Z Blog Squad has reformatted and now they occasionally offer thematic materials where adult and children books along the same theme can be reviewed at the same time! Super exciting that I have a chance to review an adult book or two in the mix with all the amazing kids' products that they offer!
The first such book is the One Thousand Gifts Devotional by Ann Voskamp.
(Side Note: We were supposed to receive a Berenstein Bears thankfulness book to go along with this one, but for one reason or another, we never did. That's totally ok though because in the meantime, thanks to our church library, we discovered that Ellie is freaked out by those characters. So she wouldn't have liked it and it wouldn't have been a fair review anyway.)
Evidently, Ms. Voskamp is a pretty popular Christian author. I'd heard the name, but have never read any of her work before. See, while I would *like* to be one of those moms who wakes up at the crack of dawn and gets in a good workout before sitting down with her tea and devotional time, I'm just not. My time is quite limited (don't we all feel that way?!) and when I get a chance to read, I want it to be some good Christian fantasy or sci-fi or allegory. Lewis or Tolkein or Dekker. Something with a different world in which I can immerse myself and forget about the laundry that needs done or peeling stickers off the kitchen floor. But I realized this year that I need some more devotional goodness in my life, so I've been working on reading through this book. I received it around thanksgiving and have just now read enough to feel like I can give it a genuine review.
I really, really like it. First of all, it's so pretty! I know what they say, but a good cover seriously does help me pick up a book and give it a go. And I like that, since this is devotional style, it has a nice little ribbon bookmark, so I don't have to ugly it up with the post-it notes I usually use. So bonus points for aesthetics.
Now, content. Ann's (I don't think she'd mind if I called her by her first name) writing style is rather unique and took a few chapters to get used to. At first I wasn't sure how to describe it, but then I heard someone else call it poetic and I think that's absolutely true. Her metaphors and similes are large and in great detail. Sometimes, I think that can distract people from the point that she's trying to make. But I kind of like it. Like I said, it takes some getting used to, so if you pick up this book, don't allow yourself to give up on it until you're at least half-way through. At that point, if you really aren't getting anything out of it, then this writing style just might not be for you and I'd suggest you investigate a different author. Poetic language like this really isn't suitable for everyone, but it seems to work beautifully for me.
And the points she makes ring quite true. She's a self-proclaimed mother of 'half a dozen kids,' so many of her observations are derived from interactions with her children. As a mom, that really drives points home for me. But I think that even non-moms - heck, even MEN - could relate a lot to what she is saying. The devotional is based off of her book One Thousand Gifts. I *think* I heard her do an interview on the radio last spring where she talked about that book, but try as I might I cannot find it anywhere. I can't even remember which radio station it was. Anyway... the backstory of both books is that a friend dared her to count 1,000 gifts from God. The books chronicle her journey of basically re-programming her mind and heart to see the gifts and graces in every day life and live with more gratitude. This is something I honestly think we could all work on.
This devotional book contains 60 devotions, each one ending with a brief prayer starter and room for notes. Then at the back of the book are pages full of lines. One thousand lines to be exact. A space to list your own one-thousand gifts. The devotional in itself is Ann's personal journey, shared with you as an encouragement to undergo the same challenge and see how it might change you.
I haven't finished the book yet. Like I said, time is limited, and these things cannot be digested as easily as a fantasy world. This is real life - and sometimes you need to close the book and sit with what you've read for a while before continuing. So I don't know how it ends. Well, I do. I can tell you already. Without evening finishing it, I can tell you it ends well. It ends with beauty and grace and a new way of living and loving the gifts in our everyday lives.
So if you've got a little Christmas money left and don't know what to spend it on, might I recommend picking up this devotional book? I really do think it'll be worth it. Already, I have noticed little changes in my mind and heart that lead me to believe this is changing me for the better. For example, last weekend we threw two parties in two days at our home. And if that weren't stressful enough, Andy called me down on Friday and let me know that the washer had quit draining water. My very first thought? "Thank God - we JUST got all the laundry done!" I immediately thought of something positive rather than negative. That's progress, my friend. And, as I said, I think it's progress we can all stand to make.
I'm going to be taking the One Thousand Gifts challenge in 2015 - check back soon for more information on why I decided, what I hope to gain, and how I'll be doing it!
Disclaimer: Zondervan provided me with a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes, but the opinions I've presented are 100% my own.
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