One Thousand Gifts Book Review

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp has reached the bookshelf of my heart! It’s a life-changing book I intend to gift to family and friends, an heirloom for the path of life. The book is perfect reading for Easter, Mother’s Day, Graduations and special occasions. It’s also applicable to someone living in the darkness of depression and defeat. Without doubt, this is now one my favorite books ever written.You’ve probably seen me using the hashtag #1000gifts on Twitter as I share some of my gratitude gifts with my friends or my blog list of Counting My One Thousand Gifts.

The central focus of the book is gratitude, and seeing life though the lens of Ann Voskamp. As she writes this poetic book, she sees what gifts we ordinarily do not see in life. Simple gifts, such as

• #0001…Morning shadows across the old floors
• #0022…Mail in the mailbox
• #0971…Kettle whistling for tea on a cold afternoon

We often miss the small gifts of life, because we are too focused on our problems. The shadow across an old floor is a reminder that we have a home filled with memories, the mail in the mailbox is a reminder of the elderly who are lonely without, and the kettle on the cold afternoon reminds me of tea with my grandmother. Gifts. Small. Simple. One thousand of them.

Reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp inspired me to create my own gift list, and encourage you to craft one as well. One warning- don’t just read the book review and assume you can begin your gift list! You need to read the book to understand eucharisteo, grace and gratitude. You need to read about Ann’s triumph over depression, and how her 1000 gifts changed her attitude towards life, family and home. Many times I’ve tried to create a “gratitude list”  and I assure you this book is not like an Oprah challenge! The book is penned with beauty, colorful imagery, and words of inspiration. Read it cover-to-cover, and your life will change dramatically. “In naming that which is right before me, that which I’d otherwise miss, the invisible becomes visible,” write Ann. We need to see what we cannot see, ad we do this through the eyes of scripture and Jesus. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is a must-read during Lent and to prepare for Resurrection Day on Easter Sunday. I’ll enjoy reading this book year-after-year and will never tire of it.

Quotes from Ann Voskamp

• Thanks is what multiplies the joy and makes any life larger.
• God is in the details.
• When I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me.
• The list of one thousand gifts has me always on the hunt for one more…and one more.
• Giving thanks for one thousand things is ultimately an invitation to slow down time with the weight of full attention.
• The hopes don’t have to add up. The blessings do.
• Count blessings and discover who can be counted on.
• It is only when you live the prayer of thanksgiving that you live the power of trusting God.
• It is impossible to give thanks and simultaneously feel fear.

More Ann Voskamp quotes

About Ann Voskamp (from her blog bio)

I’m Ann Voskamp, a plain Ann without even the fanciful “e”, wife to The Farmer, mama to six, determined laundress, chief bottle washer, desperate Grace-clinger.

Honestly, I’m a bit of a mess.  It’s okay, really.  Grace is the most amazing of all.  I had a full-tuition scholarship to university and never finished.  I married a Farmer instead and came home to gravel road and cornfields.  I had babies.  Half a dozen beautiful babies.  My laundry basket is never empty.  I lose library books.  I homeschool our six exuberant kids and most days I feel just a tad bit overwhelmed and very crazy.  When the kids and the washing machine sleep, I wash my real dirt down with words and The Word.

I scratch out words in an award-winning serious for curious kids, A Child’s Geography (Knowledge Quest Press, 2007), of which all profits are donated to Compassion.  I write for DaySpring’s site, (in)Courage, and am a contributing editor for The High Calling. I’m an advocate for Compassion International, traveling and speaking on behalf of the needy.  The poor have made me rich and telling the stories of those who need a voice has changed mine.

I wrote a book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (Zondervan).  You can read some of the crazy reviews about it right here.

But the only words that really matter?  Are the ones I live.  This convicts me.

I write everyday on my blog, www.aholyexperience.com about this wondrously messy, everyday-holy life.  It’d be pure grace to walk a bit together.

My Amazon Rating 5/5

I received an advance copy of this book from Zondervan in exchange for my unbiased review.