My first book review — Out of a Far Country

So I recently heard about this site called Blogging for Books. I heard that they send free review copies of books to bloggers who’ll commit to reviewing the book (on their blogs, at an online retailer and at the Blogging for Books site) within a month. I love books, and I love things that are free, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Sure enough, after selecting my first book from a list of several options, I received Out of a Far Country a few days later in the mail. And below, you’ll find my first book review:

Out of a Far Country is an autobiographical account, co-authored by mother and son, Angela and Christopher Yuan, in which they each recount their journeys from self-reliance and brokenness to hope and wholeness.  I had heard the Yuans interviewed on Moody Radio this fall, and because of the grace and truth conveyed by each of them in this interview, I was intrigued to read their story. While this book is being marketed as a book about homosexuality (it begins with Chris coming out to his parents), the central theme of this book is not about heterosexuality vs. homosexuality – Central to Christopher and Angela’s story is the theme of the grace of God in Jesus Christ that pursues each of us and can capture our hearts and transform our lives.

I was especially impressed with Angela’s story; she was successful but empty on the inside. Her marriage to Christopher’s father was lifeless and bitter. As a traditional, Chinese mom whose sense of identity relied upon the societal status of her children, she was devastated with the revelation of  her son’s sexual orientation. In the hopelessness she felt, she read a booklet given to her by a chaplain as she planned to take her own life:

It was a Christian booklet, but for the first time I didn’t want to avoid it simply for that reason. I was captivated by every word. The booklet explained that God loves everyone – even homosexuals-because of who they are, not what they do….It spoke about death, that death was the result of our brokenness, our failures, our imperfections. Instead of our dying, Christ died for us so that we wouldn’t have to die…Then I read a statement that seemed to pierce my deadened heart. “Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.” Nothing? You mean God loves…even me?…Then I heard a still, small voice that said, “You belong to me.”

All my life I wanted to belong…He knew my deepest need, and he spoke the words I longed to hear. Those four words were a healing balm to my shattered heart. I had not been seeking God, but I was found by him.

Angela goes on to be transformed by the love of God. I was so impressed and challenged by her devotion to prayer and by the faithful love and support she and her husband went on to show to Christopher, even as his life spun out of control (getting kicked out of dentistry school, becoming a huge circuit party promoter, going to prison for dealing drugs, etc.). I love that she focused on loving her son and sharing God’s word with him while praying earnestly and faithfully, behind the scenes  for God’s transforming work in this son’s life.

Christopher’s story is a parallel example of how God seeks us and finds us, even when we aren’t looking for Him. As a reader, I was especially grateful for the way Christopher didn’t pull any punches in sharing his story as it related to his sexual orientation, his party lifestyle, or his experiences as a drug user and distributor. No sugar-coating or “churchy” white-washing here. He was straight up and real, which really made it possible to empathize/sympathize with him as the narrator while giving me an appreciation for the fact that no life, no heart is unreachable to God. Additionally, in all I’ve read and heard discussed in Christian and secular circles around the topic of homosexuality, I really think Christopher’s perspective on the topic, as shared toward the story’s end, is the most solid. But I won’t share that here…Instead, I’ll recommend that you pick up  Out of a Far Country and experience Angela and Christopher’s stories for yourself.

You can download Chapter 1 here.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Today in church…

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. http://bible.us/1Tim6.10.NIV

Today’s pic

This is from a mural at work.

I read this verse tonight and liked it

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. http://bible.us/Ps5.3.NIV

Well, Here We Are

537.02 miles logged since February.

Lots, and lots of hours hitting the pavement, discovering a discipline that I truly enjoy and from which I really seem to benefit.

For the last 4 and a half months or so, I’ve had my sights set on the marathon. And in less than 12 hours, it will be here.

It’s like, for the past 8 months, I’ve been training to fight Mike Tyson, and tomorrow morning, I have to face him, toe-to-toe. And he’s a lot bigger than me.

I’m nervous, but I’m also excited. My greatest fear is to not finish, to reach a point where I feel so terrible that I have to quit. But I have also reached a point where I’ve told God that I am going to thank Him no matter what. He has shown me through this process afresh that He is good, and I trust Him.

