One Thousand Gifts written by Ann Voskamp #1

Satan's lie: "God isn't good. He withholds good from His children. He does not genuinely, fully love us."

Resulting in US living in a sense of REJECTION, of LESS THAN, of PAIN...

Satan wanted more: more power, more glory...his sin became our first sin: INGRATITUDE ~ our fall, all our sin stems on the fact that we aren't satisfied with what God has given us...Eve thought that God was withholding clearer sight from her...the fact is that she DID see perfectly all that was perfect...her sin opened her eyes to the darkness that would keep her in bondage...the ugliness, the wickedness, the loss...

The created world was supposed to be the stage where we commune with God, being drenched in His beauty...now we are never satisfied; we thirst for elixirs in the form of addictions to fill the void that our ingratitude drowns us in...

SOUL HOLES are the drain pipe where our JOY seeps away...

BUT we can choose to see the light of God through the holes ~ the holes as a means to clinging to Christ who makes all things whole...

"How do I give up resenting for gratitude, gnawing anger for spilling joy? Self-focus for God-communion."

ME: 2 areas that eat at my soul are 1) the desire for a baby, 2) dread over lost souls...I must learn to live in the mystery of God, to really learn to believe that He loves me and everyone with a love greater than I can ever, in this life, comprehend...it is pure trust in His all encompassing goodness and His overwhelming power that no one can resist...living in okayness with what He has for me at this moment and not looking beyond...it is in this moment that He resides and gives me grace for...

The author had a horrible dream that she had cancer and only a little time to live...although normally she lived afraid, anxious and weary, failing...always the failing, she woke up relieved to the core that it was just a dream, loving living and wanting to live fully...

ME: how often do I freak out over thoughts of dread that envelop me? How often do I feel like I haven't done enough? Don't I feel like a complete failure if the house is a mess? When will I learn that love and peace is what makes our house a home and not it always being tidy? When will I learn to relax, know it's okay and remember that it is communion with my Lord and in turn, other people that is important? When will I learn that the souls of others are infinitely more important to Jesus than they are to me and to know that He is powerful enough to woo gently just like He did with me?

Jesus came to save from "prisons of fear and guilt and depression and sadness..."

The GOAL of the fullest life is JOY and GRATITUDE is what yields Joy. Giving Thanks IS the only way to LIVE FULLY!!! Giving thanks for Everything!!!