"One Thousand Gifts"

Several months ago a friend recommended that I read "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. As I read the back cover of the book I saw that this book "beckons me to leave the parched ground of pride, fear, and white-knuckle control and abandon myself to the God who overflows my cup. The author invites you to intentionally embrace a lifestyle of radical gratitude; and slow down and catch God in the moment."

As I started to read through this book, I quickly realized that I often see what is NOT in my life instead of seeing all of the things that ARE in my life. Too often, I live a life of ingratitude. I saw my need to adjust how I look at life.

The author started to make a list of 1000 gifts she saw in her life. They included such simple things as "clean sheets smelling like the wind, hot oatmeal tasting like home, and bare toes in early light." Ann was seeing the things that are around her every day and she started to count them as gifts. She then encouraged the reader to count their gifts also.

Throughout the book, Ann opens up and shares some of the pain she so carefully hid deep inside herself. As she started to count gifts in her life, her whole outlook on life changed. Her friends and family saw Ann looking at life in a different way. She was seeing what God had given her and focused on those things instead of focusing on the things she had lost in life.

I must admit that I started to read this book and did not finish it right away. Ann writes in a poetic style that took me a while to get used to. I did start to read through the book again not long ago. While the writing style is still different than anything else I have read, when I get past the style of the book, the message is something my heart needs to hear. I need to look at life with a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude for all that I DO have in my life. I do truly have an abundance.

I have started to make my list of 1000 things I am thankful for. I have not gotten too far and I catch myself being ungrateful and negative at times. But when I remember my list and add something to what I have to be thankful for, my attitude changes and I again remember that God really is good all of the time. My circumstances may not change, but my heart changes. And, that is a gift in my life. I think that I will go add another gift or two or more to my list of the over 1000 gifts that I have to be thankful for.

Deb Riddell
Thrift Store Manager