Welcome to Day 6 of 31 Extraordinary Days to Be…  Or…simply: Be…
Together, we will learn to Be… to live fully and beautifully in our “skin”
and in our homes and beyond.  If you missed The Introduction or you’d like
to follow the entire series, you can find each post listed here.

 

31 Extraordinary Days to Be... AnExtraordinaryDay.net

You direct me on the path that leads to a beautiful life.
As I walk with You, the pleasures are never-ending,
and I know true joy and contentment.
Psalm 16:11  The Voice

 

Really?

Is that even possible?

When life throws a knuckle ball, followed by a curve ball, it sometimes feels like there will be no joy.

It’s easy to go down that road because we easily confuse joy with happiness.

This week I’ve had a few times when I could very easily have been consumed with negative thoughts.

Actually I did allow myself to go down the road of negativity.   Do you know where it got me?   Nowhere.

I know better.  And I bet if you allow yourself to go down that road you recognize it and know better, too.

Oh don’t I wish it weren’t that way.  Why do we allow ourselves to go someplace we know is not good for us?

Why?

 

 #31Days~Day 6 ::  Be Joyful~True Joy and Contentment  :: AnExtraordinaryDay.net

 

Here’s the deal.

I don’t presume to know where you are on your faith journey.  You may be exploring spiritual things.  Or you may be following God with all your heart.  What I do know is that I am a sojourner.  And a seeker and speaker of Truth.  Daily I wrestle with doing what I ought to do.  I find myself giving in to my selfishness and later trusting God completely with all I have, or vice versa.  There are no easy answers.  And certainly no “pat” answers either.  Living in this world is a struggle.

What I do know is that my attitude, my choices, my actions are half of the equation.  I do have the power to influence good or bad in my own life and in the lives of those around me.

If I wish to live a life of true joy and contentment I have certain choices to make:

One: Is Jesus who he said he is?

Two: If my answer is yes…will I follow him?  Will I make him my leader and guide for life?

Three: If my answer is again, yes…then I find myself in the position of surrendering to his leadership.

True joy and contentment ultimately comes from living in that surrendered position.  It’s probably one of the most challenging things for me to do.  I hate to admit that I find myself in the unsurrendered position way too often.   But…when I recognize it, I can immediately make a choice to surrender and follow.

 

 31Days~Day 6 :: Psalm 16:11 :: Be Joyful ~ True Joy and Contentment  ::  AnExtraordinaryDay.net

You direct me on the path that leads to a beautiful life.
As I walk with You, the pleasures are never-ending,
and I know true joy and contentment.
Psalm 16:11  The Voice

 

One of the goals of this blog is to help you lead a beautiful life.  Sometimes it’s to inspire you to leave the paper plates in the drawer and pull out the ‘real’ dishes.  Other times it’s to inspire you to see the splendor in creation and bring a little bit of it indoors to beautify your home.  Today, I want to inspire you to look inside your heart and choose to make it more beautiful too.

This walk with God, the writer of the Psalms suggests, is one of pleasures never-ending.  Just to give you a little perspective…I have a few really good friends…my husband included.  When we get away to spend a day together doing what we enjoy most we have the best of times.  In fact, we aren’t even aware of the time until we’ve used it all up.  And then we wish our adventure of the day wouldn’t end.  That’s what it is to walk with God.  When we choose to follow him…Jesus is our Forever Friend.  And when we choose to live under his leadership we make wiser choices, we are better in relationships, we care more about others than ourselves, we actually can make a difference in this world.  We know true joy and contentment.

 

Day 6 Challenge:  What are you doing to know true joy and contentment?

 

 Joy Day! ::  AnExtraordinaryDay.net

 

It’s Joy Day!

 

Today is the day when we look back on the past week and count ‘seven.’

It’s the time to thank God no matter what happens.  That means we give thanks, count our blessings or gifts, no matter what life has dished out.

I’ll begin…

God I thank you for

  1. extraordinary fall weather and sandals on my feet in October
  2. my sweet creative friend
  3. grapevines
  4. the challenge of writing for 31 Days
  5. for a No when we wanted a Yes
  6. this blog and my wonderful readers
  7. the joy of walking two little dogs and their aging ‘sister’ who insists she come tag along

Now it’s YOUR turn!!  Please join me by tapping in your ‘seven’ in the “Please Share Your Extraordinary Thoughts” section below.  Something happens when we take time to list out our bits of gratitude.  I guarantee your joy meter will rise.

Want even more joy?  Take the Joy Dare here.

 

Thank you for stopping by today.
I appreciate you and your sweet comments make my day.

Joyfully…

Diane

I hope you’ll consider visiting each day during this #31Day series.

All the posts in the series will be added to this page each day of October.
If you would like to receive more inspiration in your email inbox, subscribe now.
What a wonderful adventure this will be as we journey together to Be…

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Comments

  1. Sharing my seven:

    1. God’s healing touch.
    2. A jump start on weight loss.
    4. The JOY of the Lord, which is my strength.
    5. That He sees me!
    6. For children using their gifts and talents for the Lord.
    7. For a husband who is my steady rock!

