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog to pause the music from my playlist in order to hear this video.)

One Thousand Gifts: Chapter 5 from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

We would LOVE to hear your story of redemption! How has God taken the ugly in your life and made it beautiful? In class on Thursday nights we are each participating in a challenge... To reflect on and record 3 evidences of God's grace towards you. And if you are willing - we'd LOVE for you to use this place to share with us how God is transfiguring the pain you've experienced. Simply click on the COMMENTS link just below this post.

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Four: One Thousand Gifts

"We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it." Psalm 39:6 (NLT)



Chapter 4, A Sanctuary Of Time, was a PACKED chapter. I will admit that when I first read this chapter I said to myself, "Could this really be ALL about a bubble? A soap sud? Really?" But as we discussed last night - it is SO much more than that. This chapter really challenges readers to slow down. To discover what it means to live this one life well. To experience the full life in the midst of the hurry and the running and the getting to.. the... next... thing.

How do we slow time down?

How do we stop living life as if it were an emergency? Because life is NOT an emergency!

And what does it mean to have not MORE time... but ENOUGH time?

Ann begins this chapter with her observation of a another gift to add to her list... #362, Suds... all color in sun.

And it's this sud that opens her eyes wide to the gift of time. Making time. As she says on page 64, "I only see it because I'm looking..."

I only see it because I'm looking.

What other things do we miss because we are in such a hurry? What other beautiful gifts have we allowed to pass us by simply because we were not paying attention?

Could it be that this hunt for gifts... for all things beautiful... is JUST the thing that will allow us to slow time down?

Hurry makes us hurt... (isn't that called stress? And don't we do that to ourselves... unnecessarily?)

Hurry empties a soul.

Think about it. I was just saying last week that all would be right in the world if I could just have ONE more day in the week to get accomplished the things I need to get accomplished. Just one more day I begged for. But is it really MORE time I need? Or is it ENOUGH time that I need? Because wouldn't I just fill that ONE MORE day with even MORE unnecessary things? Who really wants more time for worry? Guilt? Shame? More running of errands. More spending money we don't have. More schedules. More crises. Really? Is that what I want?

I love the beautiful way Ann writes it on the top of page 68... "I just want time to do my one life well."

That's it!

My hearts desire is to take this one life I have been given and live it... well! Oh how I long to hear the words of my Savior... "Well done good and faithful servant." (Matt 25:21)

Receiving gifts... naming them... and thanking God for them... is our only hope for slowing time down because it begs for our full attention NOW. One page 69 Ann remembers the words of her sister, "Where you are, be all there." She continues, "I have lived the runner, panting ahead in worry, pounding back in regrets, terrified to live in the present, because here-time asks me to do the hardest of all: just open wide and receive."

And isn't that harder to do?

But "This"... Ann writes, "is where God is."

And I WANT to be where God is.

So could it be as easy as one simple formula... Giving thanks = more time.

I LOVE her analogy on pages 71 and 72.

In John, chapter 6, the story so many of us are familiar with, is the story of Jesus feeding 5,000. Jesus and His disciples had just crossed over the Sea of Galilee, when a huge crowd began following them. It was nearing time for the annual Passover celebration and they were in need of some food to feed themselves and the large crowd that had gathered. And there was nothing. The only thing that was available was a young boy's lunch which consisted of five barley loaves and two fish. "But what good is this with a huge crowd?" Andrew asked. (verse 9) (Oh I can SO see myself in that boy Andrew, can't you? Doubting the very One who had just come from performing all kinds of miracles. Don't we KNOW the miracle worker and still doubt His amazing abilities?)

After gathering the loaves of bread and the fish, Jesus "took the loaves and gave thanks to God and passed them out to the people." (verse 11). John goes on to write, "And they ate until they were full." Jesus even responds to His disciples, "'Now gather up the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.'" (verse 12)

Stop!

What just happened?

Jesus had only FIVE loaves of bread. BARELY enough to feed the 13 of them... let alone FIVE THOUSAND!

Jesus had five loaves of bread and what did He do?

He gave thanks. Those two words. The "bridge words" as Ann calls them. "The crossing over that took the not enough and made it enough."

He gave thanks. There it is again... Eucharisteo.

"Jesus embraces His not enough... He gives thanks... And there is more than enough."

That's it. Again. The miracle of thanks.

Oh what being grateful does. It multiplies the blessing!

So... Jesus gives thanks for the five loaves of bread and it multiplies.
Could we give thanks, then, for the moments so that those, too, can multiply?

Is that the secret to getting more time?

Ann says it best on page 72, "The real problem of life is never a lack of time. The real problem of life - in my life - is lack of thanksgiving."

"Life is a dessert." Ann says, "You don't wolf it down." (page 77)

Wherever you are... be all there.
Life is not an emergency.
Giving thanks = more time.
Slow down long enough to see the miracles.

Because I'm with Ann... "I want to savor long whatever time holds."

And it IS fleeting.

Below is the video from week four. (Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog to pause the music from my playlist in order to hear this video.)

One Thousand Gifts: Chapter 4 from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com

Week Three: One thousand Gifts

"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving." Psalm 69:30 (KJV)




Can I just say how BLESSED I am to be doing life alongside of some amazing women?? Last night we wrapped up chapter three of our study on Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts.

