Happy Books

My daughter, three of her friends, and three of us moms are going through this book together. We meet about every other week and the mom’s have been alternating turns leading the discussion.

This week was my turn and the chapter was “A Girl Who Knows True Happiness.” The main point was  “true happiness is found not in your circumstance but in your thoughts.”  The chapter was long and full of lots of good things. Reading it, I envisioned each girl having a “Happy Book” she could turn to when feeling blue or angry or without hope to remind herself of the truth of God’s Word. So…. we made “Happy Books!”

Here’s the cover to my Happy Book. (The back says “Book.”)

And here are the girls hard at work:

 
The main gist of the “book”:

If you’re struggling with finding happiness, here are some things to consider -

• Tell yourself the Truth (found in God’s Word)
• Take every thought captive (get rid of those negative thoughts!)
• Agree with God (know what He loves, what He wants for your life)
• Forgive (yourself and others!)
• Trash your idols (those things that crowd out God in your life)
• Live a life of contentment (prioritize, simplify, help others, enjoy what you have)
• Find happiness on the other side of heartbreak (trust God’s plan for your life)

Here’s my page on “Take Every Thought Captive”. The girls put an illustration on each page with related verses to remind them of what they learned. You can see my whole “book” here. 

We spent a good bit of time talking about how these verses should be read in context and also that the expectation is not for us to have these happy, happy little lives. As Christians, we know there will be pain and suffering…. We will be sad and we will be hurt. But our faith in Christ gives us the ability to have a deep and abiding joy that is always flowing in and through our lives.

So, AEDM Day #2 was a fun and crafty time with some beautiful little girls I love very much. Thanks, Lovelies, for such a good evening!