The most incredible, most AMAZING and easily the best, most soul-shattering book I have ever read. Seriously, I keep a stack of my favorite books on my nightstand so I can regularly open to them when I am in need of a good nugget of truth, hope, joy... The Shack tops the stack with The Kite Runner underneath it. Then The Atonement Child, by Francine Rivers. I just sandwiched One Thousand Gifts in between The Shack and The Kite Runner. All of those books impacted me in an incredibly positive way, changing my life somehow. One Thousand Gifts was such a blessing to read (a gift in itself!) and I have to share why.
I started reading on April 5, posting a comment on Facebook that said, "One chapter in to One Thousand Gifts by Voskamp and I am hooked. What magnetic honesty!" She hooked me in the first chapter with her beautifully moving style of writing and the words she chose to explain the scars of her past. I scribbled in the margin on the fourth page "I love her questions," as she asks, "where hides this joy of the Lord, this God who fills the earth with good things, and how do I fully live when life is full of hurt? How do I wake up to joy and grace and beauty and all that is the fullest life when I must stay numb to losses and crushed dreams and all that empties me out?"
So many times we are AFRAID to ask God those questions, to give life to the darkness that threatens to take us over. In FOUR PAGES OF WRITING, this woman had penetrated my soul by baring hers. I quickly realized this wasn't just any book, and I wasn't exactly prepared to be a spectator of the journey she goes on in accepting the challenge of a friend to thank the Lord for one thousand blessings in her life. I didn't realize that she would be breaking down walls for me and inviting me to join her in counting a thousand blessings. But as I kept reading, her words continued to ring true and strike chords in my heart:
"Only the Word is the answer to rightly reading the world, because The Word has nail-scarred hands that cup our face close, wipe away the tears running down, has eyes to look deep into our brimming ache, and whisper "I know. I KNOW."
"I won't shield God from my anguish..I can cry..and He embraces the David-hearts who pound hard on His heart with their grief and I can moan deep that He did this..And I can hear Him soothe soft, "Are your ways My ways?..Can you eat My manna, sustain on My mystery? Can you believe that I tenderly, tirelessly work all for the best good of the whole world- because My flame of love for you can never, ever be quenched?"
"Perhaps the opposite of faith is not doubt. Perhaps the opposite of faith is fear. To lack faith perhaps isn't as much an intellectual disbelief in the existence of God as fear and distrust that there is a good God. If I don't emotionally believe, practically believe, in the goodness of God, am I a believer? Don't the believers have to believe? Don't the saved have to trust the Savior?"
"Joy is a flame that glimmers only in the palm of the open and humble hand..Humbly let go. let go of trying to do, let go of trying to control. Let go of my own way, let go of my own fears. Let God blow His wind, His trials, oxygen for joy's fire. Leave the hand open and be. Be at peace. Bend the knee and be small and let God give what God chooses to give because He only gives love and whisper surprised thanks."
I mark up all my books. Much like my Bible, if I am reading and something strikes me, I will underline it so I can find it again, or simply use the space in the margins to write out everything that I'm thinking. I've always done that, and it's the reason why I hate to borrow books from people, because I can't get into a borrowed book the way I can one that I own and have the freedom to mark all over. THIS BOOK is completely marked up. All over! I have underlined, circled, written in the margins, used the space at the end of each chapter as my own personal diary... I have definitely left my mark on my copy. In turn, Ann Voskamp has left her mark on me. I am deeply grateful to her for writing this masterpiece. I love to write, but I could never, ever touch what she's done here. Just by sharing her story and looking deeply enough into it to see where God was and what He was up to, she carves a path for the rest of us to do the same.
I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of this book and give it a shot. I plan to start giving them away as gifts for every occasion! Additionally, you should take the 1000 Gift challenge. I started mine when I was halfway through the book, and made it to 25 things in about five minutes. Here are a few from my list:
1) snores awakening me to another day
5) the more I bear my soul, my true self, the more accepted I am and the closer we are
6) the dials all turned exactly right to support life on this planet: air to breathe, sun to warm, firm ground to walk on, food to nourish, water to quench
9) the crisp binding of a never-before-opened book
10) the smell of a many-times-opened old book with yellowed pages
13) being known and understood
14) my husband on his way home to me
19) the fact that God does not leave us in our mess but comes down, gets in our face and SHOWS US THE WAY OUT!
21) the time to count blessings
I don't sit down and make myself add to my list at any certain part of the day. I keep it on my nightstand, next to my stack of books, and when I think of something I write it down. Sometimes I write down one or two things, sometimes I will write twenty. It is an neat exercise, and I pray that it helps me make counting my blessings a habit instead of an every-now-and-then kind of thing. I pray that it changes my life the same way it changed Ann's and so many others who have read One Thousand Gifts!
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From the Publisher
Acclaim for One Thousand Gifts
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Philip Yancey, bestselling author“…. So many writers of faith do not do the hard work of literary incarnation: expressing spiritual truth in the material world of daily life. Ann Voskamp does this brilliantly.” |
Lysa TerKeurst, bestselling author“Ann Voskamp is truly one of the most gifted writers I have ever read. If you want a book that will challenge you and mess with you in the most beautiful of ways, this is it. And you won’t just read it and put it away. You will return to this treasure for years to come.” |
Mary Demuth, author“…a book destined to become a classic, the sort of book you dog ear and re-read for the sheer joy of cherishing the words and experiencing the depth of the heart that wrote it.” |
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| One Thousand Gifts Book | One Thousand Gifts 10th Anniversary Edition | Study Guide | Study Guide with DVD | Devotional | |
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An Unexpected Delight
I am much indebted to Ann Voskamp, author of 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴, whose work has encouraged me as a Christian and vastly inspired me as a writer.I must confess that I approached her book with some skepticism, because I generally don’t like stories that are written in first person present tense. But I was only a few pages into it when I realized that here was a beautiful exception. Her writing is intimate, daring and full of raw energy, which often had me on the edge of tears. And sometimes over the edge.𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 is a true-life account of a woman’s struggle to find joy—𝘦𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘰—is the midst of her everyday life as a wife, mother and keeper of the farmhouse. She poses a question that is fundamental to us all—how do we find beauty in the midst of our humdrum chores, grace in the day of trouble, joy in the face of injury and death?Ann determines to keep a daily journal, listing a thousand gifts that have heretofore gone unnoticed, unthanked, unenjoyed in the soul-numbing bustle of life.“𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑓𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑠𝑢𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑓 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑…”This woman has learned how to see. And having seen, to inspire us with her words. I might have picked a dozen passages to quote here, but this one is fresh in mind: “𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑚 𝐼 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡? 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑒. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠. 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑙𝑒? 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑒-𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒? "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑠, 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑘𝑦, 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒. "𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑’𝑠 𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒, 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ’𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑚, 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒, 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑙𝑦-𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛? "𝐼 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ. 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑.”Thank you, Ann, for giving me eyes to see what I so often overlook. For inspiring me to probe my heart and write a little deeper. — Don Best, author of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮
Top reviews from other countries
Madhat1026
Beautiful, emotive and inspiring book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2017