Courageous Hope

Any area of your life that does not glisten with hope is under the influence of a lie.

Live-Thanks November 28, 2011

Filed under: Gratitude — Shayla @ Courageous Hope @ 12:03 am
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Our Thankful Tree

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I love the focus on just being together and feasting, taking time to count our blessings and say “thank you”.  It was also 10 years ago this Thanksgiving that my husband asked me to marry him, even more reason to love the day!

Finding things to be thankful for during this season is not usually too hard, it is not uncommon to find everyone declaring their gratitude and counting their blessings in November. But to declare them day in and day out, every month of the year, to carry thankfulness in our hearts and speak it from our lips…..this is the path that leads to life.

‎”The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live…He has penetrated the whole mystery of life: giving thanks for everything.” -Albert Schweitzer

I am in the process of learning this, this making each day Thanksgiving Day, it does not always come easy, but over time I am noticing my mind is being transformed. With each moment I notice God’s gifts, from the mundane to the magnificent, noticing and speaking thanks for the gifts brings me right here to this moment, the present, and it is in the present that I find His presence.

Giving thanks is the gateway to the FULL life.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4

The psalmist knew the secret to entering the place of the God of the Universe is to speak thanksgiving…that is what brings us into His presence.

Thanksgiving.

And what do we find in His presence?

You will make known to me the path of life; 
In Your presence is fullness of joy; 
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11

In his presence is FULLNESS of JOY.  Giving thanks brings us to a place of joy to the full.

When we express our thanksgiving, we are saying yes to the abundant life Jesus came to give us, we are saying yes to his grace, to his power, to his glory and presence within US, when we say thank you, we are saying YES and opening ourselves up to life in the full and overflowing.

Every moment in life is not wonderful bliss, yet in every moment I have the opportunity to choose thankfulness. To choose gratitude. To believe and declare that:  “We can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!” (Romans 5:5)

We have the power in our lips to give thanks. We have the power with our own words, our own heart, and our own mind to give thanks and enter into deep and full joy.

On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God. He made us; we didn’t make him. We’re his people, his well-tended sheep. Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever. Psalm 100 MSG

We carry the presence of God when we are thankful and speak out our thanks and praise. Thanksgiving unleashes his presence within us.

We release that presence we carry when we turn our thanks into giving.

As the eloquent Ann Voskamp has said:

‎”Eucharisteo means to give thanks, and “give” is a verb, something that we do. God calls me to do thanks. To give the thanks away. That thanks-giving might literally become thanks-living. That our lives become the very blessings we have received.” Thanksgiving becomes thanksliving when the thanks for His vertical, coming-down grace is expressed as a horizontal, reaching-out grace.”

So now that the fullness in our bellies has waned, let’s not let the fullness in our hearts wane. Let’s come to the Thanksgiving table each and every day, and feast in the richness of our blessings, as we name them with thanks we will see them multiply, the fullness of our Joy will overflow…

Let’s go and give thanks….let’s go and LIVE thanks…

They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. Psalm 145:7

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1

Today’s list

- breakfast with my parents before they return home

- dancing, laughing children

- daughter who sings “God songs” all the day long

- gloomy clouds that make for great naps

- a beautiful fireplace

- husband dancing and wrestling with our children

-my children’s pure delight as they are overcome with Christmas spirit, enchanted by each ornament and tree trimming

-supernatural family

- dance

Lilkidthings

 

A discipline in pleasure and an education in gratitude May 9, 2011

Filed under: Gratitude,Hope,Life — Shayla @ Courageous Hope @ 10:47 pm
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A friend turned me on to this quote recently and I have not been able to get it out of my mind:

“The fact is that purification and austerity are even more necessary for the appreciation of life and laughter than for anything else. To let no bird fly past unnoticed, to spell patiently the stones and weeds, to have the mind a storehouse of sunsets, requires a discipline in pleasure and an education in gratitude.” ~G.K. Chesterton

a discipline in pleasure….

an education in gratitude….

That is the journey I had been on…. Learning to document life’s gifts.  (To know more about that journey read the “gratitude” category on my blog).

But these last few weeks of my life have been teetering on the edge of complete insanity. Days whirling by in flurries of tasks, obligations, deep disappointments, grand celebrations, frustrating events, divine opportunities and many extra things on an already full plate.

Tired, I stopped writing down the gifts but I still noticed them.

Exhausted, I began to notice less and less.

Overwhelmed, I lost complete sight of the gifts…

but had eyes wide open to all that was wrong, frustrating, disturbing, unfair and inadequate.  My heart that had stretched so full in gratitude had shrunk down to a small stone of hard angst that threatened the life and laughter of my family.

just. that. fast.

