Why Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

What to do when Life's Dented & B... What's Real Success & Kathie Lee ...

Why Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Do not let anything keep you –

not anything —

from flinging out of that sagging comfort zone,

and right into the streets, eyes and mouth full of His wonder,

to pant it in the marketplace

the back alleys, the front fields,

across the crackling wires

that you have seen Him, yes — you have seen the light —

and with these very eyes,

and you hear it even now,

how the rocks cry out

and you cry too, this stammering it

into every willing ear

that you opened your eyes one day and ran right into all His glory

and He saves and He kisses wounds and He serenades

and Beauty has branded you,

marked you with awe

and awe is why you grab the pen, and Beauty is why you scratch it down,

and all His lighting glory is why you muzzle the voices that say

you can't or shouldn't or mustn't,

because He is your blaze and He is your burn and and you cannot be muzzled because

what can keep you from telling once the eyes have seen?

Could there be anything greater than this,

the bearing witness

to the glory sighting?

Stand and give testimony.

Because this is the holy, blazing thing:

you cannot

not.

::

(on why I get up early and do the crazy thing that I am doing today and oh, will tell you about later (will you pray for me today?), on why I blog nearly daily though I am not brave and I stutter words, why I write though simply, speak though knees knock, snap a shutter though unskilled, and keep, keep, keep writing down the gifts… because how can one not bear witness when having glimpsed the beauty of the glory of God?)

An offering of thanks… the bearing witness to His wonder and ways… #3220 – #3230 of One Thousand Gifts

… color and paintbrushes and canvases and kid art everywhere

… Hope singing hymns loud and lovely while baking

… chocolate icing everywhere

… not making blessings into burdens

… kids gathered on our bed, talking and telling stories of the day, us together, just here

… waking to his arm pulling me close

… feeling fear and just taking this wild leap of faith anyways

… {only the quietest murmuring, #6 and 29 weeks and when we are weakest, He is strong}

… ironing boys' shirts

… the happiness of this! (Are you joining us?)

… washing the kitchen floor on Saturday morning

… turning in the lane on a dark and blustery night

… looking for glimpses of His light everywhere

"When I met Christ, I felt that I had swallowed sunshine." ~E. Stanley Jones

Unspeakable, unending thanks be to God…

button code here

Take The JOY DARE for February– and Count 1000 Gifts in 2012 (maybe winning the NikonD90 camera would be a gift too?)

Thank-you is a word that can change you, your world — the whole world!

Share the Dare?

{Download to print here}

{P.S.: Some were wondering where/how to chronicle their #1000gifts in 2012? Any way that works best for you:

in a private journal, with the free app, on your blog and join us in linking up here on the blog every Monday, on the free Year of Graces calendar, or on facebook or twitter (#1000gifts). I'll be sharing thanks to God each day, Lord willing, on my personal facebook page and on the One Thousand Gifts facebook page – the community there is profoundly encouraging. You are more than welcome to join us! And yes, we will post a new Joy Dare Calendar here on the blog, the first of every month, Lord willing — you can use the Joy Dare Calendar for each month — or not at all.

The point is? Just count any 3 gifts a day — to count 1000 gifts in a year. That's all. Any way that works for you! Just count your blessings!

And yes – we'll be updating the blog with more information about the draw for the Nikond90 camera for those who complete the dare and count 1000 gifts in 2012! Open our eyes, Lord, Open our eyes! The Whole Earth is fully of Your Glory! }

Free Printables : 3 Ways to Find Joy this week

1. A Year of Graces {A Free 12 Month Gratitude Calendar} Click to print here

2. Count all His Gifts Wherever You Are: {One Thousand Gifts Free App}:

Click here for the free #1000gifts app : The gift of joy for a friend? Print this card about the free app for a friend

3. 1 Paper = 1 Week of Joy

Tuck 1 sheet of paper in a pocket & jot down 7 gifts for 7 days:

(perfect booklet to cultivate the habit of the joy hunt for kids)

(folding instructions for booklet here)

Join us? And happily change everything by keeping your own crazy list of One Thousand Gifts?

Please, jump in, make your life about giving thanks to God! — Just add the direct URL to your specific 1000 gift list post… and if you join us, we humbly ask that you please help us find each other in our refrain of thanks by sharing the community's graphic within your post.

Give thanks to the Lord! His Love Endures Forever!