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Intro: One Thousand Gifts | Ann Voskamp

Hey Ladies! I gave you just a brief intro last week to the book that we're looking at for our next Small Group session: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I wanted to get you a little more so here it is. I'm looking forward into diving into this book with you guys! After we do our May Day baskets (this Sunday, April 28th at Heather's!, 3:00 pm), we can discuss this book's schedule, online discussion, group meetings, etc.
-SH



“How,” bestselling author Ann Voskamp wondered, “do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties?” When your days are filled with the mundane, disappointment, or even darkness, how can you break the bondage of self-hatred and fear that has white-knuckle control on your life and instead embrace the everyday blessings that will immerse you in Christ’s fullness? How can you live your life with a heart overflowing with delight?

In this five-session, video-based study, Ann encourages participants to take on the life-changing discipline of journaling God’s gifts—to really look at life and find the good in it. It’s only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, that we discover the life we’ve always wanted … a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. And only then can we come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved—by God.

Embark on this personal, honest and fresh exploration of what it means to be deeply fulfilled, wholly happy, and finally fully alive.

The study guide includes video notes, discussion questions and Bible Study, between session activation, and journaling space that will all help you to further explore the topics discussed in the One Thousand Gifts DVD.

Ann Voskamp’s story is not happily ever after.  As a child, her sister was crushed under a truck in front of her and her mother.  Consequently, her mother checked herself into a psychiatric hospital and her father couldn’t find God.  As an adult, she stood beside her brother-in-law as he buried his first two sons.  Voskamp is a wife and mother who does not grin through the pain but battles to believe that in God is joy, and that there are as many gifts amid the grittiness of life as in the moments of celebration.

In One Thousand Gifts: A Dare  to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Ann strives to find the meaning of life and fully embrace the surprising truth from the final scenes of Jesus’ earthly life.  In the hours before Jesus’ execution, he took bread and gave thanks.  This fresh, heart-wrenching book unveils the long forgotten wonder that through the imitation of Christ’s thankfulness, we too can experience a life of joy.

With startling lyrical power, Voskamp writes the answers to universal questions:

• Where is joy in the midst of cruelty and chaos, duties and despair?
• How does one slow down enough for the soul and God to live in synch?
• How in the world do we learn to find God and live fully?

The laundry keeps piling up, dishes never end, kids fight and people die.  But regardless of circumstances, the dare of the “gift list” shows Voskamp a way to live even through the dullness and hurts of life.  Through the aches and triumphs, she finally sees what she’s been missing, something that so many women can’t seem to find in their everyday lives.  Ideal for personal spiritual growth or Bible study groups, included within One Thousand Gifts are study questions to provoke additional thought and discussion.

The Book | One Thousand Gifts | Read Chapter One

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, Excerpt by Zondervan



Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
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