November 4: Picking A Fight is Easy.

Affirmation: I love the person I am becoming. I am willing to grow and change.
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Ponder, Personalize, Practice: Today begin to ponder Luke 12:7. In our family when we find a feather we take it as a reminder that we are valued by God and He is watching over us each day just like the sparrows. Memorize the verse and talk to God about any fears.

Luke 12:7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows. 
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Wholehearted Guidepost from Brené Brown
Cultivate Gratitude and Joy. Let Go of Scarcity and Fear of the Dark


ORDINARY-MOMENTS SCAVENGER HUNT

What's the normal stuff you would miss if it weren't there? It may be a ritual like your morning coffee or ordinary moments that you share with your family or the little things that bring you joy. You're going to capture them in this exercise.

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS

Camera (or phone camera), printer, your journal and art supplies. 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spend a couple of days snapping photos of the everyday, ordinary things you are grateful for in your life—the ones that are easy to overlook but that are the true sources of your daily joy.

2. Print the pictures and create a gratitude collage on two facing pages of your journal.

3. On, under or beside the pictures, write down your specific gratitude.

Optional: When you're done with this activity, you could take pictures of your journal pages and share them on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #OLCBreneCourse.

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Mastering the 7 Decisions from Andy Andrews 

The Joyful Decision 

5. TODAY I WILL CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY.
Happiness is a choice. I am enthusiastic about each day. I am alert to its possibilities.
I will become the master of my emotions.
I will greet each day with laughter. I know that enthusiasm is the fuel that moves the world.
The world belongs to the enthusiastic, for people will follow them anywhere! My smile has become my calling card. It is, after all, the most important weapon I possess. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit. 

Joyful Decision
Today, I choose to be happy.


You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12
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Reading for Today
Walk in Grace. Live in Love by Bob Goff

November 4

Picking A Fight Is Easy. Loving Each Other When We Disagree Is How We Grow.

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27–28

We have a family friend who exploded our understanding of love with her baking. She read Jesus, his words about loving your enemies, and she started praying about what it might look like for her to love her enemies in her every day life. She knew enemies weren’t like the ones in the movie; they are the ones we gossip about because we are jealous or the ones who disagreed with us about things close to our hearts.

She decided to start baking things for people who got under her skin. She baked cookies for the woman who made her feel like a bad parent. She dropped off a cake for the neighbors who did loud yardwork at 7 o’clock in the morning on Saturdays. She baked fresh bread for a family friend who posted offensive comments on social media.

No one knows she bakes things for people who get under her skin, because she doesn’t announce it. It’s not passive-aggressive statement where she gives baked goods, and everyone knows what she really means. It is just her quiet way of actively loving people that she would be quick to write off if she wasn’t intentional.

Picking a fight is easy. Loving each other when we disagree is how we grow. When Jesus told us to love our enemies, He challenged us to draw close to people we are tempted to push away. He knew nothing would change hearts and minds more than selfless love for other people. Go for the one who gets under your skin, and experience the kind of love Jesus talks about.

Who get under your skin? How can you treat them differently today? 

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