One Thousand Gifts

Friday was hard.  It was hard for about a dozen different reasons, but nevertheless, it was hard.  I made it through somehow to nap time, and then I was left with my thoughts.

For a minute, I kind of just wandered around - not sure what to do.  Should I eat my troubles away? No, that wasn't the answer.  Should I throw on the TV?  I just really didn't think distraction would cut it.  It was so quiet in the house.  The quiet felt good.

My soul was empty and I was needing a refueling somehow.

I walked outside.  Outside is always good for me.  It was a beautiful day.  I did what I always do - check the mail.  There's really not much else to do out there to "look busy".  Otherwise, I'm just some strange homemaker standing out in her driveway.

And there it was - a little something for my soul - a package of books I'd been waiting and hoping for.  It couldn't have come at a better time.  In it was One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.

Over the months, I'd heard a lot about this book.  But I'm not one (at all) to jump on the latest fad book bandwagon.  But when it was recommended on this blog, I knew I had to pick it up.

And miracle of all miracles it came on this day.  A day of tears.  A day of sadness.  A day of desperation.

It was only one o'clock, but I grabbed a wine glass, poured some plum wine and headed outside.  I dragged my comfiest chair out onto my front porch and didn't really care what I looked like to the passerby.

I read the first chapter...I cried.

I kept reading.

Slowly, bit by bit, a weight seemed to lift off of my heart.  The weight of my sorrows, of other's sorrows, of a broken world, slowly lifted until I felt like I could once again breathe.

One thousand gifts.  What a picture.  God's gifts in the everyday, in the common...in the sadness.

The real problem in life - in my life - is lack of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving creates abundance; and the miracle of multiplying happens when I give thanks - take the just one loaf, say it is enough, and give thanks - and He miraculously makes it more than enough.  I have beheld suds in the sun, and I have known miracles like that. ~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

It is enough.  What I have is enough.  Who I am is enough. 

There are gifts waiting to be unwrapped right where I am - I don't have to seek them out, they are there in front of me if only my eyes could see them for what they are - God's blessings.

The sunshine as I read.

The cool, crisp taste of the wine.

A conversation with a friend.

My favorite song comes on the radio.

Hearing the wind as I fall asleep.

The smell of popcorn filling the house.

The excitement of my boys in anticipation of movie night.

Relaxation from a hot shower.

It is enough and it is abundant - His gifts.