    Blessings!

    • Diane says

      God is so good. I’m rejoicing with you in your healing especially today.
      May your Lord’s day be overflowing with JOY!
      [hugs]

  2. Mel says

    It’s JOY DAY!!!!!! 🙂 And I’m, once again, humbled. (no worries, my ‘little ego’ needs that to stay ‘right sized’…LOL) There’s that ‘what am I doing to know joy and contentment’ question… I had to pause and I think I actually frowned a bit cuz for me the answer IS the surrender. NOT that making the surrender is always comfortable. I’ve been known to surrender and take back in record time. I’ve also known the pure sweetness of that complete surrender that comes when I’ve well and truly handed my life and my will over. Dunno why I’d bother to snatch it back (I’m thinking there’s that ‘human-ness’ again!), but I do… I’ll let ya know when I have it perfected. (g’head and laugh!)
    My saving grace and what I ‘do’ is the structure and accountability I’ve woven into my life–without it–talk about self will run riot!!!
    Just sayin’. LOL

    My seven….
    * I’m all joyful about going to the pumpkin patch with The Bug today. It’s not even happened yet! LOL
    * Sending cards in the mail that brought smiles to others who were hurting–awesome joy!
    * Going outside in the crisp air and seeing my breath……perfect sweater weather!
    * Having he-who-would-if-I-ask sharing space with me. Seriously….he’s a great source of joy and he doesn’t even have to DO anything.
    * 4am thunderstorms with light shows you wouldn’t believe!
    * Penguin duct tape. LOL Oh, the strange things that bring me joy! 😉
    * Pumpkins and gourds and squash and indian corn and cider and all things fall at the farm!!!!

    ((( Diane )))
    Happy Sunday!! BE the joy you are in the lives of others. Wear THAT one for a bit, eh? 😉

    • Diane says

      Every day that you visit is joy day, Mel! 🙂
      That ol’ ego….;p
      Sweet surrender. I think every one of us needs ‘do overs’ on that one everyday. 😉
      Thanks for sharing your ‘seven’ Mel! I’ll be hopeful to see a glimpse of the pumpkiny fun on the blog. 😉
      And I just have to say….you are more joyful than ever. God’s doing something in you through this uncomfortable time. I love how he uses the junk to make us into something even better. (The silver lining in it all for sure!)
      That last line…I’m still thinking about it. 😉
      [hugs]
      ~Diane

  3. Gail says

    Your reminder of “if I say I believe xyz” then what are the consequential actions in my life – good lesson

    • Diane says

      Thanks for those encouraging words, Gail. 🙂
      Praying your week over flows with true JOY and contentment!
      ~Diane

  4. Carolyn says

    Seven! God’s perfect number. Every Sunday, He gives us another set of seven. To spend, to plan, to carry out. Thank You, God, for trusting us w/this precious gift of time! We really never know just what a day (much less 7 of them) will bring forth. But You do & so we give You the reins…the steering wheel…this new week ahead. Oh, & thank You, God, for the past week!
    1. Joy not dependent on circumstances
    2. Meds to relieve aches & pains
    3. A wise, godly, respectable, sensitive, manly husband
    4. Sunshine & showers
    5. The rustling of sycamore leaves by the lake
    6. Spending special time w/our adult son
    7. All the Monarch butterflies on their miraculous journey to Mexico

    It was a very good week!

    • Diane says

      Isn’t it a blessing to acknowledge God’s goodness and his perfect ways? And even more…to “give him the “steering wheel.”
      Thanks for taking the time to share your ‘seven’ this week Carolyn! I rejoice with you at all your amazing blessings.
      May your week overflow with JOY and Contentment!
      [hugs]

  5. Gwen says

    I’ve written five joys. I’ve said ten joys aloud. But I don’t think I’m very well today. I’m mixed up as more demands are made upon my injured brain and I’m so weary. So today I will rest. Know I did them. I’m just so tired.

  6. “We can count on God to patiently remove all the obstacles to our enjoyment of Him. He is committed to our joy …”
    Larry Crabb

  7. I don’t know what happened to me yesterday. But I have plenty of things that bring me joy, so I have a little list for you today.

    1. Captain, there be pumpkins here! (The fruits are finally coming in!)
    2. Realizing that I have written a post for each of the last seven days!
    3. A certain Extraordinary blog, which shall remain nameless, but I’m REALLY hoping you know what I’m talking about by now! 😉
    4. The tree that fell down a couple of weeks ago in our yard, which was chopped up and is now being used in our wood heating stove.
    5. Finally getting to see Sneakers’ puppies, which she had under the storage building several weeks ago, but have been especially reluctant to come out from underneath.
    6. My ‘sudden’ realization today that each of the verses in Eph 1:1-8 shows a bond between us and God.
    7. Happy coincidences.

    • Diane says

      Haha! Time….it gets away from the best of us. 😉
      You really do have a joy-filled ‘seven’ LuAnn. I stared smiling as soon as I started reading them. I love your heart of gratitude! 🙂
      May your week be filled with True Joy and Contentment.
      [hugs]

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