A year ago I was in New York City for a week of adventures with my husband. After dragging Kurt from the Museum of Modern Art to the Statue of Liberty, after making him stand outside Studio 1A for my moment with Hoda and the people of the Today Show, after telling him when and where we’d be seeing Hamilton and To Kill a Mockingbird, after walking everywhere on days with a high of 27 and a low of 19, I surprised him with tickets to a NY Knicks-LA Laker game at Madison Square Garden.

The NY Knicks were not a great team. At the time, they were in 13th place—two up from the bottom in the Eastern Conference. I wanted Kurt to see the game, because I knew he’d enjoy seeing LeBron James, a player who will quite possibly go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time.

I’m not a professional basketball fan, but I was very aware of what it meant to have LeBron on the floor that night. Everyone played better—whether guarding him as he dribbled down the court, whether checking his 3-point shot, whether going for the rebound. At one point I said to Kurt, “I thought New York was not that good…” thinking they didn’t look that bad. “Deanna, they’re playing LA.”

When we’re surrounded by the best, we are all better. LeBron is a guy who walks onto the court each night ready to be his boldest and bravest—no matter the opponent. He takes the shot. He sets up the play. He makes the block.

But Deanna, I’m not LeBron James. I’m not a professional NBA player. I’m not a “name in the lights” professional anyone. No, you’re not, but as we talked about last week, you’re beautifully and wonderfully made, each one of us. You’re unlike anyone who ever was or ever will be. You’re the greatest you of all time. There’s no one who compares to you. Absolutely no one.

The night we watched LeBron play, he did great, but it was not one of his greatest games. He was made 9 of 16 shots from the field. That means he missed 7. He made 1 of 3 free throws, missing 2. He made 2 three-pointers, missing 3. He had 5 assists and 5 steals, but no blocked shots. Anthony Davis had more points. Still everyone on the court and in the stands knew he was there to win a game.

The day LeBron steps out of his sneakers, he will be remembered not only for his personal achievements, but also for what he did as a teammate. Danny Green’s three-pointer? LeBron set it up. That screen for Anthony? LeBron assisted. Dwight Howard’s final shot? LeBron made it happen.

At times we can discount the beauty and wonder in which we’re made and if we’re not careful, we can discount our impact on those around us, too. Every week on Friday morning at 7:45, I have a mini panic attack, a moment in which my prayer goes from, “Dear God, be with me this morning. Help me to encourage the ladies of Fave with your love and faithfulness.” No, at 7:45, I’m calling out to God, “Was there no one else? Really, God? I was your best choice for ‘Morning WOLK with God’? I can’t do this!” Remembering LeBron, I stress. What happens if I miss the shot? What happens if I turn over the ball, metaphorically speaking? What happens if I misquote/misuse God’s Word, like I did one week when I shared the verse from 2nd Samuel?

I think LeBron would be the first to tell us—get over it. After turning the ball over a fourth time that night, he made his 5th assist. I think LeBron would also tell us it’s not just what he does, it’s what they do as a team. They encourage each other. They push each other. They include each other.

Kurt and I had nice seats for the NY Knicks game. We were in a corner section of Madison Square Garden, the 12th row. I paid dearly for the tickets. I may still be paying for them! When God’s calling the shots—whether it’s in New York City or Monroe, whether it’s in your neighborhood or work place, we’re all included. We’ve all got tickets. We’re all sitting courtside, front row, center. Not only did the prophets get priority seating, but you and I did, too. Not only did the disciples get back stage passes, but you and I did, too. We’re all seated together—not alone, but together—because we’re all part of God’s really big story. We’re not just pointing points on the board, we’re putting God’s love, joy, peace, and hope across the board.

One of my favorite quotes is from Richard Rohr, a Franciscan friar who said, “The genius of the biblical story is that, instead of simply giving us ‘seven habits for highly effective people,’ it gives us permission and even direction to take conscious ownership of our own story at every level, every part of life and experience. God will use all of this material, even the negative parts, to bring life and love.”

Life and love have given you wisdom and experience. Mentor someone. Encourage someone.

Wisdom and experience, even the negative parts, have given you insight and perspective. Teach someone. Guide someone.

Insight and perspective have fostered in you creativity and imagination. Inspire someone. Make someone laugh.

Be bold. Be brave. Be you—for you and for those around you.

Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:14

Deanna Nowadnick is the author of Fruit of My Spirit and Signs in Life.

Deanna is also the host of “Morning WOLK with God” here at Fave Lifestyles.

