One Thousand Gifts

"If you want to change the world, pick up your pen." ~Martin Luther

#1 Fetal movement.

Well, that was easy. It's daunting at first, the thought of writing down one thousand things I love and am thankful for. I pen the first thing that comes to mind. Not surprising since the sporadic kicks and jabs of an infant ready to emerge are more impossible to ignore than the light at the end of the tunnel. But, what a way to being my list. I look at that simple statement of thanks and wonder at it. Despite all the pain and discomfort it causes me, could it really be a blessing? The miracle of new life inside, begging to meet me face to face! Wow. This list could be really amazing.

#46 Morning in the baby's east-facing bedroom.
#51 Welcome home kisses.

When I was first given the idea of the list, I had not read Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts. Now I'm reading it, and I recommend it to you. It's life-changing. She has a way of wrapping her captive audience up in her life so completely that there's no choice but to laugh with her joy and weep with her pain. She communicates truth so clearly and simply that one can't help but resolve to walk away and sin no more. There is so much comfort and challenge in what she has to say.

#56 A stubborn carnation growing, blooming through the frost.

Any speed seems like crawling from one to one thousand, but I feel like I'm growing by leaps and bounds.
I'm so amazed by the life lessons we can receive from such seemingly insignificant, everyday occurrences.
I look at #116: hot fresh bread slathered in butter and honey. The whole life of a loaf. The mixing of all the ingredients; just the right amount of yeast to grow, enhancer to strengthen, honey to sweeten, flour to sustain, oil to soften, salt to enrich, and water helping it all make sense. It is kneaded to just the right strength and elasticity and then put into the oven, the refining fire. The bread of Christian life, well spread with the bitter-sweetness of the Lord giving and taking away.  If we withdraw and keep to ourselves, we become rancid and moldy, a curse. The taste of our lives is undesirable. But to give ourselves up for the benefit of others and allow the work the Lord has done in us to work in others, they are sustained by our selflessness and we are satisfied. And all I did was make bread.

#118 Apple butter season.

Imagine someone gives you a gift, and you receive it without giving any sign of your gratitude toward it, or better yet, not feeling anything at all and unashamedly passing it by. Now see yourself walking down the street and not stopping to hear the birds sing, or breathe the fresh air, or admire the patterns the sun makes on the grass as it dances through the trees. Gifts. How could you?! Be ashamed. I know I am.

#84 Ruby red grapefruit.

One thousand things to love. One thousand ways to pray. One thousand means to joy. One thousand details to finally be noticed and acknowledged and treasured. So start writing. You'll surprise yourself with the ease with which you find things to be thankful for. In fact, I'm now convinced that one thousand won't cover them all, so I'll keep writing. It doesn't follow, however, that each thing must be different. Sometimes my heart is so full with the blessings of a thing that I can't help that it keeps showing itself on the page.

'My husband's love' continues to scrawl itself out in a little prayer of thanksgiving, again and again.

The act of writing down is so satisfying, and has a way of ingraining in your heart the truth of your words. Writing in school helped me understand the material better. Writing my list, helps me understand my God.

So start writing. Just start with one.

#106 Candlelight.