One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voskamp
reviewed by Linda, a homeschooling mother of ten
She’s written some fine geography books. And I’ve read her blog for several years. And now…this.
From reading her blog, I already held a high regard for this dear woman. So often, I’ve read something she’s wrestled with and thought, “Was she talking about HER breakfast table or MINE this morning?” She invites the reader in, but never to only commiserate…to walk together the journey of sanctification.
She’s done that in spades with “1,000 Gifts”. Yes, it’s a lesson in gratitude, but it’s no formulaic system. Yes, she shares very hard things that have been hinderances to her own gratitude, but it’s so we can see the Lord’s redemption of it all! We walk with her through a year or so of the Lord opening her heart, her eyes, her understanding, to our need for gratitude…to thank the Lord for EVERYTHING. As she tells us about herself, I’m reading about me.
As she explores Scripture’s lessons and directions about giving thanks, she also unpacks her own misbeliefs. Guess what? They’re just like mine.
Reading 1,000 Gifts was a book-length experience comparable to a moment of conviction I experienced several years ago. Words came out of my own mouth that cut me to the quick, revealing the selfishness in my heart. I remember physically wilting with the realization of my sinful thinking. Ann’s words here similarly unwrap our assumptions and implications of thoughts I hadn’t even fully formed until I read them on her pages.
Read slowly, read carefully. Be ready to unfold your soul. And, thank you, Ann.