Full Measure of Joy<\/em>. Three years ago I began the journey of putting my thoughts to paper (or computer screen). Three years ago I was captured by the blogging bug. Three years ago, I devoted my writing to God and it\u2019s been pretty remarkable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned so much through these few years. How to blog. What to blog. When to blog. And why to blog. Now when I say blog, I really mean write. Because even if I didn\u2019t have a blog to throw all of my thoughts toward, I would still be writing. It\u2019s become part of who I am.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve also learned a few things about myself. I\u2019ve learned that discipline is very important when it comes to blogging. I wake up every morning at 5:30 to do Bible study and quiet time with God. Then I sit at my computer and write until my blog is posted.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve learned that my mind is active all the time. I\u2019m always on the lookout for an idea to write about. I\u2019ve learned that my memory is nearly as good as it was when I was in college. That\u2019s exciting! And I\u2019ve learned that God will show up and present His glory in every little part of my life.<\/p>\n
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But what I\u2019ve learned most is that without God\u2019s Spirit leading me, without the love of Jesus encouraging me and without the grace of God to inspire me, Full Measure of Joy <\/em>would have fallen face first into the vast expanse of the World Wide Web. Without my Lord and Savior, none of this would have been possible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
My goals were simple when I started three years ago. Write and post every day and to show others how God shows up in my life each day. Yes, they seemed so simple, but as it turns out, these two little goals have transformed my thinking and opened my spiritual eyes to God\u2019s amazing work in my life. Simple? Maybe not.<\/p>\n
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Proverbs 16:3 (NIV) has been an important verse for me since I started blogging. \u201cCommit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.\u201d<\/em> I committed FMoJ<\/em> to God from the very beginning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Yes, I believe Full Measure of Joy<\/em> is a success, but what I believe more is that God\u2019s plan through me has far exceeded success. I have grown. I have learned. I have wrestled. I have been humbled. I have cried. I have laughed. I have repented. All because of the transforming work of God\u2019s Spirit within me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Maybe all of this would have happened without Full Measure of Joy<\/em>. Maybe I\u2019m in a place in my life where I would have been open to this work of God\u2019s Spirit. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
What I do know is that I have been able to share my stories, my memories, my struggles, my joys, my life, my Jesus with you, my reader. You have made a difference in my life. You have made the journey sweeter. You bring great joy to my life. Thank you!<\/p>\n
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So happy birthday Mason and happy birthday Full Measure of Joy<\/em>. I love you both!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you have been a reader of my blog since the beginning of Full Measure of Joy, you know that today is a special day. If you haven\u2019t been with me long, let me tell you why today is so special. First of all, today is my husband\u2019s birthday! I\u2019m so happy to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,19],"tags":[3817,3816,127,1798,128],"class_list":["post-4168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-glorifying-god","category-thanking-god","tag-3-year-anniversary","tag-a-very-special-day","tag-full-measure-of-joy","tag-masons-birthday","tag-proverbs-163"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4169,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4168\/revisions\/4169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Jo\"](\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Jo.jpg\")
<\/a>First of all, today is my husband\u2019s birthday! I\u2019m so happy to be celebrating another year with Mason. He\u2019s been such an inspiration and encouragement to me. He deserves this special day to celebrate who and what he is. Happy, happy birthday Mason!<\/p>\n