It is day 1 of the March Health and Fitness Challenge by Janice at Fitness Cheerleader. Today’s prompt was: What brings happiness in your life? In the video I talk about one of my favorite books, that really changed my life. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp (Affiliate Link) One Thousand Gifts gave me a new perspective …
One Thousand Gifts
Gifts of the Week
- Watching everyone wait, on Mother’s day, as the mommy duck led her ducklings across the road
- A day of shopping and love from my men
- A pair of pants that fit and I like
- Finding a new place I can eat on my diet
- enjoying the quiet in the house while Granny has the boys
- Being at an amazing Bible Study and enjoying being with other ladies!
- I am a child of God!
- a red throated bird who sat outside my door in the rain long enough for me to catch a picture of him
- Finding something healthy one of my boys will eat.
- Saving the boys from a snail and getting a good laugh.
- Sunshine
- Watching the boys pretending to be fishing in the back yard.
- Little tiny wildflowers in my untamed flower gardens
- Little boys being monkeys
- A clean fridge
- Doctors and Nurses willing to work in such a hard field as a children’s oncology floor
- He is the great physician
- The ability to pour out our hearts to Him and know that we don’t need to know all the answers because He does
- Healing
What are some of the gifts you received this week?
Gifts of the Week
You may have read my post last week and you may not have. I want to share with you this weekend some of the gifts I have received from our gracious and amazing God. There have been so many that this list is incomplete, but I want to share with you some of the things I have given thanks for.
- Little boy pretending that his sweatshirt is “High Shining Armor” running around with a fake helmet on.
- Looking back at a video from March 2nd and seeing the weight that I have lost!
- The bushes in front just about to bloom and share that amazing aroma that they give off when they open.
- The sunshine coming to warm up the afternoon and free the boys from the house.
- A chance to trust a little boy to take photos and enjoy the cute things he chose to capture (with his finger in each photo)
- Random playdates with the neighbor
- Little brother repeating what big brother says and does no matter what.
- An evening drive to get ice cream
- Watching the sunshine creep down our fence waiting for it to touch our yard and let the boys free
- Watching littlest slide down the stairs on his tummy to “run” to get his treat
- Licking the beater
- A MIL who gives hubby and I a date night
- Listening to big brother tell little brother all about the things he’s imagining them doing.
- Big brother teaching little brother a new word, “Owl”
- A sweet call from my husband giving me an early mother’s day present.
What are some of the gifts you received today?
One Thousand Gifts
I was reading a dear friends blog. Kari’s blog is in my “must read” folder on my reader, that is overflowing with too much too read, so that I don’t miss a post.
For this I’m so thankful for. For the other day she was writing about a book she was reading, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.
For some reason I was thinking it was a devotional. Some reason I felt like I needed a devotional even though bible study was starting in only a week or so. But the way my friend described the book pulled me in and I quickly added it to my kindle wishlist and as soon as TJ came home I asked if I could buy it.
I was surprised to find that it was more of an autobiography, but her prose pulled me in quickly. When I figured out the meaning behind the title I wanted to know more. I wanted to know how she did it. I wanted to count my own gifts. I wanted her experience of seeing the world in a new light.
Then I started to count my gifts and my heart lightened and my world brightened.
Driving home from a job that is hard on my soul my eyes opened up. I looked out beyond the highway and saw the scattering of dark clouds that threatened rain and I thanked God for them. I thanked Him for the beauty of the sun rays that seeped through the cracks between those clouds. I found myself being filled with His love and His beauty and my heart was no longer heavy from the day.
I want to share my list with you, though I’m not sure how I will do this yet. If I will do as Kari is doing and post my list every weekend. I thought this would be a wonderful meme, but meme’s are so hard to build. I have also thought that creating blessings in images would be beautiful and even have started counting some of my blessings on my pinterest.com.
I stopped, I don’t know why, too busy to take a pause that is so important. But I’m starting over, I’ve been slowly adding it in and today I will share with you my gifts.
- Waking in the middle of the night to rock my baby who had a bad dream
- The feeling of his weight draped on me
- Hearing him suck his thumb as he snuggles back into his blankets, he only needed a few minutes of love
- Watching the light start seeping through the blinds as the morning dawned
- A new day
- Listening to the shower as my husband gets ready for his day
- Being awake enough to say good bye to him
- A little more sleep
- Little boys who climb into my bed to snuggle
- Listening to battle hymns being song by my little boy
- Finding forgotten grapes in the bottom of the fridge
- Little toddler “ank ooos”
- Peanut Butter Sandwiches
- Crossing things off my to do list
- Listening to a toddler try singing with no words
- A wonderful husband that lets me sneak out of the house for a little while to go thrift shopping after bedtime
God fills our lives with amazing little gifts that we forget to stop and thank him for, but I am going to take the time to pause and enjoy these moments, to count each one.
This summer we may be doing a book club at my church, maybe I will try and do a book club here also. Maybe I will do a dare to see who can count to a thousand with me. I’m not sure but I know that this book was an amazing life changer for me, so I hope you will read it!
What are some of the gifts you received today?