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.

At the inauguration of our president, Joe Biden, and vice president, Kamala Harris, Amanda Gorman, a beautiful, young 22-year-old black woman, recited a remarkable poem, The Hill We Climb. Amanda is the youngest inaugural poet ever. She was the first person ever named national youth poet laureate. She told the New York Times she wrote her piece “to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal.”

We’ve got a lot of healing to do. In Amanda’s opening remarks, she asked “When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?” When day comes and we’re scrolling through our MSN news feed, it’s not a feel-good moment. When we listen to the news, it’s not encouraging. The headlines are not full of love, joy, peace, and hope.

You don’t need me to tell you that life is challenging. Even before COVID, our communities, our neighborhoods, our neighbors, friends, and family were all facing challenges not expected, never imagined, challenges that have continued to get bigger and bigger, more and more complex, challenges that are too often encased in hate—bravado, not bravery, brashness, not boldness.

In response, debates and discussions divide, demean, and deter, often helping no one, solving nothing. As the gavel comes down, frustrations, disappointments, anger, and determination spill out into the streets. And while I’m looking for someone to blame, big challenges get bigger. Complex challenges get more and more complex.

There are no easy solutions to homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, suicide, suicide among children, suicide among our veterans, illegal immigration, crime, the high cost of housing, the high cost of medical care, the high cost of this virus. Too many important questions get left hanging in the air. Too many important issues of the day get trivialized and reduced to soundbites. Difficult conversations are plagued with public posturing. Public debates don’t just shred arguments, they shred character. Shouting matches shame, belittle and begrudge.

But Amanda reminded us, “The dawn is ours before we knew it.” Adding “we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.”

When you and I are bold and brave, we close the divide. We put our differences aside. When we come together as women of faith, we are able to “reach out our arms to one another,” quoting Amanda. “We seek harmony for all.”

My second trip to New York included a second visit to the Museum of Modern Art, because I needed a second look at Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. Monet’s masterpiece is huge. The panels take up an entire wall of the museum. My first reaction both visits was to walk right up to the painting. Standing beside the artwork, you can’t see the actual picture. All you can see are globs of color and brushstrokes that look messy, not mesmerizing. But up close you can see Monet’s boldness. I would even add the bravery of his choices. Not until you step to the other side of the room can you see his famous lilies, the reflection of clouds in the pond. Up close you can only see dabs of yellow paint, splotches of blue and purple, pink and green. From a distance, you can see depth and shadows. Standing back, you can see a peaceful Japanese-style pond covered with beautiful lilies.

Your boldness is a beautiful spot of yellow in the day. Your bravery is a carefully added stroke of blue. And standing in the moment, that may be all you can see: spots of color, strokes of time. But one day you’ll find yourself standing back just far enough to see a most beautiful picture.

Thinking about being bold and brave, it’s easy to doubt: A few words of loving kindness are going to change the dialog? Change the discourse? Our own “WOLK with God” is going to change Amanda’s world? Yes, not because of what you and I will do, but because of what God’s Holy Spirit will do. Let me repeat: Not because of what you and I will do, but because of what God’s Holy Spirit will do in, through, and around us. If we step back and give ourselves the opportunity to see the beauty that is in front of us, the picture is going to take our breath away!

Previously I’ve cautioned: IF WE DO NOTHING, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. I also encouraged: IF WE DO SOMETHING, THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.

I truly believe we can have a meaningful impact on those places and people that mean the most to us—in the smallest moments, the smallest conversations, and also the bigger ones, the harder ones. Because we are women of faith and we are part of a bigger, more important purpose. We can be agents of change. We can change the dialog, change the discourse. We can make a difference—today, right now. I believe it can be so!

 Today’s a blank page in our book. Be bold. Be brave. Be you—for you, for those around you, for all of us.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Let Amanda’s final words guide us: “The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Be bold. Be brave. Be you.

Deanna Nowadnick is the author of Fruit of My Spirit and Signs in Life.

Deanna is also the host of “Morning WOLK with God” here at Fave Lifestyles.

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.

My husband watched my “Morning WOLK with God” episode while I sat next to him. When it finished, I remarked that I’d come a long way from my days as a miserably inept lobbyist. Remembering my disastrous time as an Olympia influencer, I regaled him with my story of woe when I was working for our state teachers’ association. I’d been assigned the charter school initiative, a very hot topic at the time. I was asked to prepare testimony for the House and Senate education committees and then to follow the proposal through the legislative process. I spent morning, noon, and night preparing comments, honing my arguments.

