One Thousand Gifts- Chapter Three from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.
I feel like this is where the nitty-gritty, let’s get started, pen to paper moments started to happen as I first read the book. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, agreeing with all of the things Ann had said, hungry to apply her thoughts to my life. In this chapter, we listen as Ann and her friend converse over cucumber chopping, and we hear about “the list.”
I can tend to be a little type “A,” and I will admit that this chapter made me want to sharpen pencils in preparation for class.
In the back of my mind I imagine the bold title for my new project, and the fact that I may need a spiffy new Trapper-Keeper (bonus points if it includes a unicorn or basket of kittens) and some clean paper.
Life is about to start changing. And I, for one, am ready.
On page 44 Ann quotes Jean Pierre de Caussade (as I often do in everyday conversation…umm… 🙂 ) as saying, “When one is thirsty one quenches ones thirst by drinking, not by reading books which treat of this condition.”
Oh, wow.
That one hit me right between the eyes.
I am tempted to reconsider the Trapper-Keeper.
But I proceed.
It is abundantly clear to me that I am thirsty, and also, that I live a lot of my days drinking something that doesn’t do me any good. I have to make a conscious effort to acknowledge Jesus, even in the obscure. In the “jam piled high on toast” and the “leafy life scent of the florist shop.”
It’s everywhere!
As I type, my daughter is sitting beside me reading out loud. She has decided that singing the words is more exciting than reading them, and it has caused me to jolt out of thought at least ten times since I started writing. My other daughters are downstairs “discussing” who the owner of a particular doll is, and my husband is trying to wrangle them into setting the dinner table. I find myself irritated, feeling like I should be entitled to just a few minutes to get some writing done, and on and on…
Oh the irony.
I am writing about gratitude while living ingratitude.
The important thing is that I didn’t shush her this time. And maybe I won’t next time either. The snow is clouding up the windows, the world is spinning just as it did a few hours ago. Nothing is inherently different about my surrounding, except for that tiny little voice that whispers…
“What do you see of Me here, love?”
I am nurturing the seed that began as a perspective shift, believing it will grow into a life that more closely imitates Christ. I feel the grace in Ann’s words as she ushers me into a place of “learned” eucharisteo.
Yes, learning. But even more, doing. So, for me…
Seed: There is a new way to look at life around me, and it has the potential to radically change me.
Water: I am looking for these in everything, challenging myself to pull out the beauty around me.
Grow: My list has started!!!! May it glorify God and transform the way I acknowledge His goodness…
So, glorious list-makers…what is on your hearts this week based on chapter 3?
See you back here on Wednesday for chapter four!
With love,
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