joy-fueled

Family
30 Day Challenge

THE SECRET TO A
JOYFUL COMMUNITY

"If joy can give us emotional

Joy means someone is glad to be with you no
matter what. It is the sensation you get that
makes your face light up when you see

resilience and motivate us to

someone you love. It is laughter and giggles,
smiles, and hugs.

endure suffering well,

However, Joy is also being glad to be together
even when we are sad and grieving, or angry

wouldn't you want to

and hurting. It is the ability to look into
someone’s eyes, see their pain and yet, still
want to be there. It is quietly sitting together

cultivate it?"
when there are no words, or hugging when there
are tears.

Joy not only makes us resilient, it can also TONI DANIELS

motivate us to suffer well on behalf of others. It
is so powerful that it was the very motivation that
gave Jesus the strength to endure the cross
(Hebrews 12:2). He was so driven by being in Check in
an intimate relationship with God and us again,
that He willingly faced incredible suffering.

If joy can give us emotional resilience and Listen

motivate us to endure suffering well, wouldn’t
you want to cultivate it in your community? The
good news is our brains are never beyond
growing and changing, and we can nurture and
Repeat Daily
grow joy in our relationships!
HOW TO
GROW JOY
Church of Two

The most fascinating finding in all the joy

research is that shown by an infant with its
parents: joy is grown principally in twos and
threes, being passed on through eye contact
and non-verbal communication!
Most church groups, however, meet in groups
larger than two or three, and as a result, they, by
nature, are too big and meet too infrequently to
build consistent joy within the individuals. People
need to practice building joy as close to daily as
possible. LK10 gives people a smaller model for
training themselves in how to be church with their
families and church communities. We call it
“Church of Two (CO2)”, or” Church of Few”,
because, to practice the skills of heart-to-heart
connection with others and with God, we have to
practice as close to daily as possible with at least
one other person.
The two core practices we share in our CO2,
checking in and listening, help us connect heart-
to-heart with each other and with God together.
It is challenging because many times it is not
emotionally safe to share. People tell us why
we should not feel that way, try to teach us the
“truth”, or worse, laugh or make fun of us. It is
important to have someone in your life who is
safe enough to just listen and be glad to be
with you without needing to change you, fix
you, or correct you. Correction and helping
best come once we feel seen, validated,
attuned with and loved.
If our emotions are too big, however, we may
avoid them for fear of getting lost in them. This
is why we follow checking-in with listening to
God. In sensing God’s presence, we draw on
His joy strength. Listening also allows us to let
go of needing to fix, correct or counsel one
another because we trust that God will do that
as we listen.

Checking in

Checking-in means noticing our emotions and

naming them. Once we name what we are feeling
it allows us to share with others. When someone
is glad to be with us no matter what we are
feeling, we gain joy strength, our problems seem When someone is glad to be
smaller, and we know we are not alone. But all of with us no matter what we
that begins by being honest about what we are
truly feeling, and for many Christians that is a
are feeling, we gain joy
challenge. strength, our problems seem
smaller, and we know we are
not alone.
Listening

JOY IS THE
FOUNDATION FOR A
SECURE BOND WITH
GOD...
...not information. Just like we form an emotional
attachment to our parents before we even know
them, through non-verbal activities such as
smiling, laughing, feeding, snuggling, we bond
with God though non-verbal, non-intellectual time
receiving from Him.
Can you imagine what families would be like if
This is why our CO2s, after checking in, practice everyone truly felt glad to be together?
listening to God together. During three to five
minutes of silence, we ask God “How do you If everyone could sense God’s presence and
feel about being with me/us today?” find the daily comfort and guidance needed?

This question hits at the root of our identity and
calls us back to our relationship as beloved
children of God and keeps us from trying to forge
into mission or problem solving pre-maturely. We
desperately want to know what to do to solve our
problems, but first we need to viscerally know and
experience that we are not alone and that we are
loved.
It is out of knowing how God feels about us that
we move to the second question where creativity
flows: Is there anything you want me/us to
know today?
How would a conventional church be different if
every single family attending were practicing
and growing joy and listening in their own home
first and foremost?
How would we approach the workplace
differently if we knew that creating joy among
our colleagues not only increases creativity,
productivity, and resilience but also paves the
way for someone to feel God’s enjoyment of
them?

The concept of two people practicing two rhythms Check in

as close to daily as possible is so radical and
successful because it is intentionally creating,
practicing, and building “being glad to be together
no matter what”, this is a skill many of us have Listen
lost or never learned. While a larger community
can create a much-needed group identity, joy
begins with two people. And the possibiites that
come from building joy together have no bounds,
Repeat Daily
because the power of joy is limitless!
Joy-Fueled Family
30 Day Challenge
1. Who will you invite to take part? Maybe your spouse and
kids can join you...or maybe your best friend or
roommate. Whoever your “family” is, invite them to
become more joy-fueled with you during the next 30 days.
2. When will you connect? Many families can connect
around dinner or before bed. Some, however, are on the
go so much that they use video chat apps like Marco Polo
to share their check-in and listening. Talk about it with
your Church of Few and decide when and how this could
work for you.
3. What will it look like for you? While you will do two
exercises, 1) checking-in heart to heart and 2) listening to
God together, that can look very different for different
situations. Suggestions and resources below

LET US KNOW WHEN

YOU BEGIN!
Tag us on Facebook @The LK10 Community

#joyfueledfamily or #JFF

START THE CHALLENGE TODAY!

 "...the power of joy is limitless!"
MORE
Checking- in TRAINING
Want to join a group to practice these skills
Some groups check-in with their top three emojis! They may show
with a coach? LK10 offers a five-week

the emoji by drawing it or making the emoji with their own face. course called Church 101 where you can

This is particularly fun if you are checking in with children. explore these topics more in depth on a

Others check-in using the acronym: SASHET as a prompt for weekly zoom call with others who are

feeling words: Sad, Angry, Scared, Happy, Excited, Tender. “I am growing joy. Click here to attend a 90-

feeling sad, excited and angry. Sad because… Excited minute Introductory Zoom call where you

will have the chance to experience this

because… And angry because…”
type of community and learn more about
How ever you check-in, take about 2 minutes a turn until
Church 101.
everyone has shared.

STORIES
Listening FROM THE
REVOLUTION
Some families take a few minutes of silence to write down any
John White shares the scriptural
spontaneous sensations, images, feelings or thoughts that
underpinnings of this Joy-Fueled
come. Then afterward, they discern together what seemed like
movement and then interviews people
it was from God versus what might have just been their own
from around the world implementing our
thoughts. Other families take 15 to 20 minutes and listen
practices in their various ministries,
through drawing, painting, building with blocks, etc. Find what
churches and culture contexts.

works best for your Church of Few given the time you have. Listen Now

JOY
FUELED
This revolutionary, yet practical book

seeks to ignite a movement of vibrant

communities of Jesus by delivering three

simple practices that inspire hope, build

resilience, foster mature relationships

and catalyze a self-propagating

revolution of joy. Go to the book!

C.O.F.F.E.E.
Church Of Few For Everyone Everywhere!

Fun Brochure detailing Checking and

Listening in groups of two or more!

Download Here