Daily Gifts, Febraury

Take time to see and experience the gifts of each day.  

Appreciate what you have, and those in your life.  

Enjoy The Little Things

The leaves are changing, enjoy the beauty.  Watch a sunset.  Take some time to enjoy the little blessings in life.  

September Joy Dare

Take some time to slow down and find the 

gifts in each day!

 For Today.....3 gifts cut....

fresh cut oregano and basil out of my garden, 

a bouquet of roses from my hubby, 

fresh veggies out of the garden for dinner.

One Thing

Slow down enough to see the beauty in life, the gifts you are surrounded by, and be grateful.

Golden List

Take time every day to make your GOLDEN LIST.  Gratitude changes your heart. 

June Joy Dare

Sorry this is a couple days late.  My nieces spent a long weekend with us, and we were busy making memories and enjoying the daily adventures of life.  I hope you take time to build precious memories with your loved ones, as well.

June Joy Dare, find the joy in the every day life around you!

The Dance

I don’t want to miss the dance.  I get hung up on so many things in life,  worrying about what I will never do or achieve or have. But I don’t want to miss the dance. I want to love my spouse, care for my kids, and give life to my friends. I want to do the work God made me to do. I want   to love God and the world he made. I want to do my part to help it flourish, for my spiritual maturity is not measured by following rules. “The me God made me to be” is measured by my capacity to love. When we live in love, we flourish. That is the dance.

– John Ortberg, The Me I want to Be

How many times do we miss the dance? 

How many times do we turn away, quit trying, because we’re tired,  lonely, or forgot why we                         even cared in the first place? 

The world can be a difficult place to live at times. We need each other.

God wants us to love each other, serve each other.  He is asking us to dance without fear, so take                     the first step and enjoy the dance.

May Joy Dare

Remember to take time to find the gifts of every day.  Each day we are given is a gift, so don't waste it.  

The Dash, Your Legacy

I recently attended a funeral.  I did not know the lady.  I was there to help with some of the tech side. As I said, I did not know the lady.  By the time the funeral was over, however, I felt I did know her.  I was shedding tears with the large crowd that assembled to 'say see you later' to their mom, wife, grandma, sister, daughter, friend.

I learned that this gal first and foremost loved Jesus and lived life for Him.  I learned she loved her family, deeply.  I learned she was a quiet woman, but her relationships ran deep and true.  She was intentional about making those in her life feel loved, valued, and important.  She lived out each moment with joy.  She laughed.  She took time to make precious memories with everyone who was important to her.  She lived life with purpose and passion and enjoyed the gift of life.  She didn't waste time, she lived life.  She took great enjoyment in experiencing God's creation. She lived out her dash well.  She touched a lot of people, and showed them the love of Christ through the way she lived.  

Ever since I walked out of our church, I have been thinking about my dash, how I am living out my time from birth, to death.  What will I be remembered for, what do I need to change, and how can I live more purposely and passionately?

What about you?  What will people remember about your 'dash.'  Will they say you were loving, caring, kind, or will they remember you for being argumentative, angry, harsh, for what you were against, not for how you loved?  How do people describe you now?  Those words give you a clue as to the legacy you are leaving here on earth.  What needs to change?  Are your words kind or condemning?  Do you speak words that lift up or tear down?  Are you task oriented, or do people come first?  Do you laugh, and enjoy life, or are you too busy or too uptight?  Do you spend more time on social networks/online than you do having real, face to face relationships?  Does a perfect house matter more than time with your kids, your spouse?  Do you spew ugly words at anything that is against you, or do you try to let it go and and not get consumed with being right?  Does your family know you love them, deeply?  What about your faith?  If you aren't a follower of Christ, living a life like He lived, have you taken time to really consider and examine the life of Christ, NOT a life of religion, but a life of love and giving, centered on Christ's teaching?  It is the most important decision you will ever make.  