The idea of testifying terrified me and I wanted to be ready, to say something meaningful, to be ready for any and all rebuttals, to represent the state’s teachers in an articulate, thought-provoking manner. Really—I just didn’t want to screw up. I was on a short-term assignment with the organization and if I dazzled them, I was hoping I might be considered for long-term employment. I screwed up.

I was so focused on my own testimony, what I was going to say and how I was going to say it, my own agenda, that I missed the fact that the bill had been pulled from consideration—the legislative agenda—days earlier. Watching me continue to prep and waiting to see how long it would take me to figure it out, my boss finally pulled me aside after three days and gave me the good news.  

That story’s especially noteworthy remembering that it occurred not long after my illustrious term as president of our local teachers’ association. I’d been elected not because of any great leadership skills, not because my three years of teaching had made me particularly wise, but because no one else wanted the position.

Too young and naïve to know what I didn’t know, I stumbled into some intense salary negotiations. At one point I had an offer from the school district that needed to be shared with the teachers. During our general membership meeting I began with a rousing stump speech on the importance of class size and release time, neither mentioned in the district’s offer.

But before getting to the “rousing” portion of my message, I was interrupted by a well-organized smaller group of teachers who just wanted to take the district’s raise and get back to their classrooms. A motion was made and seconded before my eyes were off my notes. A short discussion followed. Someone called for the question and a vote was taken before I fully understood what had just happened.

Not appreciating the concerns of the teachers, not knowing parliamentary procedure, too focused on my own agenda, I’d lost control of the meeting to seven people in the back of the room who’d never even taken the time to sit down, teachers who’d done their homework and knew what their colleagues wanted, who had their own agenda.

It’s so easy for me to get focused on my own agenda. At times it’s easy to miss the bigger picture.  Has that ever happened to you?

“Our Morning WOLK with God” is about words of loving kindness. When we share words (and deeds!) of loving kindness, we’re sharing God’s loving kindness that became our saving grace. That’s from the third chapter of Titus, a wonderful letter that Paul wrote to his co-worker in the faith about how to engage with the community, how to be a compelling example of Christian life.

But the mere thought of engaging with the community may exhaust us. Yes, it’s a new year, but we’ve still got major issues from last year. Yes, the elections are behind us, but we’ve still got major decisions, harder discussions before us. Yes, the vaccine is here, but we’ve still got major logistical issues to figure out.

In his letter, Paul was not only encouraging Titus, but he was encouraging all of us to be compelling examples of Christian life. And knowing we’re all a little exhausted, a little overwhelmed, a little cynical at times, how do we do that? Where do we even begin?

Personally, I need to start by talking less and listening more. Too often I’m replaying that miserably inept moment as a lobbyist, as a union president, when I was too focused on my own agenda—what I was going to do, what I was going to say, what I thought best—that I missed what was really going on, what others were really saying and feeling.

Too often I’m still putting my own agenda first. And if one of my non-negotiables is gratitude, then I want to value those around me—what they’re saying, what they’re feeling, what they’re experiencing. I want to learn from them. I want to grow with them. I want to find solutions together, but I can’t do that if I don’t understand them, if I don’t appreciate their perspective, if I don’t stop and listen.

Alfred Brendel is an Austrian pianist, poet, author, and lecturer. He reminds us that the word LISTEN has the same letters as the word SILENT.” I want to listen, not just long enough for me to reply, but long enough for me to revere and respect and reflect.

How do we have the bigger conversations, the harder discussions? I have to start by talking less and listening more. I know! That’s an amazing statement for someone who’s talking at you every Friday morning.

Does this mean we remain silent? No, God’s words of loving kindness need to be heard every day in every way in every place. It just means we watch for those times when we need to listen first. The bigger conversations and the harder discussions can happen after we’ve heard.

I love the book of Proverbs which so often gets right to the point: “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” I learned that the hard way.

We walk together, ladies! I treasure the uniqueness that is each one of us, our unique perspectives, unique ideas, unique thoughts and concerns. And together we can spread God’s love, joy, peace, and hope in wonderfully unique ways. Together.

Let There Be Peace on Earth

Heavenly Father, let there be peace on earth and let it begin with us.

Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.

God, You are our creator, and family all are we.

Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Amen.

Deanna Nowadnick is the author of Fruit of My Spirit and Signs in Life.

