For the past week I have been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It is a beautifully poetic book about the simplicity yet magnitude of living a thankful life. In it she talks about how she began to take on a new look at life, to find joy in every moment. So, she creates a list each day, writing out everything she is thankful for, numbering them and thanking her way up to 1000. Not just 1000 things to be thankful for, but 1000 gifts that God has given her. She chooses to look at her thankful’s as gifts that God gave her, that she got to unwrap so that she could find joy in them.
As I was sitting here in the common area of the conference center that we live in, reading the book and settling my mind, I look up to see a mom who has spent nearly all day in this room with her special needs daughter. A moment of joy grips my heart, and a smile comes across my face. I put my book down to watch them.
The two of them sit together and play small games; currently they are squishing Play-Doh around in their hands. Sometimes the mom takes breaks and one of the local ladies hanging around will sit with her daughter. Earlier today one of those ladies was dancing around with a balloon on a string to make the girl smile, and while doing this her mom came back. I watched as her mom, smiling, stopped to watch the woman dance, the look on her face saying “she didn’t just sit with her, but put in effort to bring my girl some joy.”
So, I put down my book to write out some of today’s gifts. Moments that I can look back on and see His light shining into my day, Him saying “here’s a gift for you Hope, did you see it?” Maybe you too will stop for a moment to pick up a pen and jot down your gifts from today.
In no particular order here are some of mine…
- Mom rolling out balls of Play-Doh with her daughter
- Brie zoning out and staring at nothing
- Walks through this tiny village’s hills
- Meeting a shepard and his dog
- The golden hue of sunlight at 3:30 p.m.
- Flowers in my hair
- Lotion for my dry hands
- Chapstick for my dry lips
- Bouquets of flowers on each table
- The most delicious of breads at every meal
- Being cooked the most delicious of Bulgarian meals by Emmi
- Emmi and Val, our hosts this month, the two sweetest people ever
- Evening cups of tea
- Emily telling me she doesn’t understand 80% of my jokes or fun references
- The mustard yellow of Brie’s cardigan that matches my mustard yellow wallet
- Space heaters
- Fuzzy socks
- Horse and buggy trotting down the road
- The team of British women talking
- Meeting Dan from Dayton, Ohio
- Meeting Ben from Indiana
- Finding out Ben’s 87-year-old sister lives in my hometown
- They served cocoa puffs at breakfast: I woke up asking God for some
- Hearing team Submerge encourage and challenge each other at feedback
- One hour spent sharing what was on each other’s minds
- Emmi understanding my joke and pinching my cheek
- Dan from Dayton praying that this team would experience more dreams and visions
- Rolling out dough for pizza
- Cute little boots bought at the thrift store
- Morgan’s 1990’s windbreaker bought at a thrift store
- Two birthday parties in a row
- Jokes with Carol
- The cutest flower apron of all time
- Dish duty
- The cover photo of this book (it’s the title of this blog)
- ……
That’s where I’m starting. What gift will you start at?
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks…”1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
With a whole lot of love and thankfulness,
Hope
