Pam's testimony - One Thousand Gifts

Jan asked me to share how the book 1000 Gifts has impacted my life.  That’s something to ponder.  It is sometimes hard to measure one’s own inward change.

Let me begin by sharing how I came to read this book.  My son, Jordan, took his life in March of last year.  At his funeral I became reacquainted with a gal I’d known ten years ago.  Like me, she had recently lost one of her sons to death.  She recommended Ann Voskamp’s blog and told me about the book One Thousand Gifts.

I began reading One Thousand Gifts as an ebook. (It carries along with me wherever I go on my smart phone.)  I quickly discovered that this would be a book I would savor rather than consume.  I read it slowly and still return to it frequently.  It is one of the most treasured books I’ve ever been privileged to read, one that I believe will continue to impact me the rest of my life.

Ann’s book was written as a result of the tragic death of her sister when they both were very young.  This event very negatively influenced Ann’s family as well as Ann as an adult.  In this book, she relates how a simple challenge from a friend to make a list of things for which she is grateful transformed her.

Have I followed the author’s lead and made a list of 1000 Gifts that I am thankful for?  You bet.  And I’m going to keep making these lists because God’s mercies are new every morning.  This giving of thanks to God by record keeping, by naming “Grace Moments”, by specifying “Gifts that I Already Have”, I believe, is transforming me.  

For one thing, my outlook is more hopeful.  Hope.  Now that is a little word of large consequence!  It was my (and my daughter Megan’s) word for the year 2011.  Don’t we all need hope?  After beginning to experience the most enormous loss of my life I needed renewed hope.  Because of Jesus Christ and God’s promises in His Word I had hope, sure hope.  This book came right alongside God’s Word to help make that hope more distinct, more tangible, sort of the way glasses are a tool to clear obscured vision and help us see things as they really are.

Through the encouragement of Ann’s insights regarding the Biblical giving of thanks and through the practice of specifically naming and recording items of which I am thankful to God, my faith is being shored up. I am growing in understanding of what I do have--even in the face of tremendous, temporary loss--and hope is giving birth to joy.

Learning to intentionally give thanks has very positively impacted my daily worship of God.  These lists are a personal testimony of God’s tailored love for me, His goodness.  It sometimes takes my breath when I discover one of God’s priceless gifts right in front of me, lavished on me, just waiting to be accepted from His loving heart.  Pausing to make that list, that takes attention.  I get to give God my full attention.  I get to recognize Him, worship Him.  I get to live life moment by moment aware of His presence.  I get to live life abundantly. 

I have also found this tallying to be a delightful tool for reflection.  It is a personalized history that recounts God’s activity in my life.  Remembering God’s precise goodness encourages me and makes me smile and spurs me onward, especially when I am discouraged.

Not only do I derive pleasure from counting my blessings, but also from reading about others’ blessings.  Here and there, Ann shares from her list of gifts and what she is learning. I find myself celebrating our great God with her.  I would like to share with you a few of God’s gifts to me and then close with a verse of scripture.  I hope you are blessed and reminded that God loves you so very much.

Here goes:

Meal time together with family

Starry sky
Warm sweater hugging me tight
Timeless hydrangea, good for little girls’ bouquets, dried for year-round enjoyment, beauty lavished  on my eyes
Lessons I’m learning from my bus kids
My husband’s companionship
Distant flashes of lightning
Power naps
Eyes, individual, expressive, beautiful, full of life
Henry, the dog, nose pressed close to my bus door
Squirrel friends chasing each other in the morning
Messy, lived-in house
A friend’s encouragement
Talking with Megan
Laughing together
A note with our names in beautiful calligraphy
A friend’s visit
Hearing my child’s heartbeat, hearing them breathe as they sleep
Phone call from Mama
Dazzling frost on my windshield
Daniel, so funny
Christmas lights
Banjos and bagpipes
Moonflower seeds

Ps. 40:5 Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward:  they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee:  if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.