One Thousand Gifts

I have recently joined the Bloom (in)Courage book club. I've never been involved in a book club before, but it's something I have always been interested in. I absolutely love to read and when I saw that the February selection for the book club would be Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts, I knew this was the time for me to join. So I signed up, ordered my book and waited patiently for it to arrive. For those of you who have never heard of this book club, I strongly encourage you to check it out. Visit their website and it tells you all you need to know. Since this is my first month I definitely don't know all the details, but I do plan to blog about the book and the book club along the way..so you can learn with me!

I received my book in the mail earlier this week and oh my gosh I love it. I love her writing. I've read the first few chapters and I can already tell this book will change my life. If you haven't heard of the book, please go here and watch the trailer. You owe it to yourself. This book is like none I've read before. I am a very fast reader. It's nothing for me to finish a 400 page book in just a couple of days. But this is different. I was telling my husband this morning, this is a book that I read a page or two of and then I sit and think..and think..and pray. It's a book I want to savor. I want to stay fully immersed in it because I can feel it changing my heart. You just have to read it to understand.

From the inside of the book jacket of One Thousand Gifts, "As Voskamp discovered, in giving thanks for the life she already had, she found the life she'd always wanted". That is really the basis of the book. We can't fully grasp the goodness and the love of God until we live a life full of Thanksgiving. It challenges you to look at the gifts all around you. Look at the blessings God gives you each. and. every. single. day. Count them. Write them down. The longer your list grows, the more your faith will grow. As Voskamp writes many times, "Thanksgiving always precedes the miracle". Try it. See what happens.

I've taken the challenge and here starts my list...

1. Little laughs coming from downstairs.
2. Rainy mornings for sleeping in.
3. Open minds in our home, always willing to learn.


Please continue to check back to follow my journey to an emptier, fuller life. In the meantime, go here to read chapter one of this incredible book. I bet you'll be hooked!