book report

I rarely buy books without reading them first.  We don't have unlimited bookshelf space and I want to make sure each book is worth its width on the shelf, so to speak. 

So you can take it as a glowing recommendation that as soon as I finished my library copy of "One Thousand Gifts", I decided to purchase it immediately.  It is a book with so much truth on every page, I knew I'd need to read it at least a dozen times over, just to take it all in. 

The main idea behind the book is so simple, you'd almost wonder how it could fill up all those pages: thanksgiving.  In everything.  All the time.  Everywhere. 

And this-

"The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world."

This makes me want to keep trying hard and honing my focus and couldn't I be a change agent?  Wouldn't I love to bring more Light to the world? 

Yes and yes. 

The author, Ann Voskamp, starts keeping a list of all the gifts and it changes everything for her.  She counts up to one thousand and then keeps counting because she just can't stop. 

And I know how she feels because I've started my own list.  What used to just be four red cardinals in a tree becomes #42.  I love red cardinals- what a treat to see so many at the same time.  What used to be a day wasted by sickness and lack of energy becomes #72- having quiet time to plan out new sewing projects. 

You see how it goes. 

The more I look for things to give thanks for, the more things I find...

#9- the smell of chestnuts roasting in the oven

#34- a baby bouncing and wiggling with joy

#69- every single sale in my shop

They're stacking up like planes over Kennedy and I can't stop and I don't want to stop.  The thankful life is the full life. 

So my recommendation?  Read it.  Then do something about it.  Because I will warn you, it's the type of book that requires action.