Eucharisteo - 1000 gifts

"In the original language, "he gave thanks" reads "eucharisteo."

"The root of the word eucharisteo is charis, meaning "grace."

"Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning "joy."

"The only real fall of man is his noneucharistic life in a noneucharistic world...Non-eucharisteo, ingratitude was the fall - humanity's discontent with all that God freely gives."

"How in the world, for the sake of my own joy, do I learn to use eucharisteo to overcome my one ugly and self-destructive habit of ingratitude with the saving habit of gratitude - that would lead me back to deep God-communion?"

"Joy is the realest reality, the fullest life and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts, and I give thanks and I unwrap the gift given: joy."

"Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant - a seed - this plants the giant miracle...if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole....and when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me."

"The act of naming grace moments, this list of God's gifts, moves beyond the shopping list variety of prayer and into the other side...the inner walls of His powerful, love-beating heart. This list is God's list, the pulse of His love."

"It really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me."

This is what I read in the beginning of Ann Voskamp's book 1000 Gifts that stopped me in my tracks.


I picked up the book because I had seen numerous Facebook updates about it. I had seen the #1000gifts hashtag used behind updates that said things like "Sunrises on foggy mornings #1000gifts."

I was curious. Did I feel like I needed more joy in my life? Like I needed to live life to the fullest? Not really, I kind of already felt I was there. Sure, I wanted to spend more time with God each day, but outside of that, I was feeling pretty good about things.

And then January 13th came and went. Baby boy's due date. And I was kind of irritated.

Then my appointment on the 18th came and went with a "let's ride this out" prognosis and I was flat out pissed. I had to have a pedicure and some alone time to get out of my funk. Why can't anyone help me take control of this situation and get this baby out? Sure, I'm only 5 days late, but come on folks, this is getting ridiculous! I'm a ticking time bomb of placenta and amniotic fluid and C4-like hormones.



Eucharisteo.

Not cancer. Not home foreclosure. Not nuclear holocaust. I'm 5 days overdue with my first child. Totally normal. Even expected actually.

So why was I being such an ill pill about it? (Please see above note about C4-like hormones.)

Because of my non-eucharisteo, my ingratitude.

So, today, I take the challenge to learn gratitude by listing my 1000 gifts. Not in one day, but to chronicle how God is working in the coming months, in my heart and in my head.

I realize that once Michael gets here, some of my ingratitude will be replaced with the miracle and wonder of ten tiny fingers and toes. But what happens when he has his days and nights mixed up? When he blows out a diaper in the middle of the night? When Mike has been traveling for a week and I feel overwhelmed? Will I lose my ability to give thanks for the "infinitesimal and miss the whole?"

I can't let that happen. God is too good and loves me too much for that kind of indifference, that kind of neglect, that kind of blatant adolescent obstinance. I choose thanksgiving, grace and joy - eucharisteo.

I want to make room for God. I want to be a wife and mom that loves You with all her heart and finds joy in the grace You give me each day. So Lord, rid me of myself.

So here I start with #1.

Thank you God for this squirmy, overdue, 8lb baby in my belly. Thank you that I have been able to sustain this pregnancy and that both he and I are healthy. Thank you that he is his father's namesake. Thank you for this time that I have gotten to know him - how he like to have his heiney rubbed, how he loves M&Ms and country music. And for how he is getting to know me, because like You, he has heard the beating of my heart from the inside. Thank you for this lesson in patience. What better lesson for a new mom of a little boy. Patience.