A Dare to LIVE FULLY Right Where You Are

That's what the cover of the book says. I've finally joined so many of my friends and picked up the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

I'm 4 chapters in. I appreciate the simplicity of the call to gratitude. I appreciate the way she brings her own story to life in a way that makes you seek to create room for her story to penetrate your own. There are so many books that tell you what to do and they help but the inspiration is often lost because of the heaviness you feel at how you fall short from all of the "shoulds." I feel inspired with this book and am thankful.

Today, I gave pause at a response she shared from a pastor when asked what was his profound regret in life. His response:

Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing... Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away. (Mark Buchanan)

I started this morning with complaints on my lips. My sweet new baby is coming soon. We awoke with coughs and stuffy noses. I stumbled through the morning knowing that I needed to seek some perspective, something to push the bitter thoughts away.

God met me and my heart is filled with thanks again and I am not going to count this as a wasted "sick" day but embrace the moments here with my girls and listen to these words, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." J.R.R. Tolkien