One Thousand Gifts is written by Ann Voscamp. It’s her journey to find joy in her life today, even though the tragic death of her younger sister still haunted her. My favorite part of the book is when she talks about how Jesus “gave thanks” for the bread before breaking it and sharing it with His disciples during the Last Supper.(Luke 22:19) Jesus knew he was going to his death soon and yet he was thankful! Ann shares that the Greek word for “he gave thanks” is eucharisteo. “The root word for eucharisteo is charis, meaning “grace.” Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks.” (p.32)
“But there is more…eucharisteo… also holds charis’ derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning “joy.”(p. 32) “So then as long as thanks is possible then joy is always possible.”(p. 33) Hebrew Chapter 12 verse 2 says:
“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Even though Jesus was under great strain knowing that he would suffer a very painful death, He also knew that everything would come fabulously right in the end. This inspires me to try to imitate Christ by being thankful, because I know that I will please Him when I do.
Ann talks about being thankful for the little things in life, like the way the sunlight makes rainbows in soap bubbles. She discusses being thankful for the messy things in life, like when a window gets broken by roughhousing children, but no one gets hurt. She also covers death and pain and what she is learning about acceptance of these things as gifts from God’s hand. She encourages us to keep a running list of God’s blessings. This book opened my eyes to God’s gifts all around me and enabled me to be more aware of His presence throughout my days. I would strongly encourage you to read One Thousand Gifts.
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Till next time, Kathy
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