"A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are"

Have you read this book?

It's so great. I'm a little over halfway through, and I've just been soaking it up like a sponge. Ann basically walks you through her journey of discovering the power of being thankful–eucheristo–and the grace and peace she experiences through this daily discipline. She begins a list to see if she can record 1000 gifts from the Lord, and describes how this transforms her life and her walk with God. This is not an adequate summary...please just read the book!

Since I started reading it, I knew that I could surely benefit from growing in thankfulness. Ann even traces ungratefulness back to the fall, explaining that Adam and Eve were not thankful for the gifts God had given them, instead they wanted more. 

I too can see that a lack of thankfulness is rooted in many if not all of my sins. When I am unkind to Paul, am I really, in that moment, thankful that God has blessed me with a husband? When I am jealous of other women–how they look, what their gifts are, or what they have–am I being thankful for how the Lord made me or what He has given me? And when I am lazy and don't study His Word or commit time for prayer, am I being thankful that God has reached out to me, saved me, and wants an intimate relationship with me? Do you see how thankfulness can be the opposite to so many of our sinful habits?

So I want to join in and see what this is all about. Unfortunately, being thankful isn't something that comes natural to us. It just doesn't. We have to practice thankfulness, implement it as a discipline in our lives. And so I want to practice. Big and small and especially small. Because a lot of my days are woven together by the small. And I don't think these should go unnoticed. So here we go. Let my list begin!

1. a desk by the window to see the leaves sway and the sky change
2. a glass of clean water
3. 12 red roses blooming
4. and the sweet Valentine who gave them to me
5. surrounded by photos of the ones I love, and the precious memories they recall
6. colored envelopes with fancy addresses
7. chocolate ice cream with a shake of cinnamon
8. creativity flowing all around

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