The Joy Dare: Giving Thanks When it is Hard to Do

I’ve heard about the concept of a Gratitude Journal for a while now. Being aware of and thankful for the little things in my life, writing them down at night, falling asleep in a state of gratitude. It’s always sounded like a good idea. But I have never really done it for more than a few days. Yesterday, I found Anne Voskamp’s Joy Dare and decided to give it a try. She cites many benefits of daily gratitude and gives prompts for each day- gratitude categories. Most people try to start these things on January 1, at the beginning of the year or at the beginning of a new chapter in their life. But I’m starting on a random day. March 4.

Yesterday’s Prompt was: “3 Gifts Hard to Give Thanks For…” I found this prompt sort of, well, hard. Through this Joy Dare, I do not want to simply give thanks for the normal stuff I would give thanks for… my house, my family and friends, food on the table, and a car to drive. I am grateful for all those things… But if I am going to live a life of gratitude, in a constant state of gratitude, then I am going to have to dive below the surface. This prompt was actually a great one to start on, sending me deep below the surface. It is preparing me to give thanks even when things don’t go my way, even when it seems like there is nothing to be thankful for.

I particularly love that Anne Voskamp says “Joy is a function of gratitude.” How true! It is easy to give thanks when we are happy. Sometimes we wait until we are happy to give thanks. But maybe it works the other way around. I think Anne Voskamp is saying that the more we give thanks, the more joy we will experience and I am willing to give this a try!

So many places in the Bible, it tells us to be thankful and that we always have something to be thankful about. Psalm 118:24 tells us that we should be thankful for the day itself and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says to give thanks in all circumstances, because God knows what He is doing! James 1:17 tells us that everything good comes from God.

So here’s my first attempt at The Joy Dare. 3 Gifts Hard to Give Thanks For-

1. Homework: It means I am learning and have educational opportunities.

2. My Dead Car Battery: It gave me the experience of dealing with a broken down car, I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in a while on the campus bus, I got to see my dad in the middle of the week, and it forced me to cancel a few things and slow down my life.

3. The Unknown: This one really gives me trouble! But the existence of the unknown gives me the opportunity to trust God more fully.

I also made myself and my roommate “Joy Jars.”

I made them out of clear mason jars and cut up colorful scraps of paper with the intention that the jar will soon become filled with happy written memories and things we are thankful for. The empty jar will soon be filled with color, just as gratitude and joy add color to our lives.