Living Gratefully, Living Joyfully and a Giveaway

Three years ago, a colleague of mine walked over to my office and handed me an advance copy of a book, smiling and saying she knew I had been waiting for it. It was written by a blogger who had a sizable following, but was not yet so prominent that you might recognize her from a conference or a Christian talk show or the pages of a magazine. Not then, although that wasn’t so very long ago. Just three years. But me, I remembered the day her proposal had been reviewed by the publisher I worked for, the day I first went to her blog and began to read about eucharisteo, about practicing thankfulness. I knew right then that this woman’s words were something really special. They washed over me and poured into all the little empty places where I usually forgot to let Jesus come in.

The publisher said yes to her. Yes, we will publish your book. And I was glad. Glad that her words were going to move from the transience of the internet to the permanence of the printed page. I had this deep-down feeling that what she had to give, what God had called her for, is something the world needs desperately. A new-old way of living. The way of David, of Hannah, of Paul. The way of the grateful. The way Christ asks us to live.

One day, as I sat chatting with her editor, he told me that he believed this book was one of the most important he had ever worked on. That it would change lives. That it was going to start a gratitude revolution. When he said that, a chill of recognition, the kind I get when someone is speaking a divine truth, ran down my back. My scalp tingled.

So when my colleague brought me that advance copy several weeks later, I tucked it carefully into my bag and carried it home like the most precious treasure. That weekend, E and I packed up and went to Washington, D.C. to spend Thanksgiving with his brother and sister-in-law.

Looking back, I marvel at the fact that I first read the book over Thanksgiving week. A small coinciding of events, but the timing of that first reading sparkles in my memory. It was November in D.C., the trees were still bright with color, and there was time to rest and play. A weeklong Sabbath. Each morning, before the rest of the house began to stir, I got up and made a pot of steaming coffee. In the kitchen, there was a rocking chair next to the window. I curled up in the chair with a cozy blanket, my coffee, and the book. Before long, the cheaply printed advance copy was dog-eared and tattered, filled with blue ink where I had underlined passages and made notes in the margins.

By the end of the second chapter, I had starting writing out God-gifts, blessings, in the small black notebook I kept stashed in my purse. Virginia leaves still on trees. Wet sidewalks shining under streetlights. Evergreen tree with red berries in the front yard. Scent of oranges and spice. How copper cookie cutters gleam.

It’s been three years, and the memory of those mornings is as clear in my mind as though they were just last week. I have seen the change wrought in myself by living with an intentional focus on gratitude. A change that has come simply by recognizing the blessings. I have more joy. More peace. More balance. I have learned a great deal about myself, about how God speaks to me – through nature and song and poetry and my baby girl’s laughter. I have learned that my life – all our lives – are part of a divine love story.

And when I forget to be thankful, when I backslide into a view of life that is mundane and burdensome, I inevitably find my eyes falling on that tattered advance copy of One Thousand Gifts on my bookshelf and remembering what lies in store for those who practice thankfulness. I have other copies – prettier copies. A first edition. A copy signed by the humble, grace-filled woman who wrote it. But that tattered advance copy is the one I go back to and re-read each time, because of all the underlined passages and the notes scribbled in the margins.

Every year at this time, I re-read One Thousand Gifts, because practicing eucharisteo is an ongoing process, and I definitely need a reminder of how I want to live.

The words of my friend the editor turned out to be prophetic in nature. The book made the New York Times bestseller list. And now, that writer, the farmer’s wife, mama to six, her name and her face grace the pages of magazines, the stages of conferences, and even at times the TV screen. Because we do crave a different way of doing life. We all crave a life full of joy. It has been, indeed, a gratitude revolution.

For more on how to live a joy-filled life, read Ann Voskamp‘s book, One Thousand Gifts. What better time than now, as we are about to enter the Thanksgiving season? Won’t you join the revolution that leads to joy? This is an invitation.

I am giving away two copies of One Thousand Gifts. To enter, leave a comment below with three things you are thankful for today. Winners will be chosen at random. The deadline is midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. This giveaway is now closed. 

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Grace and peace to you, and more blessings than you can count.