Book Review: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

I just finished reading one of the most amazing books. I had heard people talking about One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for awhile, and this summer my aunt asked me if I had read it. She then sent it to me, which was so nice! I picked it up and started it, but it was a slow start to get into the habit of reading again, and finding the time to really get into a book. I'm so glad I decided to bring my book with me on our recent trip. Since there were so many hours in the car, and I happened to not get too carsick to read, I had plenty of time to finish my book! I have to say, I haven't read too many books since having kids! In fact, I have never been a huge reader, so the ones I have read are all big accomplishments! Ha!
So, the book. Oh my, where to start. It's about a dare that the author received to start recording 1,000 gifts, or blessings, or things she was thankful for. She did it because it was a dare. I love how she starts the book in being completely raw and honest about her doubts in her relationship with God. Doubting His goodness. Doubting His plan for her life. Her pain. His choices. Other people's pain. I totally relate to people when they expose themselves and their true feelings and hurts and even their ugly thoughts and feelings. It makes people seem more real. Like they are like me. And it was the very thing that has been between me and God lately, I think. That doubting His goodness in the face of pain. Or other people's pain. The pain around the world. The fear of pain. The fear of loss.
But as she starts to record these blessings, these little ounces of gratitude for things so small and usually unnoticed, her heart starts to change, and the depth of her love and understand of God go to unmeasured depths as it opens up so many theological levels in her relationship with God. She goes beyond 1,000 gifts because the fruit of it is so rewarding and she sees God in a way she hasn't before.

"The act of sacrificing thank offerings to God - even for the bread and cup of cost, for cancer and crucifixion - this prepares the way for God to show us His fullest salvation from bitter, angry, resentful lives and from all sin that estranges us from Him."

I love that it's written by a stay-at-home mother of six who wants to find the deep things of God among the mundane, everyday life of laundry, cooking, cleaning, raising kids, and even the rough patches of breaking up fights, fearing for their farm, and hard things that come their way. She is real. She is honest. She is human and her realness along with her deep passion and thirst for her relationship with God is inspiring.

"I make soup and I bake bread and I know my supreme need is joy in God and I know I can't experience deep joy in God until I deep trust in God. I shine sinks and polish through to the realization that trusting God is my most urgent need. If I deep trusted God in all the facets of my life, wouldn't that deep heal my anxiety, my self-condemnation, my soul holes?"

I can find God among the little things. I can still trust Him in the "ugly-beautiful" things in life. Those things that Ann describes that are painful and hard but God uses them to shape us and continue to mold us and draw us closer to Himself. She even labels some of her "blessings" under "ugly-beautiful." That we would be thankful for all things.

"I walk in our back door to candlelight still flickering, hang the keys on the hook, and look around at the steep mountain of laundry there in the mudroom, the shoes scattered, a coat dropped. The mudroom sink is grime ringed. Fingerprints smear across the mirror. I laugh the happiest wonder. In the afternoon's drizzle, I give happy thanks for the daily mess with a smile a mile wide, because this is again my chance to wholeheartedly serve God, to do full-bodied eucharisteo with the hands and the heart and the lips. I can count each task a gift, pure eucharisteo. Grace! This work-the thousand endless jobs-they each give the opportunity for one to become the gift, a thousand times over!Because with every one of the thousand, endless jobs, I become the gift to God and to others because this work is the public God serving, the daily liturgy of thanks, the completing of the Communion service with my service."

(I know that was such a long quote, but it is one of the ones I want to remember. I live my days in the mundane. I get so frustrated by the endless messes and my list that never ends. And when it might seem to be nearing the end, it is the same list on repeat the next day. It is tiring and overwhelming. I so needed this encouragement to be the blessing to others and to let it create joy in me in God. And I try to remember when I wasn't well enough to take care of my home when I was pregnant and extremely sick. If I didn't have my health, I would be wishing for the ability to do those one thousand endless tasks!!!)
 
I was also challenged in her naming the smallest of things to be thankful for. When I think of gratitude, I think of my husband's job, our house, our 3 beautiful, healthy children, our health, food to eat, a warm home. But she goes beyond those things and finds beauty in the smallest of things in her life, and it causes her to see the depth of God's love for us and how He blesses us constantly with all things to enjoy. We just have to stop and slow down enough to notice.
And then, as she learns to be grateful constantly, without ceasing, she also realizes that we are to bless others and be the blessing that God has been to us. To serve without limits. To pour out, to empty, to be filled again beyond measure. It really is such a beautiful book. And completely the opposite of how the world tells us to live. 

"Spend the whole of your one wild and beautiful life investing in many lives, and God simply will not be outdone. God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we yearn for: Joy in Him."

So, if you haven't read this book, it's time you picked it up! I will shortly be passing it onto another lady in our church, and encouraging other people to read it. It will change your perspective, and it has already begun to soften my heart and change me. I have started my 1,000 gift list, and I hope to be changed and softened and brought to deep joy in the God who loves me so much more than I can imagine. He is the reason we live. To Him be the glory.

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Tragedy: A Special Time to Point our Kids to God

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Click here for the video of the fire
Click here to read news article
Although many of you have heard via Facebook, not all of you have heard that our church, Calvary Chapel of Enid, Oklahoma burned down this past Thursday. It was an old building, and there were some renovations being done to it with a torch, and once the fire started, it was out of control within minutes. They are counting it a total loss, with only some things that could be recovered. The building will have to be demolished, and we will have to build somewhere else, or purchase another building.
Although this is sad news, and devastated many people in our congregation, we still serve a God who is in control!! The cool thing about all this is that I have gotten to talk to my 4 year old daughter, Maddy, about some pretty important things lately. Luckily, this is a tragedy without the loss of life, so even though we are sad that we lost our church building, our church body is still intact!! Our Pastor gave a beautiful message on Sunday, when we met at another location as we were hosted by another gracious church, reminding us that the church body is fine, strong, alive, and well!! Our building got destroyed, but the church is fine!!
Throughout the course of us finding out about the church, driving by the burning church as they were trying to put out the fire (it took hours and hours to put the fire out), and getting phone calls, Maddy was right there, taking it all in. It's interesting how a 4 year old's mind works. You can see the wheels in their head turning. I have to admit that the wheels in my head might have started turning in a negative way in lieu of what happened. But I found it strengthening my faith to have to simplify things and talk to Maddy about it all in simple, easy-to-understand terms. It was really encouraging to talk to her about how God is in control, that the fire didn't take Him by surprise, that the actual church is the people and not the building, and that God is going to take care of us and provide for us.
I know that people face real tragedy with loss of life and things much more grievous than a building burning down. But this is what we are dealing with now, and it was neat to be able to give perspective and hope to a 4 year old who was shaken by her first real encounter with something tragic and real to her.
Maddy was concerned about where we were gonna get extra money for a new building, if the "bench" that all the kids sat on was still there, if her class got burned, if the toys in her new class would be different, and more questions. It's definitely interesting to go through things with young children, because your concerns get minimized to a very simple level, and you have to help them learn how to think with a godly perspective and to help them understand what is going on and how to cope with it. It's a huge, daunting responsibility, but awesome as well! It helps you, as an adult, to think through the situation in a healthy, positive way. It really helped me to think positive and look towards God instead of worrying and being negative about it!!
This is just another example of how motherhood is a ministry. We have the privilege of getting down on our kids levels and showing them how to walk through life, but not only that, we get to share with them how they're not alone!! We can teach them how to have hope and faith at a very young age. And those moments remind us how much our roles count!! Keep pressing on and show your kids that God is on our side, and how that fits into their daily lives!!

God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:1-3, 10.