A glimpse back into who I was before

In college, I was an anthropology major.  There has always been something about the discovery of the trail of what makes people tick and how they interact with the world and culture around them that has fascinated me.

One of the delights of this journey has been discovering little ways that the same verse has come up on linked occasions, or finding other little glimpses into the clues that God was giving before the next step was revealed.  At the time, only enough was shown to take the next little step, but when viewed in retrospect, there were little hidden gems along the way hinting at what was to come.

Tonight I discovered just a little smidgeon of that from last year.  In the fall of 2010 we had done a study at church on gratitude, using the book Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  When Ann Voskamp's book on gratitude, One Thousand Gifts came out in early 2011, I wound up getting a copy.  I knew that I had been reading it in January or February, but couldn't have told you when exactly.  At that point I wasn't journaling much, but was participating in an online book club.

An archived copy of a post I made to that book club showed up in a search for something tonight.  Dated 2/11/11, at 10:30 a.m., the post spoke to the impact the book was having on me (still only a few chapters in):

I had wanted her book, then almost didn't get it as I saw the "marketing machine" gear up. I can be a little cynical that way. :) I ended up with a free copy, and I'm so glad that I did. If Choosing Gratitude was an instruction manual, 1000 gifts is the full symphony version. It's hard, it's breathtaking, it's real, it's inspiring, it's challenging, it's beautiful, it's possible. For the place I'm currently at spiritually, each chapter is like throwing open a window onto a joy filled life. It beckons, but has to be reconciled with the current room of my heart and actions. I can't read much more than a chapter at a time before I have to draw back and acclimate myself to the new place it has taken me.

 Oh how funny it is to look back and read those words "like throwing open a window onto a joy filled life" that were written just hours before my life would change forever.  And what a good reminder that we never know when a seemingly normal day will be interrupted by a "burning bush" moment.