I want a life that makes music - not just practices the piano. Ann Voskamp More Quotes by Ann Voskamp More Quotes From Ann Voskamp Research actually indicates that if you write down what you're grateful for, it increases your happiness by 25 percent. And who doesn't want that? And God's word says (1 Thessalonians 5), "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Who doesn't want to know exactly what God's will is for them? Ann Voskamp grateful writing jesus You were made for the place where your real # passion meets # compassion because there lies your real purpose. Ann Voskamp passion real lying Thanksgiving creates abundance; and the miracle of multiplying happens when I give thanks-take the just one loaf, say it is enough, and give thanks-and He miraculously makes it more than enough. Ann Voskamp thanks miracle giving Joy and pain, they are but two arteries of the one heart that pumps through all those who don't numb themselves to really living. Ann Voskamp pain heart two The moment when you are most repelled by a child's behavior, that is your warning light to draw the very closest to that child. Ann Voskamp light warning children You've got to use the life you've been given to give others life Ann Voskamp given use giving The practice of giving thanks...eucharisteo...this is the way we practice the presence of God, stay present to His presence, and it is always a practice of the eyes. We don't have to change what we see. Only the way we see. Ann Voskamp eye practice giving The wrinkled man in the wheelchair with the legs wrapped, the girl with her face punctured deep with the teeth marks of a dog, the mess of the world, and I see - this, all this, is what the French call d'un beau affreux, what the Germans call hubsch-hasslich - the ugly-beautiful. That which is perceived as ugly transfigures into beautiful. What the postimpressionist painter Paul Gauguin expressed as 'Le laid peut etre beau' - The ugly can be beautiful. The dark can give birth to life; suffering can deliver grace. Ann Voskamp girl dog beautiful God is always good and we are always loved... even when what He gives may appear ugly. Ann Voskamp ugly may giving We're not giving what we're called to give, unless that giving affects how we live - affects what we put on our plate and where we make our home and hang our hat and what kind of threads we've got to have on our back. Surplus Giving is the leftover you can afford to give; Sacrificial Giving is the love gift that changes how you live - because the love of Christ has changed you. God doesn't want your leftovers. God wants your love overtures, your first-overs, because He is your first love. Ann Voskamp first-love home giving What was intended to harm, God intended it all for good. And no matter what intends to harm you, God's arms have you. You can never be undone. Ann Voskamp undone arms matter I don't want a Christmas you can buy. I don't want a Christmas you can make. What I want is a Christmas you can hold. A Christmas that holds me, remakes me, revives me. I want a Christmas that whispers, Jesus. Ann Voskamp remakes want jesus Every time I surrender to stress, aren’t I advertising the unreliability of God? Ann Voskamp unreliability advertising stress Where ever you are be all there Ann Voskamp 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. Ann Voskamp ungrateful giving fall The life that counts blessings discovers its yielding more than it seems. Ann Voskamp blessing seems Real joy is not found in having the best of everything but in trusting that God is making the best of everything. Ann Voskamp real-joy real joy I receive grace. And through me, grace could flow on. Like a cycle of water in continuous movement, grace is meant to fall, a rain...again, again, again. I could share the grace, multiply the joy, extend the table of the feast, enlarge the paradise of His presence. I am blessed. I can bless. Ann Voskamp blessed rain fall ...the secret to joy is to keep seeking God where we doubt He is. Ann Voskamp secret doubt joy Pick up a yardstick to measure your life against anyone else's, and you've just picked up a stick and beaten up your own soul. Ann Voskamp beaten yardsticks soul
