Category: Parenting

I went from being angry to being giddy. In seconds.

I’ve been reading the book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I have been reading her blog daily for a year or more. She is VERY poetic in her writing, and sometimes that is hard for me… I am very black and white. I like things clearly spelled out 🙂 But time after time I can relate to her mistakes, and I am so encouraged by her perspective  – to keep going, to trust God is in control and loving us through all of this, to just go back and try again.

So I ordered a copy of her first book as a Christmas present to myself last month. I just got it in the mail a couple days ago… it was just released. It is just wonderful.

In the first chapter I grow so close to her. I cry with her. I know her struggles. I know her fear. I know her feeling stuck – then, her friend dares her.

I don’t do dares. Never did. Don’t ever want to.

But this one is different.

I’m not even half way through the book and I’m diving in with my whole heart. The dare – put simply is something like this… Pay attention and keep a list of things you love, or are thankful for. See if you can get to 1,000. Just try it.

OK, I will after I finish the book. After I find a nice new journal to write in… oh, I think I have some extra upstairs in the closet. That will be even better.

But then that night, I cannot sleep. It happens often. Usually I dwell on the things I need to get done, or I can’t figure out, or are really bothering me.

So I remembered how angry I was earlier in the day with 5 of the 6 kids for ALWAYS losing their gloves. Just one of each pair. We have more than 15 lone gloves – no match – no one has any idea where they could be. REALLY??? Not one match? (Well, our 12 year old did have his pair together, they were just soaking wet! So not one of the six had a matching pair of gloves to wear in the very very bitter cold.) Grrrrrrrrrr, that makes me angry.

And then I remember Ann and One Thousdand Gifts.

Pay attention, look and try to see the good all around.

And God showed me the precious little chubby (some not so little or chubby 🙂 hands that fit into the gloves, paired or not. I get to be the Mom of 12 super cute little hands! And I smile. And goodness literally bubbles up inside me.

And so number 1 on my list of 1,000 is tiny cute little hands squishing into gloves.

And my heart heals just a bit. And my expectation of the potential in this exercise explodes!

Number 2 is Ann Voskamp and her love of God and words.

Thank you Ann.

Thank you God.

Can’t wait to see the next 998!