10 Years A Widow: The Way of Abundance – Review

(Author’s Note: As a member of Ann Voskamp’s book launch team for The Way of Abundance, A 60 Day Journey into a Deeply Meaningful Life, I need to write a review of the book. However, I also happen to be in the middle of this series about what I’ve learned during the past decade since Joe’s move to heaven. Hmmm….how do I integrate the two?)

I lost my identity when I became a widow.

I no longer knew who I was or what I liked. So the easiest thing to do was to do what I did before I met Joe and one of those pleasures was reading.

 

I had always been a bookworm but did not read much when married as Joe was a big TV and movie watcher. He wanted me doing what he was doing.

 

 

Ann Voskamp was one of the authors I discovered. (Website)

I did not read her first book 1,000 Gifts until a while after it was released. I heard everyone talk about it and see people counting their gifts but thought the book was some “chick flick” type of book. I only had to turn the first page when I got smacked up-side the head. Wow! this is not some “chick flick” “goodie, goodie” type book. There is real substance here.

Ever since then Ann’s words have spoken to me. Her new book The Way of Abundance, a 60-Day Journey into a Deeply Meaningful Life is no exception.  Carrying on the themes of The Broken Way, Ann’s devotions will speak to your soul. The questions at the end of each devotion will convict you. They will force you to ponder answers, answers that will move you towards a more deeply meaningful life.

 

 

The Way of Abundance is the perfect reason to get up early and sip a cup of coffee, tea or milk and spend time reading and reflecting before you begin your day.

I am 30 days into the book and I am changed. However, it is hard to find the words to say how I’ve been changed. One word that comes to mind is contemplative. I am thinking even more deeply about my life and how and what to do to change it.

I write the questions in a notebook and keep it by my side during my work day and IF there are a few moments between calls, I re-read the questions and write down what comes to mind.

The questions remind me that not only am I broken but I need to gift it forward today to the many customers and the few drivers I talk to because they are just as broken and in need of a g.i.f.t. as I am.

Do I succeed every day in being a g.i.f.t. – uh, no. It’s impossible to be a g.i.f.t to people every day when you work in a call center, whether virtual or a physical call center.

You can not work in a virtual call center and not throw a box of Triskets up against the wall once in awhile (I only did it once) out of frustration. (A wall that is scheduled to be painted Sherwin Williams “Relish.”)

 

My Most Highlighted

All devotions have been marked up with a highlighter to some degree. However, there are about six devotions (so far) that I marked up the most with pen and highlighter. Here are three of them.

#11 – Risky Living

• Quote: “The only way to the abundant life is to love the right things in the right way.” pg 56

• Margin Note: How can I change if I do not love?

#20 – Holy Happiness

• Quote: “What frees you to fully live is letting yourself be fully crucified with Christ.” pg 87

• Margin Note: Ouch!

#22 – Relentless Love

• Quote: “Stego-come in and be safe.” pg 99

• Margin Note: Amy, Gina, Jim, Renee, J.T., Pat and Laurie, Kim and Darren, Melissa and Chris, Patrick and Kristen, Elizabeth, Emma, Evan, and Brooklyn, Mom, Dad, Joe, Rommie etc…

 

Truthfully, I could write numerous blog posts based on Ann’s words in The Way of Abundance. 

If you are tired, weary and longing for refreshment then pick up a copy and sit and contemplate each day’s devotion before your day begins. You will find yourself being moved to a more deeply meaningful life.

 

Thank you, Ann, for your God-inspired words. 

 

 

Bio: Michele Kearns is the founder and HUG© (Hope Unites Globally) Award-Winner of JoyReturns. She shares her widowhood adventures hoping to encourage widows to move through grief and rebuild their lives. A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in communications, she’s used those skills while managing call center teams, facilitating a grief support group and helping small businesses with various writing and administrative assignments. Michele is a bookworm, lover of chocolate, red roses and golden retrievers and is an amateur photographer.