Be the Gift by Ann Voskamp

Let your brokenness be turned into abundance

Broken, something none of us like to be, but if we want to love and live and love and live well, we must be willing to be broken. It's going to happen. We live in a fallen world. Ann explores the idea of giving in the midst of that brokenness to be the gift, to Gift It Forward Today.

I won't pretend to act like I understand all that Ann says because I don't. Some of the concept feel more poetry than prose, more ideal than real. I don't doubt that they have application, but it feel beyond me to fully grasp. However, there was plenty in this book to be grasped.

I thought it was going to be a daily devotional book with daily ideas of how to give it forward today, but that's not at all how it's set up. There are key selections from her book, "The Broken Way" and they are somewhat set up that you could read a page a day and get something from it, but I found that several pages would run together on the same theme or story. So to be honest, I'm not really sure how you are supposed to read it. The pictures are just stunning as Ann's pictures always are. Also included in this book are 60 ideas of ways to give it forward, from as simple as smiling at everyone you meet to spending an extra five minutes with someone to emailing a former teacher to thank them for the impact they made on your life. She also gives the example in the book about leaving dollar bills in the aisle and on shelves at the Dollar Tree. There is a spot for a bit of journaling about you lived given today. And then there are also some beautiful gift tags to use to attach to physical gifts. The whole book would make a beautiful gift and I was thinking of keeping it as such, but the gift tags are almost my undoing to make me keep the book.

A few quotes from her book that stuck out to me:

"You are where you are to help others where they are. This isn't a Christian's sideline hobby; compassion is our complete vocation. We do not just care about people; caring is our calling. that's it.
God forbid, you don't get a roof over your head and food on your table because you deserve more, but so you can serve more. God forbid, you believe you're a little better than others instead of making another's life a little better. "

It reaffirms the idea that we do not deserve anything. We are blessed and broken and out of that blessing and brokenness we are called to bless other broken people.

"Fear of brokenness has pushed away everything I have ever wanted, everything I have loved." I would equate this word to almost mean fear of failure, fear of suffering. These fears can keep us from truly living, but they cause their own brand of brokenness and this brokenness is so much worse.

I really enjoyed this book and want to make a more intentional effort to gift it forward, to make a difference in someone else's life today and every day, and to not be so concerned about my own comfort that I miss comforting others.

I received this book from Book Look Bloggers and was not required to write a positive review.