Our Thirsty Girl’s Book Club met last night to discuss Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts.  Of the ten of us present, the average score for the book was 1.5 stars out of five… but we did have one or two that kind of liked the flowery verbose writing style.

We were able to pull out some great quotes from the book for discussion – and our evening revolved around issues of overcoming discontent, recognizing that being alive is a privilege, and finding ways to be thankful when life is hard.

You can see the discussion guide we used here OneThousandGiftsDiscussion, which was designed for a 1-2 hour discussion of the whole book.  Some of our favorite quotes were:

“Satan’s sin becomes the first sin of all humanity: the sin of ingratitude.  Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ungrateful for what God gave.  Isn’t that the catalyst of all my sins?  Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives.  We hunger for something more, something other.” (p.15)

“Hurry always empties the soul.” (p.67) “I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry.” (p.65)  Jim Elliot – “Wherever you are, be all there.” (p.69)

“Anxiety.  Control – the psuedopower from the pit.  Do I hold worry close as this ruse of control, this pretense that I am the one who will determine the course of events as I stir and churn and ruminate?  Worry is a façade of taking action, when prayer really is.” (p.143)

“Stress isn’t only a joy stealer.  The way we respond to it can be sin.  Stress stands in direct opposition to what He directly, tenderly commands, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, trust also in Me.” John 14:1” (p.146)

“Perhaps the opposite of faith is not doubt.  Perhaps the opposite of fair is fear.” (p.148)

“Do this in remembrance of me.  Because remembering with thanks is what causes us to trust – to really believe.  Remembering is an act of thanksgiving, this turn of the heart over time’s shoulder to see all the long way His arms have carried.” (p.152)  “God reveals Himself in rearview mirrors.” (p.157)