One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Content wise, this is a wonderful book--life changing even. However, I know that the style that Ann Voskamp uses won't resonate with all readers--could even turn some people off by it--so that's why I dropped a star.
Voskamp writes in a poetic style, and her prose reads with the same cadence a poem would. When I first started reading this book, I was drawn in to the writing, enchanted by her unique view of the world around her as well as by her story. Reading about the beauty of the captured images was like taking a breath of fresh air after being too long underwater. Lovely!
Towards the end of the book, I found myself skimming to get to the "meat" of the chapters. Call it ADD or call it reading too fast to absorb, but I had a hard time with several of the end chapters. And then, when I was done, I wanted more--not because her story is lacking but because I was still processing. My advice? Read only a chapter a day and give yourself time to enjoy the story and to process the content. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had not rushed through it.
The main theme of this book is thanksgiving--or eucharisteo--and Voskamp touches on how gratitude is central to finding joy in the midst of sorrow and how the behavior/attitude of thanksgiving draws us into deeper relationship with God. Voskamp also writes about the "hard eucharisteo," of seeing God's grace in all things--even in the midst of tragedy. It's a difficult concept to consider, but I think it's timely for today's church.
Overall, I highly recommend it! Just make sure to give yourself time to read through and process it. I know I have a lot to think about now that I've finished reading it.
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