I am practicing thankfulness.
One Thousand Gifts…
Gratefulness.
Eucharisteo.
An ongoing life of grace.
Being content in all things.
Being thankful for the giving and the taking away.
When my eldest girl gets fired from her piano lessons for lack of practicing and other circumstances…I am still thankful. He knows our path. And He knows hers. Perhaps she won’t grow up to be the church piano lady after all.
When our planning and scrambling for a big sale doesn’t provide the results we’d hoped for…I praise Him and I am grateful that I tried and learned anyway and perhaps planted seeds in hearts for essential oils over allopathic medicine.
When I lose the sapphire sparkly ring that is worth two months’ salary and all a man’s love…I pray and praise Him anyway. He knows where it is. He’s not panicking like I am.
And then I praise Him even more when my husband finds it in the bathtub where I had been scrubbing out humidifiers for sniffly kids the night before. He was never even mad.
When I snap at the kids and haven’t even showered by dinner and we scramble to clean up the messy house instead of doing what’s more important…I am grateful for their grace and His.
When I forget deadlines and my husband reminds me and I get frustrated and irritable and he is understanding but I won’t forgive myself…I am grateful for his example and leadership and God’s forgiveness.
When the laptop dies for no reason after only a year and I forget it’s a luxury and I cry “unfair!” like the spoiled child I am…I am grateful for the desktop and iPads and I seek His forgiveness.
When my eldest daughter asks hard questions about gratitude that I don’t feel qualified to answer and I stumble over words…I am grateful that He is Truth and will fill in the blanks for her.
When family is bitter and selfish…I know I have loving friends and I am adopted by Christ…I am grateful.
When my children teach me love and grace and mercy in their love for others…I am grateful for the lessons.
I was dared to live fully.
Right where I am.
Then I read Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts.
We need to slow down. And notice. And give thanks.
“That in Christ, the most urgent necessitates a slow and steady reverence…The slower the living, the greater the sense of fullness and satisfaction” (74, 76).
I met Ann at the Allume conference. We talked homeschool. And mothering. We hugged. We smiled. We commiserated. For a moment. We Instagrammed.
I love how she introduces herself: “A pig farmer’s wife. A mom.”
She seems humble.
I am not impressed by celebrity. Especially Christian celebrity.
I dare you too.
The book One Thousand Gifts is innovative. It follows Ann’s transition from seeking meaning to everyday gratefulness in the ordinary.
I can overlook the mysticism and romanticism and pantheism in this book. It reminds me of the Transcendentalist poetry from Whitman and his contemporaries.
It’s certainly not gospel. It’s not from the Bible. The writing is very poetic and I can get past some of the literary elements that rub me the wrong way. Some of the sensual imagery is hard to handle.
The idea of gratefulness is a good message.
Gratefulness doesn’t save us. Don’t mistake this book for gospel. Only Christ saves. It is nothing we can do for ourselves.
Buy the book on Amazon. $9.78 on Kindle or $11.28 hardcover.
I loved One Thousand Gifts, too! I was convicted that I didn’t thank God enough in my life, and now I actively seek to thank God for things throughout the day.