Deanna is also the host of “Morning WOLK with God” here at Fave Lifestyles.

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.

Earlier this year Jeff Bezos shared what some have called a brutal truth in his last letter to shareholders. According to Inc. Magazine, they are five short words that many never learn. The words? Create more than you consume.

Bezos goes on to say that our goal should be to create value for everyone we interact with, that value proposition we often hear about.

Thinking about the past year, I wondered if his comments had any application to our lives as people of faith. I wondered about lessons God has shared with us that He’d want us to carry forward as part of our walk with Him and His people. I wondered if there was a value proposition for us women of faith.

Throughout social media are pandemic take-aways, experiences and insights that have highlighted deeper truths, reinforced life’s transcendent joys, and answered the question, What’s really important?

I thought back on my own year. I still remember the morning I fell apart learning that nail salons were closing, knowing my nails have not been without polish since 1973. Yep!

Then there was that panic buying moment that resulted in a case of industrial strength, commercial grade toilet paper that’s thinner than tissue paper with the consistency of waxed paper. Yep, consumption at its finest, thanks to Mr. Bezos and his fine team at Amazon.

As we lurched through pandemic protocols, I was not at my most creative. I was not focused on what I might give up, how I might give back, where I might give more. As life slowed, I became more and more focused on what I wanted when I wanted it. I wanted to consume. I wanted my nails done!

And then I started riding my bike and walking. Coming back from a week away, from a week of waaaayyyy too much fine dining, I woke up Monday morning and said, I’ve got to ride my bike. That day I decided I would get outside every day. Every day I rode my bike to the coffee shop and home again. When the weather started to turn and my bike added its own windchill factor, I continued to get outside, now walking. And in the quiet of a half hour walk, thirty short minutes, God turned my heart.

You’ll hear me talk about being a passionate advocate for words of loving kindness. Walk the WOLK, I like to say. Walk the words of loving kindness. That’s easy to do when the sun’s shining, not so easy in the middle of a torrential downpour, in the throes of our new normal.

In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he says we are His workmanship (God’s workmanship). Some translations of the Bible, use the word handiwork. “We are God’s handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

As God’s people, we have been wired up to create. That’s part of what it means to be created in God’s image. Still, some of us may have moments of consumption that are not very attractive, a little self-centered, a little too inwardly focused, speaking from experience.

We will also have moments for wonderfully good works as part of God’s great creation, His creation in which we’re a part, His creation which is us. We are God’s value proposition.

Some Bible translations also read “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them.” That we should walk in them. My daily walks have become daily time with God. With my phone in my pocket on mute, away from computer notifications and reminders, I have time with God, not just to talk with Him, but also to listen.

When my boys were small, there were times I needed them to listen. That parenting thing, you know? I would tell them to turn down the TV, the game, the music, so they could hear me. God needs me to listen also, so I can know what he’s prepared in advance for me to do.

During this past year, how did God help you do good works? What plans did God have for you, plans you may not have been aware of at the time, but looking back you go, “Ah, yes, that was God.”

I don’t want to belittle the challenges of these past many months. The brokenness of our world has been shocking, the din about us has been harsh, the challenges seemingly insurmountable some days. My own self-centeredness has been difficult to fathom at times. And then God gives us a gentle nudge, a moment of quiet, an unexpected opportunity in which we can step in with His love and His light. It might be the PPP loan that kept people working, that supported local businesses. It might be a moment in which to share a sincere thanks with a nail tech, a stylist, a therapist, those people in our life who support us in so many ways. It might be the extra time and money we were able to share with our community, our church, our family, another family dealing with especially hard times.

You are God’s beautiful creation, created to create. And He has big plans for you, for all of us, plans designed just for you, plans designed just for me. We create, not because we’re part of some grand mathematical equation, but because we’re God’s people created to do His good work.

In their “Defined” bible study, Stephen and Alex Kendrick talk about God’s workmanship. They said the Greek word is poiema, similar to our English word poem. They ask us to imagine being a God’s poem, His beautiful and thoughtful self-expression, His masterpiece, made from an overflow of His creative joy as His workmanship. That’s waaaayyy more than some mathematical equation!

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

Deanna Nowadnick is the author of Fruit of My Spirit and Signs in Life.

Deanna is also the host of “Morning WOLK with God” here at Fave Lifestyles.

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.

I’m a passionate advocate for words of loving kindness. “Walk the WOLK,” I like to say. Walk the words of loving kindness. But it’s not always easy to walk the WOLK, to walk the words of loving kindness, and often my prayer has been “Change my heart, O God.”

