Tag: joy
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The Gift of Defiant Joy
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5) In my dining room, hangs a beautiful tapestry—a darkened forest illuminated by a bold and defiant light shining through the trees, a light that refuses to obey the darkness. Defiance is the refusal to obey someone or something. Have you…
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The Gift of Eden: Walking With God
Eden was full of gifts—beautiful surroundings, perfect health, no pain nor suffering, and no death. The greatest gift of all, the gift that made all the other gifts possible, was being able to walk alongside God. I’ve found myself at times longing for this very thing, the ability to walk next to my Creator, the…
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The Gift of Inspiration: Choosing Between Joy and Jealousy
This is a photo of my neighbor’s rose bush. It’s always been beautiful, but this season has been it’s best season by far—so big, so many blooms. It was this rose bush that inspired me into photography. I snapped a photo one day of my favorite bloom, framed it and gave it to the lady…
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The Gift of God’s People
About a year ago, I was at the laundromat folding my clothes, and I couldn’t wait to make my escape. An elderly gentleman walked through the door, and I’ll never forget his face. It’s not that his face was particularly unique, but it was the joy I saw on it that struck me. He greeted…
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The Gift of Finding Jesus: Your Faith is Your Joy
I found myself in the middle of this word puzzle searching for faith, the word “faith”, that is. In the midst of the chaos and distraction of the other letters, there I found it and drew a circle around it. Next I found “joy”. This is how it happens in the life of a believer.…
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The Gift of a Songbird
During my walk the other morning, I heard the voice of a songbird somewhere in the midst of the bare trees hovering above me. I began to notice how every branch was a part of something bigger than itself—the trunk. The branches reminded me a lot of blood vessels. Blood vessels are channels that transport…
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The Gift of a Girl Who Buys Herself Flowers
Lately I’ve been incorporating more fruits and vegetables into my diet, not as a means to lose weight but as an act of worship in the form of self care. At my grocery store, the floral department sits right on the other side of the produce department, so I must pass by it if I…
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The Gift of a Daughter’s Joy
I was about five years old when my father took me out to eat at The Cracker Barrel— it was without a doubt one of my fondest father-daughter memories. After we ate, we found ourselves browsing through all the goodies in the shoppe. My eyes lit up the moment I came across a beautiful stuffed…
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The Gift of Two Dozen
I decided to order a piece of Cobaltoan Calcite and a chunk of Rose Quartz to commemorate this era of my life, to celebrate my first two books—“The Gift of a Dozen Reasons” and “The Gift of a Dozen More”. To me, the bright pink color symbolizes joy. This is why I chose bright pink…
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The Gift of Gratitude: Giving Birth to Joy and Peace
The common theme in my two books, “The Gift of a Dozen Reasons” and its sequel, “The Gift of a Dozen More”, is gratitude. In gratitude, we glorify God for all He’s done for us, and He in turn fills our hearts with true joy. In gratitude, we find peace in various trials. When we…