Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist is the title of a new book I am reading. I am not a big reader, but I do believe this book will hold my interest to the end.
The line on the front is Celebrating the extraordinary nature of every day life….
I was given this book as a gift from my cousin Renee. It was a gift for my Tapestry Party. I love the idea that at my celebration event, I received a book reminding me about the celebration in every day. I love the idea of celebrating and am committed to keep practicing celebrating….
This is how the book begins…
“This book is a shameless appeal for celebration….” (page 9)
“The discipline of celebration is changing my life, and it is because of the profound discoveries that this way of living affords to me that I invite you into the same practice. This collection is a tap dance on the fresh graves of apathy and cynicism. the creeping belief that this is all there is, and that God is no match for the wreckage of the world we live in. What God does in the tiny corners of our day-to-day lives is stunning and gorgeous and headline making, but we have a bad habit of saving the headlines for the grotesque and scary.” (pg 10)
And so even in this paragraph, I am challenged and invited to think in headlines of celebration. I wonder what impact you would have on your world if you were committed to being a person who celebrated well and you extended a shameless appeal to those around you to be people of celebration….
Celebration may carry the feelings of all the fireworks or it may be a quiet moment on the beach watching the sunset. Celebration may be something you do in a small group, a large group, or alone with God, acknowledging His goodness or presence or provision. I am starting to think of celebration as 
much more than an event. It is an attitude and a way of living. I can celebrate people as well as events. I can celebrate for hours on end or in a passing moment. Celebration is a gift I offer others, but also myself.
I am contemplating the different faces of celebration and creative ways I can live this out every day in the corners of my day-to-day….
I am curious what my celebration headlines might be that dance on the graves of apathy and cynicisim….won’t you join me….let’s impact our world with a delightful invitation to celebrate! What a joyful way to live!
