Ann, the mother of six children (who are still young), writes in poetry/prose of her very personal quest to find fulfillment, happiness, and JOY. Her discovery is that it is the act of GRATITUDE that brings one to JOY, which ultimately is where we find GOD. This is of course a very simplistic description of what she says in her book; I believe no verbal description can truly give her story and message its due.
I will say that, halfway through, I began my own list of '1000 Gifts' and found myself on my own personal journey.
#83: 'So many birds at my feeders'
#94: 'Grapefruit juice down my front'
#125: 'Little children falling asleep'
#237: 'Not nagging even when I really want to.'
I'm on #238.
And what's the journey exactly?
GRATITUDE........practicing GRATITUDE every day, every minute......thinking of GRATITUDE especially during the hard times, the bad times. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for, even when it seems like there isn't. Consistently and constantly acknowledging and verbalizing gratitude actually DOES BRING JOY....it's pretty much a miracle that you can feel happening inside you. And JOY, to me, and I think to Ann, is GOD; experiencing true JOY is experiencing GOD.
Ann is a Christian woman, which may turn some people off........I understand that because the idea of 'Jesus' used to scare me, too. But I'm 62 now, and Jesus doesn't scare me anymore. And I know that God is in my corner.
But I think this book is for everyone.......because we are ALL on our own journeys, and living Ann's with her through her book '1000 Gifts' just feels so...........
good.
