delighting in #1000gifts // part one

Back in January, I blogged through my goal setting process using the amazing series by Lara Casey. On day two, I was prompted to prayerfully choose a word I hoped would define 2014. My word was:

d  e  l  i  g  h  t .

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will 

give you the desires of your heart." 

>> Psalm 37:4 << 

Here is what I wrote the first week of January:

God is a God who delights. Just look around you at unspoiled nature or the canvas of bright stars that sparkle on a clear night. He is a God of creativity and beauty, which are two forms of delight. And if His loved ones are to image Him [Gen. 1:26-27], we are made to delight as well. He first is the truest and eternal delight for those who look to Him as their Father.  

And from the delight we experience in Him, others flow out. These are extensions of the original and strongest delight found in God and should not overshadow or overpower the joy and fulfillment He gives, for then our earthly delights all tend to fizzle and wane.

But when He is rejoiced in most, we experience that spark of delight, or as fitting to this post, a get-me-fired-up! attitude that leads to change . . .  a soul-searching, life-altering, others-focused change that ripples its effects in the years to come. I want a year of delight!

_______________________________

One year ago in October,  I started reading Ann Vocamp's One Thousand Gifts and was inspired to start a journal and catalogue atleast three daily gifts given from God. They could be small things that brought a spark to my day, like a fresh bouquet of flowers from the farmer's market, or something big like an answered prayer. In the last year, I have been so blessed. God indeed is a God who gives and it was so awesome to intentionally look at each day, looking for blessings even in the hardest of days. And as I started looking for these blessings in each day, I experienced delight both in God's goodness and faithfulness over me as well as delight in the simple things that bring so much joy in life.

As a hoorah! for a full year of sticking with it,  I wanted to share some of my favorite "gifts" I journaled in the last year that brought delight. My goal is to reach 1000 gifts by the end of the year, and I am steadily getting closer. Here's to a year full of delight!

Here are twenty gifts from October 2013. I'll share more throughout the month!

1. For the grace, love, and redemption of God.

4. Tea while reading on my couch in a quiet room

5. My neighbor friend who has been such a blessing to me in the last two years.

8. Encouraging women in the blogging world who have become good friends

9. My community groups (both the one I had in Seattle and the one I have now)

11. Warm blankets and a warm bed after a long day

13. Traveling to Europe two summers in a row

14. Hand-written letters from friends, especially on rough days

16. Jogging around a nearby trail

19. Seeing good friends happily married and when the time is right, as glowing mamas with darling babies in their arms (two friends had infants in this season)

27. Vibrant autumn colors 

29. Finding a dress that's a perfect fit

33. The sweet melody of waves against a shore

34. Crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-on-inside French baguettes. Yum!

35. Adorable stationary shops, like Stuhlberg's in Queen Anne area of Seattle

39. My favorite Seattle park, Green Lake

40. Reconnecting with my old roomies when I visit Seattle

43. Warm stew on a chilly night

51. Seeing my nephew Caleb grow and hearing him laugh

61. Making a nervous pediatric patient laugh by being my goofy self