Making My Home A Haven is important to me. Sharing homemaking skills. Recipes and food. Bible Studies. This is a treasure chest of goodies. So take a seat. Have a glass of tea and enjoy. You will learn all about who I am.
“Friends, you may have heard the news about our next Online Bible Study, One Thousand Gifts with Ann Voskamp, and feel yourself holding back, maybe hesitating a little, because to be honest… you don’t feel very thankful.
I get it…
This may be a scraping season for you. It is for me, too. I’ve experienced trauma and grief this year like I didn’t know was possible. And, my heart needs this study. Maybe yours does, too.
One Thousand Gifts is especially for those of us who are tired, or hurting, or just don’t feel very grateful right now given our circumstances. We don’t want to miss what God has for us! This study is an invitation to look again, to open our eyes to see God’s goodness where we may not see it right now. It’s a beckoning to wake up, to be strengthened, enlivened, and to allow gratitude to grow even among thorns and thistles.”
From Sarah; After reading this post I am so glad I decided to do this study NOW! I have been in a season of despair way too long.
Eucharisteo is the Biblical Greek word that literally means to give thanks… what I believe Jesus did each and every day regardless of His circumstances. ~ Ann Voskamp
Father, I thank You that You have heard me. — John 11:41
Welcome to the One Thousand Gifts Online Bible Study with our dear friend, Ann Voskamp!
Hi there, friends! If you’ve been with us on previous studies, you already know me, but if not, I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Laurie McClure, your OBS leader and the editor at FaithGateway. My favorites include: the beach, reading, watching movies and old TV shows, listening to podcasts, going out to brunch on Sundays, and enjoying time with my dear family. I’m a Jesus girl, a Bible lover, and I love getting to know the Lord in a deeper way every year. I was married for twenty-four years and have five children. Since we can’t meet in person on a weekly basis, consider yourself metaphorically invited into my sometimes-messy, little home for this study. I can’t wait to begin! This is going to be all about the One we love above all else… Jesus!
In case you don’t yet know Ann, she’s a farm girl, a poet, a writer, a wife, a mother, and a friend. She’s known heartbreak and joy and digests both in company with the Savior unlike anyone I’ve ever known. Ann has a way of looking at the world with wonder, and appreciation, and adoration of God that will guide you and me to follow with the same kind of reverence and awe. She’s a captivating story-weaver and Jesus-impassioned spoken word poet and I know you’ll love her as our whole team does!
So, here we go! Let’s fight for the joy we’re aching for and fight for thanksgiving!
This week in your study:
Watch the video for session one on our study home page on our study home page and join the conversation with fellow OBS participants afterward… Take notes in your study guide on pages 11-15 and be sure to join us for the facilitated discussion at the end!
Go through the study questions with your group or on your own on pages 15-19.
Read One Thousand Gifts, Chapter 1-3.
Grab your Bible and enjoy your personal study this week on pages 20-26.
Join the conversations about the study and get to know fellow participants in the private Facebook group!
Jesus, we welcome You into our hearts, even the closed-off spaces, as we enter this season of gratitude. Help us to see You in the small. Help us to open our hands in release and trust. In the knowledge that You are good and we have so much to be thankful for. Tend to those tender places that are raw with hurt and ache and grief. Give us more of Yourself, Lord. We love You, dear Jesus. Amen.
From Sarah : I can’t believe I forgot about this Bible Study. I have looked forward to it for a couple of years actually.I bought all the books and journals but never did anything with them. I knew the RIGHT time would could. I can’t really say I forgot about it: I just didn’t realize it was this week.I planned on promoting it this week and starting on it next week. Thanksgiving is lte this year and for some reason, it has thrown me. Not sure why. Nothing like officially starting and already being behind. LOL Join in if you can. Love And Hugs, Sarah
“Honest question: Want to change your life? Change how you *see* your life.
But how do you change how you see your life? How do you learn how to practice seeing your world differently?
The research powerfully shows:
Write down gifts in your life & you *rewrite the paths in a your brain* to see the good in your life.
Everyone talks about how gratitude is the key to joy, but HOW do you actually make it your default, your practice, your life habit?