Is the life you are living, the life you want to be remembered for?  What are your values?  What's important to you?  How do you live?  What will be said about you at the end of your life?  If you are reading this, you are still breathing, so start making the changes you want to make TODAY.   Make wise use of the dash in your life.  

Live.  Love.  Laugh.  Hope.  Faith.  

What is your legacy? 

Be Thankful and Take Nothing For Granted

Give thanks and take absolutely nothing for granted!

Weekend Challenge

Weekend challenge: Enjoy something of nature this weekend....a walk outside; listen to the birds sing; go sit by a lake, river, stream, or ocean and just be quiet; take in a sunrise and/or sunset; go geocaching; take a bike ride.

While taking in nature, leave your phone and electronic devices alone! Turn them off, don't take them with you. Experience REAL LIFE, not virtual life. 

If you take the challenge, share here what you did.

Challenge yourself to learn or try something new or different each month.

Grab a book you would never normally read. 

Go somewhere new. 

Sign up for a class. 

Try a new hobby. 

Taste a new food.

Get out of your comfort zone and live your life.

Trying 12 new things a year challenges you in new and fun ways. 

It is not difficult to do and the commitment will make you feel more accomplished.

Christmas Challenge

Christmas weekend is upon us.  I would like to issue a challenge for all of us from now through Christmas night: disengage from social media, engage in real relationships.  Disengage from staring at a screen, engage in staring at loved ones faces, because you don't know when this will be the last Christmas you are together.  A friend of mine buried both of her parents in the past six months.  I know she doesn't wish she had a few more moments this past year that she could have spent on Facebook or Pinterest.  No, she wishes for a few more precious moments with her parents, to hug them, and tell them she loves them.  She did plenty of it while they were alive, but as she said "can we ever really tell those we treasure in our lives that we love them enough?  Can we ever really spend too much time with those who are precious to us?" REAL relationships matter.  

Disengage from playing online, virtual games and engage in real relationships by playing a card or board game. Laugh together, have meaningful conversations, give hugs, go for a walk, enjoy life.  Be thankful. See the beauty that surrounds you in creation, in people.  

REAL people, REAL relationships are what matter.  Take the next few days to deeply invest in real relationships, face to face.  

Merry Christmas!

Ask Yourself These Questions

While I focus a lot on what I am grateful for each day, I had the question pop in front of my face tonight of 'what did you do today to show you were thankful for your blessings?'  The question made me stop and think.  How did I live it out, make it apparent, show the world I came in contact with today that I was thankful?  What did I do that showed the world that living a life of thankfulness and gratitude makes a difference in my day to day attitude and choices, in how I see the world, in how I live?  

Want to focus on changing the world with a grateful heart?  Ask yourself these questions each day.  

Gifts for Today

Today

find and savor 

3 gifts of time

Take Time To Disconnect

Take time to disconnect this weekend. Connect with your loved ones. Look people in the eye. Talk face to face. Enjoy the beauty around you!  Don't let life pass you by while staring at a screen.  The world is filled with amazing beauty and gifts.  Take some time to enjoy them!  

Gifts for Today

Today 

celebrate 

3 gifts accomplished

Gifts For Today

A gift silent, a gift still, a gift strong. 




Silent leaves tumbling to the ground and dancing across the landscape. The stillness in a lake, calm and peaceful. Strong coffee.

Gifts For Today

Gifts for Today

Find 3 things undervalued or overlooked. 


Time is undervalued, as we waste a lot of it doing meaningless things when time is truly precious.  

Face to face relationships are overlooked and undervalued.  Nothing can replace sitting with someone and talking face to face, seeing emotions, sharing a laugh or tears.  

Rest is both overlooked and undervalued in our overly busy world.  We need to take time to rest, and disconnect from technology every day.  Our bodies and minds are tired, exhausted, and need to be refueled and  still.  

Gifts For The Weekend

Gifts to look for this weekend..

a gift shared, 

a gift saved, 

a gift surrendered.