We each have a life story, penned without ink, read by the people around us. Who's writing your story?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Book Review: One Thousand Gifts

Sometimes I read a paragraph over and over. It's a mystery to me how the author takes my very thoughts and feelings and captures them with expressions that reflect my soul, sing its depths, and leave me satisfied in a strange sort of way.

Ann Voskamp is one of those authors. She's written a book titled One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. I reread the pages slow, savoring her warmth, her refreshing honesty, her quest to find a grateful heart.

On a melancholy day, I run across these words:
"Love's a deep wound and what is a mother without a child and why can't I hold on to now forever and her here and me here and why does time snatch away a heart I don't think mine can beat without? Why do we all have to grow old? Why do we have to keep saying good-bye?" (page 160). 
Tears drip salty. How can I feel this way and yet find myself proud on the sidelines cheering them all on? Run well, my girls! Fulfill your dreams . . .

On another day, I read:
"God reveals Himself in rearview mirrors.

"And I've an inkling that there are times when we need to drive a long, long distance before we can look back and we see God's back in the rearview mirror.

"Maybe sometimes about as far as heaven - that kind of distance.

"Then to turn and see His face" (page 157).
I smile to discover some perspective in my story. Hope. Remembrance. And a quest for contentment: "I accept the gift of now as it is . . ." (page 181).

Ann Voskamp. One Thousand Gifts. A thoughtful read.