Eucharisteo

It's bright pink, one of my favorite colors. An etched dove graces the front cover. How perfect, since a dove symbolizes peace. It is my new Eucharisteo Journal, where I will begin to list my gifts throughout the day. Each little thing and moment to be thankful for will find its place within the pages of my journal.

All excerpts below are taken from One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

Eucharisteo

"And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them...."(Luke 22:19 NIV)

Gave Thanks = Eucharisteo.

The root word of Eucharisteo is Charis, meaning grace.
Eucharisteo also holds the derivative Greek word Chara, meaning joy.

Charis - Grace
Chara - Joy
Eucharisteo - Thanksgiving

"On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it."
(1 Corinthians 11:23-24) Jesus offered thanksgiving for that which would break him, wound him, crush him and yield a bounty of joy (Chara).

We need to learn how to live a life of eucharisteo - always giving thanks, no matter the circumstances.

"I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." (Philippians 4:11-12)

I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks. Something always comes to fill the empty places. And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me. This, this makes me full, and I magnify Him with thanksgiving (Psalm 69:30), and God enters the world. What will a life magnify? The world's stress cracks, the grubbiness of a day, all that is wholly wrong and terribly busted? Or God?

I say thanks and I swell with Him, and I swell the world and He stirs me, joy all afoot.

***

So yes, in my bright and cheery journal, I have begun my list....my eucharisteo. Letting His joy engulf me, as I take time to notice His offerings throughout the day. They are all His gifts to me, so I may as well take a hold of them, relish in them, remember them and give thanks for them.

I will soon notice that all of the daily stressful moments that seem to be crushing me, will be taken over by the rays of sunshine that peek through minute by minute.

Eucharisteo.

One Thousand Gifts - Chapter One

My dear friend, who is losing her precious daddy to cancer, was on my heart as I read through the first chapter of One Thousand Gifts.

There was a section at the end of the chapter that I just knew that I had to share with her. I also knew that I needed to focus on the words as well.

So beautiful, so poetic and so very very true.........

"I wonder too....if the rent in the canvas of our backdrop, the losses that puncture our world, our own emptiness. might actually become places to see...to see through to God. 

That that which tears open our souls, those holes that splatter our sight may actually become the thin, open places to see through the mess of this place to the heart-aching beauty beyond. To Him. To the God whom we endlessly crave.

But How? How do we choose to allow the holes to become seeing-through-to-God places? To more-God places? How do I give up resentment for gratitude, gnawing anger for spilling joy? Self-focus for God-communion? To fully live--to live full of grace and joy and all that is beauty eternal. It is possible, wildly."

Ann begins her book by taking us to one of her darkest places -- witnessing the death of her younger sister.  It was THE event that made her question God's existence and purpose.

"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?"

I truly feel that as painful as those hard, dark times are, we need them. We need the dark to understand and appreciate the light.

As part of the book club discussions, we are to focus on three themes as we read each chapter.

Seed: What has been planted as you read this chapter? What has it stirred in you?

Water: How are you nurturing what God desires in you? Be intentional and obedient to what your responsibility is in growth.

Bloom: What is the fruit you are seeing from what you have learned?


Today I am just going to talk about the seed.

For me, my seed goes back to the section I mentioned at the beginning of this post, most specifically moving from self-focus to God-communion. In my life right now, there is a lot I have to deal with and focus on. I seem to be very caught up in the things that I need to accomplish each day. I am a control freak by nature, and try to always take on much more than I can obviously handle. Yet, I do all that I can, pressing on.

And while He is there, wanting to ease some burdens and give me rest, I don't run to Him. The sad part is, I want to. I don't feel God's presence right now as strongly as I'd like and it's because I haven't been giving Him any of my time.

So for me, my seed is to let go and let God. I want to run to my Heavenly Father. I want to share my heart with Him, express my burdens, rest in His arms and feel His joy.

Even on the craziest days, I want to fully live--to live full of grace and joy.

 You can read more about chapter one here.

One Thousand Gifts

I am pretty certain it was the hands clutching a nest that lured me in.  (I do have a thing for birds)

Maybe it was the desire to spend some time reading a book for myself. I am in school and have had my nose stuck in textbooks, and it doesn't always make for fun reading.

Maybe it was the book's description:  

 "Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. How do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does a life of gratitude look like when your days are gritty, long and sometimes dark? What is God providing here and now? 

One Thousand Gifts invites you to wake up to God's everyday blessings. You will embark on a transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling gifts. You will discover a way of seeing that opens your eyes to gratitude, a way of living so you are not afraid to die, and a way of becoming present to God's presence that brings deep and lasting happiness."

And maybe, just maybe it was that tug in my heart that I have been feeling so strongly lately. The one from my heavenly father, gently nudging me to spend some time laying at His feet. His soft, yet constant whisper in my ear reminding me that He wants to give me rest.

One of my favorite reads, when I find time to hop from blog to blog and site to site, is (in)courage. Last month I was delighted to find that they were starting a book club and the title was going to be One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

They also mentioned that if the cost of the book would truly hinder our participation in the Bloom (in)courage Book Club, they would love to provide a free copy. I signed up for a free copy and received it today! :)

I am looking forward to diving into One Thousand Gifts. I hope that it will encourage me, change me and bless me.

There is still time to join in on the book club if you want. Details are here.

Yes, I know that I am adding one more thing to my already overflowing plate, but I know that deep down, I NEED THIS!