November Book of the Month: One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

There is a popular Bible verse from the Book of James in the New Testament about having joy in the midst of life’s trials. In the ESV it reads like this: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4). 

Easy, right? 

Well, not really. Because there are a lot of trials in this world. 

Amidst all the good and beauty of this world, there is death and injustice and war and poverty and hunger and persecution. There is greed and jealousy and pride and hate and slander. There is deceit and lust and lying and abuse. There is idolatry and coveting and selfishness. There is laziness and strife. There is sin. 

“Can there be a good God?

Where is God, really?

How can He be good when babies die, and marriages implode, and dreams blow away, dust in the wind?

Where is grace bestowed when cancer gnaws and loneliness aches and nameless places in us soundlessly die, break off without reason, erode away.

Where hides this joy of the Lord, this God who fills the earth with good things, and how do I fully live when life is full of hurt?

How do I wake up to joy and grace and beauty and all that is the fullest life when I must stay numb to losses and crushed dreams and all that empties me out?” (One Thousand Gifts, Chapter 1)

Author Ann Voskamp asks these important questions and more in chapter one of her book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. But she doesn’t just pose these questions and leave us to figure out the answers on our own. She invites you on a journey to discover joy—not happiness that is dependent on our shifting circumstances—but joy, which comes from the Lord. 

As we enter this special season of Thanksgiving and prepare our hearts for the coming seasons of Advent and Christmas, perhaps we consider accepting Ann’s invitation to “embrace a lifestyle of radical gratitude.” 

“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.” (From the back cover)

Visit onethousandgifts.com to discover more about our November Book of the Month and read the first chapter.