One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Posted March 22, 2019 by Prairie Wife -

It’s lent.

In the past, I’ve given up shopping for 40 days, or done a decade of the rosary each night. This year I decided to up my reading game and every night, instead of reading a fun book, I’m delving into religious-themed books.

The first book I read was “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp and it was profoundly captivating.

Voskamp’s writing is lyrical and beautiful, it was nothing like what I expected. I was prepared for an essay style book talking about living fully, trusting in God. Maybe a few poignant personal stories that I would connect with.

Instead, I was weeping, getting out of bed to find a highlighter, rereading chapters (something I NEVER do) and staying up well past my bedtime to keep learning about the gift of God’s grace.

In this time of change for me, I find that my anxiety and sensitivity to others opinions is worse than I’ve experienced in years. Voskamp wrote…

“All fear is but the notion that God’s love ends…Fear thinks God is finite and fear believes that there is not going to be enough…In [God], blessings never end because [His] love for you never ends…As long as there is a God in heaven, there is grace on earth.”

Voskamp is a working mother of 6 children living in rural Canada. There were so many things about her courageously shown thoughts, the fears, the drudgery, the questions…that mirrored my own thoughts over the years.

Of motherhood, Voskamp writes “I give happy thanks for the daily mess with a smile a mile wide, because this is again my chance to wholeheartedly serve God…Here I can become the blessing, a little life that multiplies joy, making the larger world a better place.”

I could keep going and going with how profoundly I was affected by her raw descriptions of life and death and daily struggles.

Instead, I’m going to tell you to purchase this book and devour it.

It’s the food your soul needs.

“Thankfully, God never gives what is deserved, but instead, God graciously, passionately offers gifts, our bodies, our time, our very lives.”

Categories: Book Reviews, Reviews

Tags: , ann voskamp, grace, inspiration, Lent, one thousand gifts, religious books