You need this free, online refresher course —
This is absolutely amazing & completely unexpected but our friends at FaithGateway (!!! Sister site to Biblegateway!!!) have chosen One Thousand Gifts as their next FREE (!!!) online Bible study, beginning November 18th and leading right up to Christmas.
So that *you* get the *gift* of true *life transformation.*
Want to reset, refresh, reboot your life and literally rewire your brain: Sign up now for the FREE One Thousand Gifts Online Bible Study, led by FaithGateway, and you’ll get access to all the learning videos (sent to your email each week of the study), and a whole bundle of free beautiful tools to make lasting life change –> http://bit.ly/2obXAV4
Want a little preview of the genuine life-change that more than a million people just like you have already experienced:
FaithGateway is hosting this Premiere event for the One Thousand Gifts Online Bible Study, right here on Facebook, just for you! – next Monday at 9PM EST.
You will get to watch a special preview video from the study, and our friends at FaithGateway will be online to answer all your questions!
More than a MILLION people have already stepped into the life-change of this experience.
Sign up — and see how things can look up — for the rest of your one wild and beautiful life.
#1000Gifts“ “The online study is free, including access to *all* video study sessions, weekly devotional emails, access to the online Bible study FB group, and the bundle of free printables and other bonuses that FaithGateway has put together for you. You do *not* have to purchase the book or study guide to participate in this study. Those are optional and supplemental, but not at all required for the study. The online study includes the video sessions and weekly devotionals, which will be emailed to you completely for free every week. “
One Thousand Gifts Online Bible Study
From Sarah : I had a post written and thought it had posted. I don’t see it anywhere. Sorry for the short notice. http://bit.ly/2obXAV4 The above is the link for EVERYTHING YOU WILL NEED except for the ACTUAL BOOK.
One Of My Favorite Blogs And Bloggers By Sarah
From Sarah : I have a lot of favorite blogs and bloggers. Way too many to keep up with. I am sharing one of them today. Trying to catch up in my email.
My name’s plain & simple Ann, without even the fanciful ‘e.’ Glad you found your way here into some quiet. I know — it can get a bit loud out there. Maybe you’d like to wander a bit in the quiet — — Let’s connect…
From Sarah: –
I love Ann’s Blog posts. Especially her “Only The Good Stuff Multivitamins-For Your Weekend”.This post has a collection of AWESOME photos, guest stories, real life on the farm stories from her own family.
It is rare to find a friend who step through the barriers of social pleasantries and enters a deep place where only soul sisters can be found; my dear friend Kay is one such person in my life. While distance separates us; our hearts are united in our Father’s heart — this woman is a mentor, a prayer warrior, and one of the best heart listeners I’ve ever known. Kay is a deep well of wisdom, commitment to our Savior, and compassion for the most vulnerable in our world. She has written a book for pastors’ wives called Sacred Privilege – but honestly her words will strengthen and challenge all who read it. It’s a grace to welcome Kay to the farm’s front porch today…
I have written briefly about losing a friendship that tore me in two. She was another Angel Mom . Someone I called Sister. Family. I was closer to her than almost anyone else. Or so I thought.
When she wrote me : accusing me of betraying her…. I was shocked. Rocked to my core. Hurt.
Just a day before she had shared a huge secret with me. Then the next she ended our friendship.
For a year and a half. I was blocked from her Facebook . She left a door open though : I still had access to her son’s memorial page. I was able to write there. Leave messages.
I left a few. On birthdays and holidays. Did I try hard enough to reach her? No, Not really. I shut myself off like I have done for so long.
Friendships are hard at times. I have a couple of girl friends from grade school and high school.
There is still a distance there. One totally of my own making.
I will continue to write on this subject.
Now for the post that started this conversation.
When You’ve Felt Rejected By
Ann Voskamp.
Her guest writer wrote the following book :
By Christine Hoover
My heart began beating quickly as I reread the first few lines and saw that, in fact, I’d read it right the first time.
The biting words sunk in deep.
A friend had misunderstood me and not given me the benefit of the doubt, and she was writing to let me know I had disappointed her.
We’ve all been hurt by someone we considered a friend, whether it’s an inconsiderate word or an unexpected betrayal.