I am becoming more and more convinced that the enemy  of our hearts does most of his dirty work of destroying us when we are busy, or tired.

I realized how horrible I felt and made the connection…. I stopped thanking Him… I stopped noticing all the little and big ways He was wooing me, smiling on me, giving me what I need.  Me thanking Him, Me noticing… it is good for me, it gives me His eyes, heavenly eyes, heavenly perspective.


The scriptures tell us that minds set on the things of this world  will choke the life out of us. Thinking on the things of this world leads to nothing but death. The worry of the things of this world bear no fruit. But minds set on the spirit, minds set on heaven’s perspective give life and peace and power and hope and JOY!


Noticing His gifts, noticing all we have to be grateful for is seeing with heavenly eyes. 


Something that helped snap me out of my relapse into “negative land” was one morning I woke up praying for a friend of mine. I spent all morning in and out of prayer for her. All of the sudden I noticed something. The weight of that stony anxious, frustrated heart was gone.

just. that. fast.

I felt completely released of all the yuckiness I had been carrying. Not one circumstance in my life had changed or even improved. But my heart had expanded again getting back to where I knew I belonged.

And then I realized the sneaky evil ways the enemy had sucked me into my own problems, my own woes, so that I was completely useless to help my friend, to love my children well, to love my husband well. Selfishness and ingratitude had robbed me and those I love of LIFE.


So here I am again adding to my list because adding to my list helps me to get back to the actual living of this life instead of surviving it. Because I want to live this life to all its fullness, all its abundance. I want to suck the marrow out of this life and not miss anything. Not miss one single beautiful thing that God brings to me. Adding to my list helps me to celebrate this life. I love what Shauna Niequist says in her book Cold Tangerines:

“I believe in a life of celebration. I believe that the world we wake up to every day is filled to the brim with deep, aching love, and also with hatred and sadness. And I know which one of those I want to win in the end. I want to celebrate in the face of despair, dance when all we see on the horizon is doom……when (Death) comes for me, I want to be full-tilt, wide-open, caught in the very act of life. I think that’s what we’re here for, not for a passive, peaceful life, but to stand up in the face of all that lacks peace and demand more….. God gives us something amazing when he gives us life, and I want to live with gratitude……It’s rebellious, in a way, to choose joy, to choose to dance, to choose to love your life. It’s much easier and much more common to be miserable…….I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don’t want to get to the end, or to tomorrow even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes…….I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift.…..Because we were made for motion, for arching up toward God with all the energy and passion of a thunderstorm, lightning slicing through a sleepy world to remind us that we serve a fast-dancing God, a God who set this world whirling……Let’s sizzle and pop in his name. Let’s dance and shimmer and scrawl out our stories across the sky, like he taught us to. Let’s echo his words, and let our lives speak those words: It is good.”

My list of “it is good” for this week: 101 to 115

  • Sunshine
  • Spontaneous fun days with friends
  • My children’s laughter
  • My sons facial expressions that bring laughter to anyone who sees them.
  • Cool breezes
  • Wildflower bouquets
  • Strong smelling roses
  • Jasmine blowing in the breeze.
  • Divine appointments
  • A mother who nurtured, loved & guided me into who I’ve become.
  • A mother in law who sowed into my husband and now sows into me and my children her joy and great faith.
  • Two grandmothers who are still living. Who spread love and joy wherever they go and have given me such a rich heritage.
  • For friends who have mothered me along the way and those who have helped me in my motherhood journey.
  • That the two most amazing and beautiful children I know call me “mama”.
  • I am beyond blessed and so rich in family and friendships.

<a href=”” title=”1000 Gifts”>

 

counting the gifts April 5, 2011

Filed under: Gratitude,musings,Parenting — Shayla @ Courageous Hope @ 4:01 pm
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So I sort of fell of the blogging wagon lately. My life has been so full (of good things) that I haven’t taken the time to write in my gratitude journal or to blog as often as I was.  But it hasn’t stopped me from noticing the gifts.  The last couple days especially I have just wanted to squeeze my kids because I just can’t get enough of them. They are the cutest things ever and so very precious to me. They are growing so fast. I’ve really enjoyed  doing things with them lately. You will know how cute they are because one of these days I will conquer my photo challenges and start adding more photos to this blog…  but I can sometimes be an analog girl in a digital world so bear with me :-)

I really love keeping track of the gifts and blogging with others at A Holy Experience, it keeps me doing that regularly so I don’t want to stop doing it.  So even if I’m off a day and I skpped a week, here it is anyway:  If you are wondering what I’m talking about, it all started here, and here, and here if you want to read about it.

