Joy is the basic human emotion. Two of the marks of maturity are how large your capacity for joy is and how rapidly you can get back to joy from a toxic emotion.
Your child's capacity for joy is best developed before the age of two. You can grow in your capacity for joy after that, but God designed the greatest joy to take place early.
Joy is a function of the spirit, the soul and the body. There is a specific set of cells in the brain that are devoted to receiving input that is converted to the emotion of joy. The soul has a huge potential for different kinds of joy. For one person it is making music and for another it is scoring a touchdown. The spirit, however, has the greatest potential for joy. There are so many facets of our spirit's relationship with God that are designed to produce different flavors of joy in our spirit. And this treasure of spirit-based joy is usually the most overlooked, under developed of all - to our loss.
This book is a treasure chest of tools for nurturing your child's capacity for joy in their spirit - beginning with conception. But if your children are toddlers, or you, as an adult, find yourself keenly lacking in joy, use the blessings anyway. All three levels of joy can be developed at any time, they just come more quickly for babies.
So open the book anywhere. Savor a joy blessing for yourself right now. Then become fiercely intentional at building joy into your whole family by reading a blessing a day to each person around you.
Table on Contents
Chapter 1: The Blessing of Joy
Chapter 2: Expected Results
Chapter 3: Legitimacy and Identity
Chapter 4: The Joy of His Presence
Chapter 5: The Joy of Obedience
Chapter 6: The Joy of Knowing Life Givers
Chapter 7: The Joy of the Prize
Chapter 8: The Joy of Being Rescued
Chapter 9: The Joy of Walking in Favor
Chapter 10: The Joy of Solving Problems
Chapter 11: The Joy of Reproducing Values
Chapter 12: The Joy of Bringing in God's Glory
Chapter 13: The Joy of the Remnant Prevailing
Chapter 14: The Joy of God Partnering with You
Chapter 15: The Joy of Freedom through Grace
Chapter 16: The Joy of Freedom in Relating to Others
Chapter 17: The Joy of Justice
Chapter 18: Tips for New Moms
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
About the Author
Crystal Wade is a young mother who, together with her husband, has a shepherd's heart. Their work with students deepened their desire to discover and implement keys which unlock healing and fullness for families. Then, Arthur Burk's trailblazing work in ministering to babies in the womb brought into crisp focus (for them) the importance of blessing and affirming identity earlier in life, rather than later. Like her dad, Crystal values people and recognizes that life is the treasure; time is the gift. Out of this flows her passion for justice for those who cannot speak up for themselves.
