Gifts Found in April 2015 - Part 1

I just recently came across information on this awesome-sounding book by Ann Voskamp when I found a "Count 1000 Gifts" for the month of April.

{I just spent a long time on Pinterest looking for ALL of the months so I could continue this daily challenge for the rest of the year - even though these are dated for 2012, they certainly apply to now, or anytime!}

And, I am journaling the Gifts in my "regular" journal...

But, now that I have found ALL of the months, I have decided to use a separate journal just for all of the Gifts I will find along the journey of discovering - an whole year of looking for God's Gifts!

BUT...

I also want to share these Gifts on my blog!

So, a new category, or label, will be added as "1000 Gifts" for these discoveries.

Now that I have shared my thoughts on finding this awesome book, deciding to do the challenge, and sharing it on my blog...

This is what encouraged me to do the April challenge in the first place -

and then to continue with all of the rest of the months:

I read the following quote from Ann Voskamp on Facebook at the time I found the April list of "Gifts":

"Scavenger hunt every day for God's glory, His grace gifts - and find more joy in Him.  And count all the ways He loves you - and find yourself Beloved."

That was my inspiration for following the "1000 Gifts" Scavenger Hunt!

So...here are the gifts I found on my "Scavenger Hunt" in the first of four posts:

"My Gifts Found in April 2015":

April 1st

3 Gifts Round

1.  The Gift of Food:  a bowl (round) of Honey Nut Cheerios (also round).
2.  The Gift of Friendship:  a Tervis tumbler given by a friend.
3.  The Gift of Life:  I cannot look at the sun; but I can look upon the Son who gives me life!

Found on Pinterest

Shared by tudodeom.blogspot.com

April 2nd

3 Gifts White

1.  The Gift of the Word:  a verse, written in a white frame, inside the pages of a scripture "flip-book", reminding me to: "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 (NIV).

2.  The Gift of Words:  a blank white sheet of paper or journal page, ready to write words given to me by God.

Found on Pinterest

Shared by mewithmyheadintheclouds.blogspot.com

3.  The Gift of Another Day:  the beautiful round white moon, signaling another day has come to an end.

April 3rd

3 Gifts Surprisingly Found

1.  The Gift of Quiet:  though few and short, found a {short} pocket of time to spend in morning Bible reading and devotions.

2.  The Gift of Jesus Christ:  an awesome, touching Good Friday service in song, scripture, readings and drama, ending with the Lord's Supper, at The Image Church - a non-denominational church my daughter attends.  Not normally my "style", it was a refreshing and very inspirational service!

3.  The Gift of Open-ness:  Open to the message of Good Friday in a new church, full of His love and His Word to share with all!

April 4th

3 Gifts in His Word

1.  The Gift of Promise:  "Easter morning promises that dark days do not last forever!"  These words were the Thought for the Day in my Upper Room devotion.

2.  The Gift of Love:  "But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us..."  K-love radio station's Encouraging Word for the day.

3.  The Gift of Enough:  "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ."  Philippians 4:19, seen on a blog for Random Journal Day.

April 5th

3 Gifts at 11 am, 2 pm and 6 pm

1.  The Gift of Music at 11 am:  Beautiful Easter Sunday music, Christ, the Lord, Has Risen Today!  Hallelujah!!  And ending with our traditional, "He IS Alive"!

2.  The Gift of Family at 2 pm:  Gathering together at my daughter's home for dinner and - well, just being together!  By a bit after 2 pm, my other daughter and her family had arrived.  It was a blessing to be together with my two daughters, sons-in-love and the 5 grandchildren.

3.  The Gift of The Cross at 6 pm:  Read a short post from Kaitlyn reminding us that the cross brings us joy - 

"May we approach the cross
with joy

instead of shame;

light hearts

instead of tears;

trust

instead of fear.

May we be slow to forget

and

quick to remember."

Found on Pinterest

Shared by thebettermom.com

April 6th

3 Gifts Nailed Together

1.  The Gift of Shelter:  a place to live with adequate space, just right for the two of us; well, 3 including the cat!

2.  The Gift of Hand-Made Items:  a shelf made by my grandfather many years ago; it was once in my grandparents' home and is now lovingly in mine.
3.  The Gift of Furnishings:  Items that were given to us for our new apartment , a couch and love seat, a table for the craft room, and another chair.

April 7th

3 Gifts Waited For

1.  The Gift of "Connection":  Connecting through blogging - and today's word for Tuesday @ Ten is Connection.  The "waited for" is because I was looking for the word on Monday instead of Tuesday!!  I have connected with so many great people through blogging and this Tuesday prompt...some of them have a special connection with me.

2.  The Gift of Trust:  Arms reaching up, knowing you'll reach back; eyes connected to a voice, raspy with age and allergies, slowly closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.  I am always waiting for this moment when I can rock one of my grand children to sleep!

3.  The Gift of Time:  We wait all day long, through hours of chores and other "things" that keep us apart, for the time we can spend together watching a favorite TV show.

This is turning out to be quite a lengthy post - so I will only share the first week in Part 1!

TO BE CONTINUED...