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Book Review: The In-Between by @JeffGoins
As a little kid, I remember struggling to sleep the night before Christmas and the night before the first day of school. More recently, I’ve struggled with sleep the night before our trip to Guatemala and the nights before big meetings at work. In all these cases, I am so focused on the next big thing on my schedule. In the intensity of my thoughts for the future, I miss out on sleep.
On a larger scale, we spend so much time focusing on the big events in our lives – things like college, marriage, home purchase, children, promotion, and retirement. In our focus on these next big things, we often miss out on the life that is going on right around us.
In The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing [A Spiritual Memoir]
I’m giving away a copy of The In-Between
What are you waiting for? What are you doing while you wait?
(Please note: There are affiliate links in this post. Should you purchase The In-Between by clicking one of these links, I receive a small percentage of the purchase. These funds are used to support The Stretched Blog and to extend ministry and missions to Guatemala. Thank you!)
Wrecked Creative Expressions
When I was in Guatemala last month, we had evening worship every night up on the roof of the compound where we stayed. Each night, the Adventures in Missions team would lead us in some form of creative expression. Typically, this time revolved around prayer. One night, we were each handed a piece of construction paper and some markers. We were then instructed to be creative in writing down or drawing how we felt God was speaking to us at that particular moment.
I had just finished reading Wrecked by Jeff Goins along with the trip to Guatemala had me thinking a lot about getting out of my comfort zone. Here is what came to mind as I wrote down my thoughts:
As you can see, part of it is cut off and some of it was blurred. Here’s a recap of what I wrote on this paper.
WRECKED
- Getting out of my comfort zone was so worth it!
- I have one life. I want to make it count.
- Never ever forget today.
- Don’t underestimate the power of one to make a difference.
- Let my heart break for the things that break the heart of God.
- Don’t strive to be comfortable. Strive to be disturbed.
- Stop. Listen. Be still. Fight distraction.
- Pursue wreckage and strive for a life of meaning.
- You are never too old or too young to make a difference.
7-29-2012 (This was the day that our team finished the house.)
These thoughts still apply today.
How is God speaking to you these days? What’s making you uncomfortable?
Book Review: Wrecked by Jeff Goins
I find it incredible that I would be selected to be part of a launch team for this new book by Jeff Goins right before I head to Guatemala where I’ll be working with a team in conjunction with Adventures in Missions, the organization that Jeff works for when he’s not writing books and blog posts.
Wrecked will disturb you.
Wrecked will give you the splash of cold water on your face or the slug to the shoulder necessary to wake you up.
Wrecked will challenge you to consider how God might be calling you to a new, wrecked adventure. It will challenge you to process experiences differently. And the book will challenge you to bring others along with you to help them become wrecked along with you.
I really appreciated Jeff’s new book. Throughout Wrecked, he weaves stories from his own wrecked past in with truths he has learned along the way. He writes in a style that draws you in from the first page all the way to his personal story on the last pages of the book.
Jeff makes you think differently about your own experiences. I have had several stories of wreckage from my past floating through my head as I’ve read through Wrecked. I’ve also been praying that God will wake me up and wreck me – as I head to Guatemala later this week, as I return home from the trip, and as I go on with my life. I’m also praying that God will use the Guatemala trip to wreck the lives of those going on the trip (32 including 25 teenagers). And I’m praying that you’d consider picking up a copy of Wrecked and that it would be catalyst for wrecking your life as well.
Here’s the deal: You can get the first part of the book for FREE. Just hit this link. At the bottom of the page, there are directions for getting the first part absolutely free. Secondly, I want you to buy the book, BUT WAIT! Don’t buy it until, you read some information on the book’s website. If you wait until the first week it comes out (which is supposed to be next week), Jeff will send you over $150 worth of additional Wrecked related items at no charge. Please go to the website for the book. Plan to buy Wrecked. And get ready to discover what happens when a broken world slams into your comfortable life.
Do you plan to read Wrecked? What’s a good book that you’ve read recently? How have you been challenged in your reading lately?
Ice Breaker – Wrecked
It’s Friday which means it’s time for an ice breaker question here on The Stretched Blog. As you read below and recall my post from yesterday, you may see a common word used in both posts. The word WRECKED is bringing new meeting into my life these days as I read through Jeff Goins‘ soon to be released book, WRECKED. I’ll share a teaser video at the end of today’s post and a review post in the coming days. In the meantime, it’s time for today’s ice breaker question.
(For those of you who are new around here, each week I ask a question – an ice breaker – designed to help us get to know a little bit about each other. I answer the question in the post, and you get to answer the question by leaving a comment.)
Question: Describe a time when you wrecked a car (or bicycle…or something else).
My answer: If memory serves me correctly, I’ve had two car accidents in my life. Neither of them were fun, but the first one was an especially memorable crash. Two weeks before my wedding day, I was traveling into Philadelphia to meet up with my soon-to-be bride (Leanne). I had just spent the night with my college roommate (and best man) at my new apartment, and I was traveling down a busy stretch of highway known in our area as The Roosevelt Boulevard. I was driving my mint green Ford Taurus which I had recently purchased in an effort to get out of a lease situation on my previous vehicle. Even though I purchased the car used, I think it only had 5 or 6 thousand miles on it at the time of the accident.
I noticed that traffic coming the other way was stopped as I approached a hill. You think I would have slowed down, but I didn’t. As I came up over the crest of the hill, there was a car parked in the left lane. I tried to stop, but there wasn’t enough time to slow my car. I was probably doing 50-60 miles an hour when I plowed into the back of this parked car. My airbags went off, my hood flew open, my car immediately stopped, and I went into shock. Through the smell of the airbags and the floating smoke that lingered in my car, I emerged from my smashed up Taurus only to discover that the car I had hit was gone. Yes, it someone drove away and left the scene of the accident.
The police, ambulance, and tow truck showed up. There weren’t many cell phones at the time, so I had no way of contacting my fiance to explain why I was late. Eventually, I showed up at our rendezvous location in the front seat of the tow truck. It was an interesting ride home and an interesting introduction into the two-week period that led up to our wedding. My car ended up being fixed despite over $11,000 worth of damage. I’m still not sure why they didn’t total the car. It was never the same again. It was WRECKED!
Now, it’s your turn to answer today’s question. But before you leave your answer in the comments, check out this video about a new book that I’m very excited to share with The Stretched Community:
eBook Review: You Are A Writer (So Start ACTING Like One) by Jeff Goins
Today, I’m excited to share about a new eBook resource for writers that will be available in the next couple of days from Jeff Goins. In You Are A Writer (So Start ACTING Like One), Jeff shares tips and encouragement for writers.
First, Jeff who blogs regularly at goinswriter.com challenges readers to change their attitude about writing. He encourages readers to take on the title of “writer.” I have always considered myself to be an engineer, a father, a husband, and a leader, but thanks to Jeff I now consider myself to be a writer.
You Are A Writer provides key advice for finding your voice as a writer. Jeff explains how to build a platform, how to establish a brand, and how to utilize channels of connection. As a blogger for the past four or five years, I came away from You are A Writer with valuable information that will help me grow in my writing.
Finally, Jeff shares his insights in how newer writers and take the next step towards publication. You Are A Writer provides step by step essentials for progressing from a closet writer to becoming published in magazines and on-line to writing your own book. This eBook is an excellent resource that I will come back to again and again in my pursuit of becoming a better writer. You Are A Writer has my recommendation.
Thanks, Jeff, for sharing your writing experience and knowledge with us!
Are you a writer? What’s your next step in your writing journey?
Update 5/2/2012 from Jeff Goins: The website http://youareawriter.