a new "series" of sorts

There's a book out right now that I bandwagon-ed a little late on, so forgive me if I'm like 10 years behind the eight ball.

The book is called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Ever heard of it?

image from the author's site

After this book was handed down to me from my mom-in-law, and recommended by two or three friends, I finally decided two months later that I'd start reading it. I think if a book is recommended that I know nothing about, I'm kind of like "yeah, whatever." But as soon as I heard more about this one, my ears perked up.

It was November, nearing Thanksgiving and I was feeling a little jaded. When I learned this book was about learning how to be thankful for all of the truly beautiful moments in life, I knew I needed it.

The concept of the book revolves around the term eucharisteo, which when translated from the Greek is a deep thanksgiving consisting of both grace and joy. It's the kind of thanks that Christ gave at the table for the Last Supper. Voskamp calls it the central symbol of Christianity. Eucharisteo is a type of thanks that we should give whenever we can, for everything. Voskamp encourages readers to try and foster this spirit of thanksgiving throughout all of the seemingly insignificant and mundane things in life, to experience a true and lasting joy that only Christ can bring.

She does this by accepting a challenge to keep a record
of 1,000 gifts - the small and the simple things that bring her joy.

Overall, I think I'm liking it so far. I'm only a few chapters in, but I've already been able to delight in 363 gifts she's shared, like "hot oatmeal tasting like home" (55). There are some things that are annoying - like the inordinate amount of sentence fragments. I understand adding the dramatic effect from time to time, but it can be over the top.

Aside from that though, her writing can also be so vivid and raw. She'll come out with things like, "Yellow marbleizes into indigo dark" to describe nightfall - and I do appreciate illustrations like that (69).

So as I continue reading, I've decided that I'm going to start documenting my own "thankfulnesses" to help me further connect with her goal in experiencing eucharisteo. No matter how outwardly trivial these small joys may feel, she encourages readers to live more fully in the moment by taking the time to experience the joy in everything. What a valuable lesson in slowing life down. I'll be tagging my little joys as "gifts".

So even though my dear Patriots royally blew it last night, there are still many reasons to give thanks.
Absolutely no promises that I'll make it to one thousand, but here goes:

warm towels out of the shower.

They remind me that I'm blessed to have clean textiles
and the running water that millions don't have access to.


Happy Monday, friends. Give thanks on this day.
And remember, pitchers and catchers report for spring training soon.
Go Red Sox!