Practicing Eucharisteo

Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. This past year I was given the book "One Thousand Gifts" By Ann Voskamp. The back of the cover reads, "Not a book merely to read, One Thousand Gifts begs to be embraced as a dynamic, interactive primer inviting you to engage with truths that will serve up the depths of God's joy and transform your life forever". As I read the back cover, I had to wonder if this book was really going to be all that it's cut out to be. So of course, I started reading it and boy it was all that it was claimed to be and even more.

Ann Voskamp takes you into her life and shares her various sufferings and a tragic incident that lead her to question if there is anything in the world that we can truly give thanks for. Overtime, Ann discovers that giving thanks is more than being thankful for the good in life but also finding joy in the midst of trials. A friend of hers challenges her to write a list of one thousand gifts. To go throughout her day and write down every little thing that she is thankful for. I decided to start my own list of one thousand gifts and it's been really neat because even if it's one of those days that seem like everything is going wrong, it teaches you to just look for that one little thing that was good about that day. But it's not always easy to keep up with.

Ann Voskamp continues to share with readers that joy is ultimately found in God, therefore it is up to us whether or not we are to be joyful.We have a choice everyday whether we walk around with joy just because we know God or if we let all the other things get in the way of us being joyful and count them as more important than knowing God.Practicing "eucharisteo" is not easy. Practicing eucharisteo goes beyond writing a list of things that make you happy. Practicing eucharisteo is recognizing God in everything, the good and the bad. It's extremely hard and isn't going to be easy. Obviously there's going to be times when you will be real with your emotions and be upset about things but joy isn't necessarily just being happy. Joy is giving thanks to God because of who He is and what He has done.

I'm trying to fully understand what Ann Voskamp is saying here so I don't know if I have it totally straight but I think what she is saying is that we should not let our trials, hold us back from having joy, since joy is found in God. Knowing Him should bring us joy and we should daily thank Him that we can know Him. We should daily be thanking Him for the various gifts He's placed in our lives. Even the trials. Because I cannot think of a time when I have gone through something rough that has in the end not led to growth. He uses the trials to refine us, even the trials we feel like nothing good could possibly come out of.

So I challenge you to try to write your own list of a thousand gifts and to try practice eucharisteo in your life. It's not going to be easy, it's never going to be easy but it's not impossible. It cannot be done on our own, but with His strength it can be done.

“Humbly let go. Let go of trying to do, let go of trying to control, let go of my own way, let go of my own fears. Let God blow His wind, His trials, oxygen for joy's fire. Leave the hand open and be. Be at peace. Bend the knee and be small and let God give what God chooses to give because He only gives love and whisper a surprised thanks. This is the fuel for joy's flame. Fullness of joy is discovered only in the emptying of will. And I can empty. I can empty because counting His graces has awakened me to how He cherishes me, holds me, passionately values me. I can empty because I am full of His love. I can trust.”
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are