Words of loving kindness come from our heart, but without gratitude, my heart falters in the harder moments, the bigger conversations. One of my three non-negotiables for the year is gratitude, but I have to be careful, because my perfectionist leanings can impact my sense of gratitude—personal gratitude and the gratitude I feel toward others. It can color a conversation, bring about judgments, separate me from others.

I don’t mean to judge. I don’t intend to further our divisions, but smaller moments in my day can frame bigger ones in ways I never expected. Yes, those smaller moments—like moments with a crossword, moments on a walk, and moments in study.

I’m someone who does her Sunday crossword puzzle in ink. My goal is always to complete the puzzle perfectly—without a single mistake.

Another non-negotiable for this year is my biking and walking streak—which is now over 250 days. Before heading out on any given day, I check the weather app on my phone to determine the “perfect” time for my ride, my walk.

For years I’ve had the perfect plans for morning Bible study and prayer, one chapter, one lesson, all the blanks filled in followed by carefully scripted prayers for family, friends, and the world. No surprise to any of us that despite my “perfect” intentions, there have been Sundays with inked-in mistakes on my crossword. Despite what the weather app promised, there were days with howling winds and torrential downpours, misty mornings and frosty afternoons. There were also days when I turned my attention to work before opening my Bible for study.

Life is not perfect, but I continue to insist that it can be, that I can make it so, that I can be. And when I do that, I live in a “glass half empty” existence that elevates me, myself, and I, leaving me to discount too many blessings in my life.

Here’s what I know for sure: It’s difficult to be grateful when focused on perfection. And it’s difficult to find words of loving kindness without gratitude. That first mistake in the crossword puzzle becomes the moment I want to quit. That cold, rainy morning becomes the moment I want to park the bike, skip the walk. That day I missed my study time becomes the reason to stop altogether.

It’s hard for me to be “less than.” My desire to be my best can quickly morph into wanting/needing/ seeking to be “the” best. And when I do that, I overlook past blessings, I miss the blessings I’m experiencing right now, and I also dismiss the blessings to come.

For me, gratitude can get linked to the moments I’d hoped for and actually got. And those other moments, like when I’ve written (in ink!) the wrong word in the crossword become “Oh…! I messed up.” not “Oh…! There’s a different answer, a better solution.”

​In her inaugural poem, Amanda Gorman shared a simple truth about life’s experiences. “In our grief, we grow, in our hurt, we hope, in our exhaustion, we try.” And for that I want to be grateful.

Kintsugi (kin-su’-gee) is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery. Pieces are mended with a lacquer mixed with powered gold, silver or platinum. The breakage and repair are treated as part of an object’s history, not something to be hidden. Flaws and imperfections are embraced, celebrated for their beauty.

Have you ever celebrated your flaws? How can we embrace imperfections?

Life’s bigger conversations are difficult. Life’s harder discussions are harder, especially if we can’t embrace our own imperfections and the imperfections of those around us, if we don’t value wisdom and experience, patience and understanding, those parts in life that have often come with our own brokenness, pieces that have been glued together with the gold of God’s love and faithfulness, beautiful artwork to be celebrated and embraced.

I’m learning that gratitude isn’t just about thanking God for what I’ve wanted all along. Gratitude is about thanking God for what is—not only for what is in my life, but for what is in your life, too. Gratitude values my own life experiences, as well as your life experiences. Gratitude values the beauty of our pieced together glasses, each one unique in its design. Half empty? Not a one. Half full? More than.

On Sunday, I made several mistakes—in ink, but I treasured the quiet time with my crossword puzzle. Last week on my walk, I smiled while listening to birds singing in the cold of the morning. Today I finished my Beth Moore Bible study, a 10-week study took me almost 16 weeks, but I made it happen day by day, chapter by chapter, page by page. And for it all, I’m grateful.

Here at Fave Lifestyles we talk about doing life together. One of the things I’ve most valued about Karen Rae is her ability to embrace life’s flaws and imperfections and help us celebrate the beauty that is us.

What does your kintsugi bowl look like? How have your imperfections come together in the most beautiful ways? How have they fostered in you a spirit of gratitude?

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

to which indeed you were called in one body.

And be thankful.”

Colossians 3:15

Deanna Nowadnick is the author of Fruit of My Spirit and Signs in Life.

Deanna is also the host of “Morning WOLK with God” here at Fave Lifestyles.

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.