"One Thousand Gifts"

is a suiting title for Ann Voskamp’s biographical book.  She recounts her struggle with viewing God as ungracious and her mission to change her perception by listing one thousand things she is thankful for.  According to the back cover, she "beckons you to leave the parched ground of pride, fear, and white-knuckle control and abandon yourself to God who overflows your cup."  She "turns pain into poetry" and "gently teaches you how to biblically lament loss."  Her list has reminded me that God’s love for us is obvious even in the smallest “gifts.”

Some of my favorites from her list are:

Clean sheets smelling like wind

Bare toes in early light

Jam piled high on toast

Moonlight on pillows

Kisses in the dark

Frost’s first crunch

Kettle whistling for tea on a cold afternoon

Crackle in the fireplace

Wool sweaters with turtle neck collars

Toothless smiles
Suds all colors in the sun

I began making my own list, which I will add to periodically here on this blog:

1. Old leather boots resoled

2. Live jug band

3. A father’s happy tears  

4. Homemade pie crust with butter-- shameless

5. Snapping uncooked asparagus

6. High pressure warm shower in small, steam-trapping bathroom

7. Blowing bubbles in facial cleanser

8. Babies’ toes

9. Yellow light on white sheets

10. Winter-cool wood floors under quick bare feet in morning

11. Coffee aroma in 7am kitchen

12. Undercooked chocolate chip cookies

13. Cherry blossoms falling like snow