Three Yellow Mercies
Ann Voskamp, author of the book “One Thousand Gifts”, has a January Joy Dare to help her readers achieve a goal of noticing three gifts a day from God.
The one for today was “3 yellow things that strike you as a fresh mercy”.
When I first read it, I thought no way. Then I thought I’d better look up the definition of mercy and keep it in front of me as I contemplated three yellow things that were a fresh mercy.
Mercy is defined in Wikitionary as:
forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate
So. . . forgiveness, compassion. Am I less fortunate? Generally, no. But that is not relevant to this exercise. We are all less fortunate before God. That’s why he extends his mercy to us.
So here are three yellow things that I think are a mercy in a way than I had not previously thought of them as being:
Yellow Post-it Notes – my favorite boy toy and I love using Post-Its because they don’t blow around or get lost. They’re also a great way to say I’m sorry, I love you, or you did a great job! They’re more than for just writing – they’re also a way to communicate forgiveness and compassion, and to show affection to each other.
Yellow Hi-liter – another tool I love to use. It says PAY ATTENTION. THIS IS IMPORTANT. When I read, I like to highlight my books so that later, I can quickly skim and reread important concepts. My Bibles have multiple colors of highlighters; so does my copy of Walden. If I’m tired at night, I just read the highlights.
Yellow shine on brass instruments – listening to brass instruments says to me to slow down, relax, and enjoy the journey. The sound of brass is just beauty and a time to stand still in the flow of it, whether it is Kenny G. with his saxophone, Chris Botti with his trumpet, or the school band playing a John Philip Sousa march. Of course, Sousa music leaves me feeling highly energized afterwards :)
So those are my ways to find fresh mercies. I hope you enjoyed this patter for a few minutes!
Here’s a shot from a conference room at work, showing night lights during the rain. It turned out pretty good considering it was my cell phone.
Faith Ann Voskamp brass instruments compassion Faith forgiveness Hi-liter John Philip Sousa mercy One Thousand Gifts Post-its yellow mercies
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I am a backyard adventurer, philosopher and observer, recording my life in journals and photographs. Visit my blog at www.livingtheseasons.com.
Living The Seasons 
Great picture, very crisp and clear. I started reading this the other day, but thought I might try to come up with three yellow things. I gave up, and now I’m back to see what you came up with. Good job!
Ah ha! Now you see why I had to think about it so much. It was really hard to come up with three things, but once I got going I actually had a list of five to pick from. I forgot the beagle’s yellow towel – the one I use to dry him off when he comes in wet. To him, it’s a symbol of my love when I bring that out and use on just him.
Wow, Nancy. Fabulous photo of the city. Hope the dark sky is an indicator of the short winter days and doesn’t mean that you were working way into the night.
I took it not long after sunset, but yeah, I was at work really late that night. Six hours of sleep is not quite enough for me.
Post-it notes are great for all sorts of things. – Also, good job with this! It is a lesson in appreciating that which is right in front of you.
Post-it notes are the greatest! I have pads of them all over at work and home. Thanks for the compliment!
Being the country gal that I am I always love city lights. That stunning photo makes me learn for an urban weekend.
Your 3 yellow things list is fabulous. The post-it notes and how you use them is my favorite.
Thank you and thank you and thank you. What wonderful comments and compliments! I couldn’t believe how long it took me to think of three yellow things that I could use as fresh mercies.