What I am Loving!

~One Thousand Gifts~
I LOVE that today I finished One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp....and I LOVED it!

It is very typical in every book, the last chapter sums everything up and closes! Well, the way Voskamp finished her book was beautiful...the whole book was beautiful! But the last chapter really hit home for me and my faith...where I am at and where to go from here. I LOVE reading a book that gets me thinking, that inspires me, encourages me, that makes me want to put words into action....and that is what this book has done. Not only did majority of her words just make me say "WOW, that was awesome!" but they made sense to me. The last chapter was full of goodies that I want to share.

One of the first things I LOVED was that she discussed the Walk to Emmaus. Going back, the whole book revolves around Eucharisteo, the act of giving Thanks to our God for all the gifts He bestows on our lives....even the ones that might not seem like gifts. Just seeing the word Eucharisteo, Eucharist....obviously hits home for me being Catholic. The Eucharist, our thanksgiving to God and forever remembrance of His Son, is kinda a big deal. And The Eucharist was first initiated by Jesus on The Walk to Emmaus....so I LOVED that she was discussing this.

"When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him"

She also included at little prayer that I LOVED!

"Thank you, God, for the bread now...for Your Son and sacrifice...for the love song You keep singing, the gift of Yourself that You keep giving...for the wild wonder of You in this moment. "

LOVED this one...."The intercourse of soul with God is the very climax of Joy." I mean doesn't this make total and complete sense...Why do you think so many things of this world don't make us happy, don't bring us joy....even when we think that is all we need. Only things of Him, from Him...will bring TRUE JOY!

Voskamp included some words from Teresa of Avila that were just beautiful!

Just these two words He spoke changed my life, "Enjoy Me." What a burden I thought I was to carry--- a crucifix, as did He. Love once said to me, "I know a song, would you like to hear it?" And laughter came from every brick in the street and from every pore in the sky, After a night of prayer, He changed my life when He sang, "Enjoy Me."

God wants us to know Him, to love Him, to spend time with Him, to enjoy Him!

And a great thought to end the book...

"Communion with God, what was broken in the Garden, this is wholly restored when I want the God-communion more than I want the world-consumption. What that first and catastrophic sin of ingratitude ruptured, what that one bit of the forbidden fruit stole from those fully alive---union---can be repaired by exact inverse of the Garden: lifestyle gratitude and a willingness to eat the bread He gives in this moment. How badly do I want to return to perfect Paradise, walk with God in the cool of the evening, be fully alive?"

If any of you decide to read this book, you will not regret...in fact...you just might LOVE it, too!