Eucharist [thanksgiving] is the state of the perfect man. Eucharist is the life of paradise. Eucharist is the only full and real response of man to God's creation, redemption, and gift of heaven. Alexander Schmemann
My favorite mug. My sister Melissa gave this to me for Christmas 27 years ago. I drink my morning tea from it every day!
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp was published in 2010. It was on the New York Times best sellers list for 65 weeks -- a book about Jesus! Christianity Today counted Ann Voskamp among the 50 women most shaping culture and the church when One Thousand Gifts was in the limelight. Ann and her farmer husband are Canadian, raising their six kids on their family hog farm. (They have recently adopted a little girl from China, so that makes seven). Ann has been blogging for years. I would recommend visiting her blog site: www.aholyexperience.com if you are in need of a blast of wisdom and joy from above.
In One Thousand Gifts Ann takes the reader on her breathtaking journey out of darkness (depression, confusion, isolation, shame and guilt) into the marvelous light of God's personal love for her. A friend had challenged her to count 1000 beautiful moments as she went about her days. In her quiet time alone with God early in this challenge, Ann came across the word Eucharisteo in Luke 22:19. Jesus, in His final hours, when everything in His life pointed to utter failure, took bread and gave thanks. Through the book Ann shares her growth in coming to understand the depth and breadth of the word eucharisteo as she learns to apply it to her own thinking and life, counting moments of beauty in the ordinary. #1 morning shadows across old floors, #2 Jam piled high on toast, #3 Cry of blue jay from high in the spruce, #4 Leafy life scent of the florist shop, #5 Wind flying cold wild in hair, #6 Earthy aroma of the woods...
Psalm 100 (Message Translation)
On your feet now -- applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
Sing yourselves into His presence
Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn't make Him.
We're His people, His well-tended sheep.
Enter His courts with the password: "Thank You!"
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank Him. Worship Him.
For God is sheer beauty,
All generous in love,
Loyal always and ever.
[Even in the midst of the most severe of trials]