Today Is a Verb: Introduction

Written By Carol McLeod

In case you missed the great news … “Today is a Verb” … my 18th book … was released last week. 

 

I have loved writing all 18 books … but there is something about this book that truly reflects the lifestyle I have embraced for decades. 

 

I thought that today I would share with you the introduction to this marvelous, breathtaking book.  

 

I hope that once you absorb the introduction, it will compel you to read more and to buy a copy for yourself and for a friend! 

 

“Today is a Verb” 

 

What an extravagant honor is yours!  

 

You have been given the unsurpassed opportunity of choosing how you will live the days that have been allotted to you.  

 

Although we have not been given the over-sight to select the day we step from time into eternity, the power to transform time into a life that smacks of eternal delight has been bestowed upon us by our Creator. 

 

You are here today, in this measured space of time, to deliver the character of God and the atmosphere of heaven into a world that seems paralyzed by pain, division, and confusion.  

 

Today is not a mere twenty-four-hour period; it is the ability to partner with Christ in sculpting a life of eternal significance despite the ticking of a clock, the turning of a calendar page, or the wrinkles that inevitably appear on your skin. 

 

I can assure you that even in this space so far removed from the feast of heaven, you were created to embrace joy. 

 

You were divinely designed to be the receptacle and the distributor of the joy of the Lord.  

 

What a glorious assignment you have been given! 

 

Each remarkable day that you live and breathe on planet Earth, you have been commissioned to demonstrate the joy of heaven’s glory in the middle of Earth’s pain.  

 

The astounding miracle accompanying this incredible appointment is that we, as God’s children, have been allowed to carry a stunning characteristic of the Father in our human shells. 

 

Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in 

His place. —1 Chronicles 16:27 

 

Often the joy of heaven is lost in the haze of earthbound living because we are jaded by disappointments, bullied by discouragement, and distracted by frustrating people.  

 

This is precisely why we need an intentional plan.  

 

A well-thought-out plan enables us to embrace the joy for which we were made.  

 

We silently but passionately hunger for a blueprint that will allow us to wring the joy out of an ordinary day.  

 

Although we don’t often realize it or perhaps at times ignore it, the desperation that emotionally riles us is the deep desire to add purpose, enthusiasm, and delight to the recipe of today.  

 

Perhaps the answer lies in transforming today from a time period to an activity— from a noun to a verb.  

 

As you ponder this captivating possibility, maybe you would also consider making these statements of resolve: 

 

I will no longer tolerate today but I will participate in today. 

 

Today will no longer happen to me but I will happen to today. 

 

I refuse to merely endure today but I will enthusiastically splash today all over the gray areas of my heart. 

 

I will today joyfully and fully. 

 

I was made for today-ing! 

 

We require a strategic plan that will recapture the perpetual and splendid joy for which we were divinely created.  

 

If you have been thirsty for a joy that is foreign to your personality and seems to be only a mirage in the desert of life, I hope this scintillating philosophy will stir up what has been lacking in your life.  Perhaps, with me, you would be brave enough to determine to take at least one vibrant step toward the life for which you have been aching. 

 

If pain has invaded your soul and trauma has deeply injured your heart, you are not excluded from this vibrant lifestyle.  

 

The decision to embrace a twenty-four-hour time period in its fullness is especially for you who have been wounded by circumstances and harassed by adversity. 

 

I have spent many long years in the cave of depression; the anguish of personal suffering has threatened to suffocate me many times.  

 

However, I have discovered the pathway through sorrow is often made easier when I quietly but courageously today my way through life. 

 

Rather than viewing pain as an obstacle to joy and therefore to abundant life, what if we viewed the unwelcome guest as an invitation to know Him more intimately?  

 

What if the troubles that formerly terrified were miraculously transformed into an avenue that led us toward Christ?  

 

I have come to believe that while joy does not deny sadness, it can often heal my heartbreak. 

 

As you know by now, I have this inner inkling that the word today should be a verb rather than a noun.  

 

As I settle upon the difference this unique belief creates in my understanding of the meaning of the word today, I remind myself to participate in these actions: 

 

I must today with my whole heart. 

 

I must today enthusiastically and enjoy the treasure that it holds. 

 

I must today in moments of quietude rather than reflect upon the memory of yesterday. 

 

I must choose to today even when my heart longs to sweetly rustle through the memory book of my heart. 

 

I must choose to today when my worries about tomorrow gather in stormy clouds and obscure my view of the future. 

 

May I just suggest that reclassification is necessary in our minds and in our hearts?  

 

Would you be willing to determine as I have that today is no longer a mundane noun, but a sparkling and demonstrative verb?  

 

Would you consider the option of investing yourself in making this day memorable and even celebratory?  

 

Would you roll up your sleeves and partner with God, whose very nature is joy, in establishing a life that invites others into your profound bounty of hope, generosity, and grace? 

 

Would you respond to His delight and determine to today your way through life? 

 

I can’t respond for you, but I can encourage you, coach you, and even push you toward this dimension of godly living that is not for the faint of heart but for all of those who have determined their lives will smack of the atmosphere of heaven. 

 

Behold, this is the joy of His way; and out of the dust others will 

spring. —Job 8:1924  

˙ 

The glory of God is the living man, and the life of man is 

the vision of God. 

—Saint Irenaeus 

 

Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!   

Sharing Family Stories and Inspiration with Johanna Janssen

Johanna Janssen was born in southern Ontario among rolling vineyards, fragrant orchards and strawberry patches, where in winter, the sunlight glints off the snow. Before this, her parents left the shores of the Netherlands, boarded the S.S. Waterman with three young children for Halifax harbor, leaving family, friends and most of their belongings behind. Johanna, now a retired nurse, writes inspirational fiction that fights for joy in the dark pages of history. The passing down of faith, of core values, throughout the generations and how that looks through fiction, inspires her work, which is loosely based on her parents’ journey through WW2 that eventually led them to Canada. The faith those early settlers took with them across the waters to the new land is what kept them. That same faith now inspires Johanna’s writing.

Connect with Johanna at https://johannajanssen.com/

Carol McLeod
Carol says, “I am just a girl who is head over heels in love with Jesus ... passionately addicted to His Word ... and find all of the joy that I need in time spent in His presence." Carol is a Christmas-aholic, loves ACC basketball and the beach! Like all menopausal women, she is overly fond of chocolate and enjoys a good read. She doesn't like cleaning her house and is an expert in carry-out dinners. She hates to shop … loves to jog … and somehow finds time in her busy life to hang out with small children. She is the kind of woman that you could laugh with over lunch, cry with over disappointment and shout with over a victory! But … if you need her official bio … read on! Carol is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. She also hosts highly successful Just Joy! outreaches. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren! Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren!
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Today Is a Verb: Choose