One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp, 2010
If I HAVE to give you more than that, though, I'll just say that the basic premise of the book is an exploration of the word eucharisteo, which is the Greek word for "gave thanks" used in Matthew 26:26 (and other places) - "Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it..." What does that word mean, and what does it mean for our lives today? Our hard, messy, confusing, and unexplainable lives today. The title of the book comes from a challenge a friend gave to the author to write down a thousand ways God showed His love to her, and in recording those blessings, gifts large and small, she learned that this very act may be the secret to contentment, joy, peace in a life that we don't always understand. Gratitude. For all things. Because ALL things God gives are an extension of His grace.
Wow, this is such a deep thing, and difficult to shift to that way of thinking. It took me a few months to finish this book because I'd get distracted by circumstances. I didn't FEEL like viewing all things as a gift. But I believe there's grace even in that - this is a journey, not a one-time choice. It's about every day, making a choice to give thanks, accept God's gifts as expressions of His unending love. So I'm keeping my own gratitude journal... I don't write in it every day, but I am definitely already seeing the difference the choice to give thanks can make in my attitude, my intimacy with God, the way I feel about life.
So I really encourage you to read it. It will change you if you let it. Here's the author's video introduction to the book:
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