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Thankful Thursday ~ Choosing Joy

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
(Psalm 51:10-12 ESV ~ emphasis added)

Sometimes we think that happiness equals joy. But the truth is that it is not even close. Currently I am listening to Kay Warren’s “30 Day Choose Joy Devotions“. Each message is only about 3 1/2 minutes long, but her reflections are very powerful. Maybe you want to give it a try?

You see, joy does not come from people, possessions, or positions. True joy comes from God. Not just joy, but peace and comfort. Although I always have had quiet time in the morning, I have changed my habit. Instead of getting up at 4:30am (last possible minute too), I changed it to 4am.

Sure, it was at first a little hard to get up 1/2 an hour earlier, but it is so much worth it for me. I am not rushed to read my devotions and God’s Word. And sometimes I just sit quiet and meditate on His Word.

I am thankful that God continues to guide me and even helps me grow. The extra 1/2 hour has made the world of difference on how I approach my days. I choose joy, His JOY.

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving a link to your Thankful Thursday post below.

Thank you for stopping by today; remember: sometimes it takes a change in your habits to grow.

Love and peace,
Iris

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. Relax Your Grip
2. Praying The Fruit of the Spirit in Our Marriage
3. “Hope” List
4. Simply Helping Him ~ Our Moments
5. Come Unto Christ
6. jhunnelle @ choosing life		 7. How Meal Planning Has Helped Me
8. Calgon, take me away!
9. bp
10. Deidra M@ The Middle
11. life by ashley pichea
12. Dancing in the Rain		 13. lorig
14. Ms. Kathleen – Contentment: To Live is Christ
15. Style N Season: He Will Complete The Good Work In You
16. Kate @ Teaching What Is Good
17. Edwards Granddaughter

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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Thankful Thursday ~ Joy

“There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.”
~ Psalm 4:6-7 (ESV – emphasis mine)

In the month of October we are meeting over at my friend’s Lynn place “Spiritually Unequal Marriage“. Hop on over to add your link to your own Thankful Thursday post.

Lynn chose the theme of joy for this week and I am gladly chiming in with her (check out her story – she is a silly gal *snort*)…

Why am I so joyous? Don’t know, just making the happy dance in my chair while typing – hubby is saying I am wacky. No, just happy, not wacky. The temperatures finally cooled down to under 100 degrees (we had a major storm yesterday).

Oh, and I am working on a portfolio for Visual Peacemakers (I finally signed up with them). Can you believe that I have photos on my external hard-drive that I never formatted? Silly me. The portfolio is coming together nicely (yeah).

The other thing that makes me dance for joy is a potential photo session with a newborn boy. I hope that I can get together with the parents and little Sol on Sunday afternoon. Have you seen some of my photos from my very first newborn session? I like them, but then again I am partial to my work 😉 .

So, what you are thankful for this week? Share with us by hopping over to Lynn at “Spiritually Unequal Marriage“.

Thank you for stopping by this week. Remember: if nothing else brings joy, look at the cross – He nailed your sins there; always brings my feet to dancing 🙂 .

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Thankful Thursday ~ Joy

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
~ Romans 15:13 (ESV)

Today I heard a marvelous quote on my way home from work…”Happiness is depended on our circumstances; joy is in our bones”. Per the radio announcer, the quote is attributed to John Piper.

The quote really made me think about the difference between happiness and joy…And I couldn’t agree more with John Piper. You see when we are happy, it is really just for a short time, e.g. vacation, something new, a nice dinner etc. The moment of happiness is fleeting soon…

Pure joy comes from God, don’t you agree? Not only knowing the joy of our salvation (Psalm 20:5), but also the joy in giving, serving others. Today I am thankful for the joy the Lord has put into my ‘bones’ 😛 .

Today, my friend Debbie from Heart Choices asked me about my photography; if I ever had considered putting my landscape photography with Scripture passages to share them online for people to download. Debbie said, she really enjoyed these kind of things. I agree, what better way to display His marvelous creation in conjunction with His Word – great combo in my eyes. Maybe I could put that in a book some day to sell to people who enjoy them both together 🙂 …

What are you thankful for today? Would you care to share? If so, please leave you link to your Thankful Thursday post below…

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: Happiness is but a fleeting emotion, pure JOY comes from God 🙂 …

grace_iris1

PS: I would also like to thank Laurie and Lynn for keeping Thankful Thursday up and running during my blogging break…Love Ya – girls!!!!

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. micey
2. bp
3. Karen
4. Angie
5. Melanie
6. Debbie @ Heart Choices
7. Pia
8. Linda
9. Denise
10. It Feels Like Chaos
11. amada:)
12. debi @ Who Says 8 is Enough?
13. lira		 14. Janujennifer
15. PTR . JOHN
16. GRACE ( MY FIRST TIME HERE)
17. AMAZING GRACE
18. angela
19. Mrs.B@ Homekeepers Journey
20. gengen
21. LisaShaw
22. Jerri
23. Sandy
24. Michele
25. Lynn (Spiritually Unequal Marriage)
26. Connie		 27. Rita
28. JesuLalaine
29. Bernice ( My Journey )
30. Erica
31. becky aka theRAV
32. Lisa @my little corner
33. Donetta at a life uncommon…
34. Sab
35. ~ linda @ Being Woven
36. Multitasking Mama
37. tanya

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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I Feel like…A Giveaway

***Comments are now closed – winner announced tomorrow***


Material Credit: Connie Prince – full credit see here

Christmas is just around the corner. We, as moms, wives, friends, are ‘hunting’ for the perfect Christmas gift for others. I thought, it would be nice that you would receive something for yourself 😛 …thus this Christmas Giveaway…

If you are an avert reader, you know about Laurel’s monthly column “Book Buzz” at Christian Women Online. This month Laurel had again some marvelous reads, so I asked for her help to pick out two of her favorites — “The Shape of Mercy” and “Out of her Hands” were Laurel’s top two picks for the month of December.

What else is in the December gift package you might wonder? Laurel is adding a CD to the package. The CD is by Bill Gaither; this wonderful compilation album includes hymns like Amazing Grace, Rock of Ages, How Great Thou Art and 9 other well known hymns. The CD is an exclusive only available at Cracker Barrel’s.

The other two gifts are a “Pray like a Girl” tote bag and one ‘mystery’ gift 😉 (its good – trust me)…

Now you are wondering what you need to do to enter my little give-away? Not much, just leave a comment below that you would like to enter. That’s it…No promo, no links required. Oh, and you don’t have to have a blog to enter, either. Just a valid email address…Deadline to enter is Sunday, December 14th.

Thanks for stopping by today…Christmas blessings and as always,