Here are 87 to 100 on my way to 1000:

  • Watching my children discover things in nature
  • Squeezing my children.
  • Family walks
  • Counting turtles
  • Running into friends at the park.
  • Thunderstorms
  • A friend I could literally talk with for 8 hours and neither of us would run out of things to say!
  • That God reveals himself more and more each day.
  • The way my children dance in worship through the house.
  • That my daughter said “all miracles are true from God”
  • Sharing meals, love and laughter with friends.
  • Tax returns!!!
  • Community events for my kids.
  • Wildflower Honey
  • Endless possibilities…..

 

New eyes part 2 March 1, 2011

Filed under: Gratitude,Spirituality,Supernatural Living — Shayla @ Courageous Hope @ 9:03 am
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I know I just posted on this yesterday, but I can’t get it out of my mind.  This new way of seeing is not just seeing God’s gifts but it is a way of seeing to God, it is seeing God’s face.  The reason it is a deeper gratitude is precisely because it is God-Gratitude and not Generic-Gratitude and disciplined positive, glass half-full thinking. That is why it goes deep and pulls water from the wells of joy that come from the deep God dwelling places within us.

Ann says it so well (as always)

Counting the gifts, one thousand gifts, isn’t an Oprah kind of gratitude. It isn’t a new age kind of feel-good exercise. It isn’t trendy. It isn’t pop culture. And it definitely isn’t comfortable.

Counting one thousand gifts is to live the radical thanks of Christ. It’s about an exercise in the age to come coming now and finding comfort in the Comforter. It’s the culture of believers really believing, the culture of God and the Blood of the Lamb.

This world doesn’t need Oprah gratitude like it needs Jesus gratitude. The kind that gives thanks for the bread and the nails, for the fire that refines and the blood that saves.

That gives thanks in the pitch and the thunder, the wind and Gethsemane black, that gives thanks even staring into the face of death because it sees His face in all things, because it fiercely believes in relentless Grace and the Hound of Heaven who can’t stop pursuing in Love.

That doesn’t gives nebulous thanks to the universe, but named thanks to the King of the Universe, the Giver of All, to Him who is the only Gift, for from Him and to Him and through Him are all things.

Read her entire post here.

Jesus gratitude is learned. Slowly. The practice of putting the glasses on time after time. In the midst of the madness, the mess and the manic moments of our days. It is surrendering our minds to Jesus’ gentle touch so our mind is renewed. It is the renewed mind that gives us eyes to see to God.

One of the veils that keeps me from seeing God is ingratitude. My ungrateful heart blocks His gorgeous face from my view.

Thank you Jesus, King of the Universe for all these gifts of grace, for these eyes to see. I can’t get You out of my mind and I hope I never do.

 

New Eyes February 28, 2011

Filed under: Gratitude,Spirituality — Shayla @ Courageous Hope @ 10:51 am
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Recently I was handed a pair of glasses that opened up a whole new way of seeing for me. I would like to say I’ve always been a grateful person, that I’ve always been a “seize the day” type of person and I think I have. The last few years I have felt drawn to be more present in the moments and be thankful for all life’s gifts. This last year especially I have been breathing in the moments and breathing out my gratitude. The more I do this the more I have come to realize that my past thanks has been only surface level and there is a deeper well of gratitude that gets to the wells of joy. Then I began to read Ann’s blog and book One Thousand Gifts. Ann’s revelation from God on thankfulness, grace and time has been a key to unlocking the door for my mind to be renewed and my heart to overflow with gratitude and joy.  What this has done for me is beyond just keeping a gratitude journal or being positive as you count your blessings. It is a new way of seeing.

And that way of seeing is a gateway to deep and lasting joy. Putting on the glasses is the revelation of how powerful gratitude is, but it must be learned, it is a practice of putting them on over and over until they become your very own eyes.

Truth be told, right now my life is good. Dare I say fantastic! Better than ever! Yet in the midst of a society that doesn’t always value the role I currently live out there is a dailyness to my life that can seem so simple (just me and the kids all day long), so mundane (laundry and dishes woohoo!), so repetitive (didn’t I just sweep this floor/ change this diaper/ say “Please pick up your shoes!” 5 minutes ago??), and at times exhausting. That is when this way of seeing becomes a practice to be learned. When the world around us brings pain, confusion and heartbreak we must have eyes to see and learn thanks.

In that learning my gratitude has gone deeper.   Ann asks, “Is the height of my joy dependent on the depths of my thanks?”

I think yes. I think that superficial thanks gives you superficial joy, but deep gratitude unlocks deepest joy.

Ann talks about “He gave thanks” in scriptures in the original language translates “Eucharisteo”, the root of which is charis meaning “grace”, and the derivative the Greek word chara, meaning “joy”.