Chapter three, First Flight, was an uplifting and encouraging chapter. Unlike the first two chapters, which were a little more difficult to get through, this chapter felt like we FINALLY arrived at the meat of the book.

What started out as a DARE from a friend to list 1,000 things she was grateful for, truly turned into her life's mission... a "hunt" as described by Ann herself, to find all things beautiful in a messy, messy world.

We were all encouraged by the words Ann quotes on page 44 from Pierre de Caussade, "When one is thirsty one quenches one's thirst by drinking, not by reading books which treat of this condition." "If we are dying of thirst", Ann says, "passively reading books about water quenches little; the only way to quench the parched mouth is to close the book and dip the hand into water and bring it to the lips. If we thirst, we'll have to drink. I would have to DO SOMETHING."

Kind of like reading God's word. We can read the book all day long. We can memorize scripture. We can be filled with knowledge of His truths, His grace and His love... but if we want it to change us... to REALLY change us from the inside out... we have to DO something. Reading about how to walk in His love will do little for us. We have to take the first steps of obedience and faith.

And so we see Ann's list begin. This naming of 1,000 things she is grateful for:

1.) Morning shadows across the old floor.
2.) Jam piled high on toast.
3.) Cry of blue jay from high in the spruce.

And she says as she begins, "This writing it down - it is sort of like... unwrapping love."

Philippians 4:11-12 is such an inspiring piece of scripture, "I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little."

That boy Paul... oh he got it! I want to learn how to live this out too... don't you?

Ann says, "Gratitude in the midst of death and divorce and debt - that's the language I've got to learn to speak - because that's the kind of life I'm living, the kind I have to solve." (page 47)

And so as Martin Luther King once said, "If you want to change the world, pick up your pen."

Can it really be that simple? Perhaps!

Questions for discussion:

1.) Ann accepts a dare from a friend to begin a list, not of gifts she wants, but of gifts she already has. A gratitude list.

Have you ever made a gratitude list? If so, what prompted you to do so? How did the experience impact your relationship with God?

I can say from personal experience that starting my list of gratitude changed my life in MORE ways than I can ever tell you! I think for me, it was in the discovery of the little things I had always taken for granted. Here's some of those from my own personal journal...

11.) Smiles from a friend.
34.) Date night with the hubs.
59.) S'mores at summer bonfires.
75.) The smell of cinnamon.
93.) Air condition.
141.) Bowl full of beautiful red, ripe strawberries.

And so, too, began my list. Could I make it to 1,000? I will see. I'm on my way... 527 to be exact. And still counting.

Is it difficult? Not really. Why? Because beauty is really all around us. Every day. The question shouldn't be can we do it... instead the question ought to be, can we SLOW DOWN long enough to SEE what's been there all along?

2.) Among the first gifts on Ann's list are these:

~ Morning shadows across the old floor.
~ Jam piled high on toast.
~ Cry of blue jay from high in the spruce.
~ Leafy life scent of the florist shop.
~ Wind flying cold wild in hair.

Each gift appeals to one of the five senses - something Ann can see, taste, hear, smell or feel. Thinking back on the last 24 hours, use your senses to name five things for which you are grateful - your own mini gratitude list.

3.) In reading Philippians 4:11-12 (above), Ann discovers, "the secret to living joy in every situation, the full life of eucharisteo." It is in the apostle Paul's statement, "I have learned" (page 47). Take a moment to think of a few things that have brought joy or a feeling of contentment to your life recently. Did you have to learn these things or work at them, or did they just happen, like happy coincidences? How do you understand the relationship between learning or practicing gratitude and experiencing joy?

4.) "This dare to write down one thousand things I love... is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me." (page 59) How does gratitude open the door to ever-increasing awareness of God's love for you? How might you take up the dare to name the ways God loves you?

Did you ever think of it that way before? By naming all the gifts is like naming all the ways God loves YOU?

Think about that the next time you see a beautiful sunrise. When you thank God - be specific in your thankfulness. "Thank you God for giving ME this beautiful sunrise this morning!"

Or what about the next time you hear a beautiful song on the radio. When you thank God - be specific. "Thank you God for giving ME this beautiful song today. The words are so encouraging... it was JUST what I needed!"

I believe NOTHING makes God more pleased with us than when we receive each gift He gives with an offer of Thanksgiving. Pure Eucharisteo. THIS is receiving His grace. THIS is FULL living. Joy-filled living.

And so it is with hammer that we drive the nails... to "rebuild a life - eucharisteo precedes the miracle." And it's not the blanket thanksgiving that changes lives. It is the specificity of each gift. "Life-changing gratitude", Ann says, "does not fasten to a life unless nailed through with one very specific nail at a time."

It's "when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, that I make a place for God to grow within me." If I am serious about changing... for bettering my life... for making a difference... than it has to start with my thankfulness for even the seemingly microscopic.

Ann closes the chapter with a statement... a powerful statement... "... life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change." (page 61)

Thank you for joining us on our journey to joy through gratitude!

Below is the video from week three. (Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog to pause the music from my playlist in order to hear this video.)

One Thousand Gifts- Chapter Three from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.

Finding JOY in the JOurneY,



www.wendybender.blogspot.com