This act of eucharisteo for all the daily graces really does unlock deep joy and abundant life.

So I urge you, allow your gratitude to go deeper. Today. Right where you are.

“The holy grail of joy is not in some exotic location or some emotional mountain peak experience. The joy wonder could be here! Here, in the messy, piercing ache of now, joy might be—unbelievably – possible! The only place we need see before we die is this place of seeing God, here and now.” – Ann Voskamp

Now that the revelation has been unlocked for me I am seeing it everywhere, not just in the counting of these gifts, but as I read scripture I see this key of gratitude has been there all this time, I just did not have the eyes see it.

For me the learning has come not in this general “Thanks for everything”, but in the naming of very specific gifts I am thankful for. And so I join Ann and her community as I continue to count my way to one thousand….

29.            Voluntary kisses from my sweet little boy

30.            Holding hands in the dark

31.            Birds singing their sweet chorus

32.            People around me that inspire me

33.            That my children’s grandparents love spending time with them

34.            Waves crashing on the beach

35.            Sand between my toes

36.            Fresh revelation

37.            My hardworking husband

38.            Hearing the little one grow his vocabulary, repeating “hi” “hi” “hi” all day long

39.            My daughter learning to read, create and love

40.            The adventurous spirit that is a 16 month old boy

<a href=”http://www.aholyexperience.com&#8221; target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff162/annvoskamp/multitudesonmondaysbutton2-1.jpg&#8221; ></a>

 

Multitudes on Mondays February 21, 2011

Filed under: Gratitude,Parenting,Spirituality,Supernatural Living — Shayla @ Courageous Hope @ 8:55 pm
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It’s still dark and before my feet even hit the floor the youngest is already taking nourishment from me, I’m barely awake and the oldest is asking for breakfast and I try to find the focus to remember to start this day and then I stumble over the mountain of laundry un-folded and

I wonder… even here?

You are here?  Even in this?  Can I find you?

If I have eyes to see…

Grace here? All is grace…even here…..on a Monday, when I need You more, so much more.

You inhabit the praises of your people and I need your inhabitation and so I praise, I thank….I open your love letter to me…..

13. A little boy whose hands go up in worship the minute the music plays and the daughter who runs to find
dancing clothes at the same time… hearts of worship these little ones…

14.            The osprey, wings spread wide against the backdrop of a bright blue sky

15.            The glimpse of a bald eagle flying away

16.            My boy with one shoe on exploring the backyard

17.            Orange slices all over the floor

18.            Laughter

19.            His hands hard at work to give us this life

20.            His tiny little hand gripping mine

21.            Three hands in the bowl of popcorn

22.            My little life in His big hands

23.            Warm sunshine and cool breezes

24.            The gift of time

25.            Undeserved luxuries

26.            Family “in-love”

27.            The golden tree absorbing and giving off the spring sun.

28.            The God who sees and sees to it.

Multitudes on Mondays – One Thousand Gifts @ A Holy Experience

 

Gratitude February 8, 2011

Filed under: Gratitude,Spirituality,Supernatural Living — Shayla @ Courageous Hope @ 11:30 pm
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I am reading “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp.

It is such a gift, this book, it’s message. So I am joining her community of bloggers who take their Monday posts to add to their lists, this lists of 1000 things we are grateful for, things we love, or as I might say… kisses from Heaven. As I’ve been reading this book something inside of me has begun to change and I find myself constantly in my heart slowing down the time, the moment and taking it all in, the weight of that moment and just saying “thank you” within my heart. And that… is changing me. So today I began actually writing them down and I cannot wait to see what writing down the things I love, the kisses from heaven I see, which are really just all the ways He loves me. Evidence of Him all around.
on pg. 57 Ann says,
“Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant — a seed–this plants the giant miracle. The miracle of eucharisteo, (thanksgiving/grace/joy), like the Last Supper, is in the eating of crumbs, the swallowing down of one mouthful. Do not disdain the small. The whole of the life–even the hard– is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole. These are the new language lessons, and I live them out. There is a way to live the big of giving thanks in all things. It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing. The moments will add up.”

So …..
1. A daughter who is a loving and kind big sister
2. Sibling love between my children
3. My curious and exploring Isaiah
4. Fresh tomatoes
5. A friend picking up my veggies
6. Being a part of a Blessing Way where God is speaking His love to our friend
7. Unexpected work
8. A gift of family time
9. Worshippers that make music that brings me to the feet of Jesus.
10. God’s grace, for all is grace……
11. Clean countertops ☺
12. My growing like a weed girl, who got herself out of the bath, dried, dressed for bed, teeth and hair brushed all without a word from me… wow….

 

 
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