Most of all, right now, I’m just really thankful.

Thankful for the family members and friends that God used to inspire me to take up running.

Thankful for the way that my wife and boys have supported me as I’ve spent hours per week away from home, putting the miles on my shoes.

Thankful for how times spent running have brought me closer to God.

Thankful for health, for lack of injury, and for the weight I’ve been able to lose and for just feeling more confident.

Thankful for the new friendships I’ve been blessed with in this process.

Thankful for the new connections I’ve gotten to be a part of.

Thankful for the opportunity to be reminded of God’s goodness, seen through the generosity of family and friends who’ve supported my fundraising efforts. Together, we’ve gone the extra mile — Almost $3000 raised to support the work of World Vision, International Justice Mission, and Steps Running/Mentoring initiatives. Wow!

Thankful for the family and friends who are coming to Chicago to cheer me on tomorrow. I really hope I don’t disappoint you.

I’m thankful for how running has allowed me times of reflection and clear thinking that have strengthened me.

 

And so, now, I really should try to sleep. Thanks for being with me on this journey!

 

Marathon Week: Post #1

So, in 5 days, the day for which I’ve been training for the past 8 months is scheduled to arrive.

I’m excited, mostly for all of the family and the hooplah, but also to finally face this monster called Marathon, look it in the eyes, and hope I can make it all 26.2 rounds, toe-to-toe with this beast without backing down.

I’m nervous.  But I know that nervousness isn’t a bad thing.

I’m tired. Work is flat out exhausting these days. I need to be disciplined this week about getting to bed early, forgoing the opportunity for later-night vegging in front of the TV, and using that time for much needed sleep instead.

One thing I’d like to do this week is just post a few thoughts each night between now and Saturday night, sharing some things I’ve learned in this process, and also choosing the songs that are going on my phone’s marathon playlist.

But I’ll start with a lesson learned:

It’s all about the run.  Something I recognized quite a long time ago into this training process is that the day-to-day choices I made regarding things like diet, hydration, and rest, ultimately have a serious impact on my running. If I eat well and drink lots of water in the day or so leading up to a long run, I feel great. If, instead, I get careless, eat whatever’s most convenient and get lazy about drinking water, my subsequent run is terrible. And so, day-to-day choices begin to be made for how they will affect the quality of my run.

And I think the same can be said for this run of that is the Christian life. If I don’t take care of myself by spending regular time “feasting” on God’s Word, if I’m not hydrating my soul through frequent, regular time in prayer, I can see it in my life. I’m too tired right now to elaborate, but you get the point, right?

Okay, anyway, here are a few songs that are making my playlist for 10.10.10:

1. Used to do it to, by Lecrae
2. Mercenary, by Brave Saint Saturn
3. Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates, by Andrew Osenga
4. Lions’ Anthem, by Sho Baraka
5. Spirit vs. the Kick Drum, by Derek Webb

Goodnight.

Things I have in common with Ryan Hall

Okay, let’s start by pointing out what Mr. Hall and I obviously do not have in common:

1. He holds the American record for the half marathon. The only American records I hold are in a box in my basement. They include Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the Motion Picture Soundtrack to Beat Street, and a bunch of old 45’s from the 60’s and 70’s.
2. He lives in California. I live here in the heartland and often wish I lived in California.
3. He went to Stanford. I’m a product of ju-co and state schools.
4. He gets paid to wear Asics running shoes. I pay to wear these same shoes.
5. He runs really fast, over long distances. I (seriously) don’t think I could keep up with him on my bicycle.

All that being said, Ryan Hall and I have some uncanny similarities.  And these are pretty good:

1. Neither of us holds the World Marathon Record (yet).
2. We’re both married to Sara’s. (No “h”)
3. We both have written on the same shoe (see the video and pic at the bottom of this post).
4. We both have a a serious sense of faith, rooted in Jesus Christ.
5. As an expression of that faith, we believe that we’re called to care for others as if they are Christ himself, especially those who are poor, oppressed, and without hope. Both of us are using our running (Ryan’s fast, and mine slow), to make a difference for people living in these types of conditions. We’re doing this by raising money for the Hall Steps Foundation.
6. On October 10, we are both scheduled to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Both of us will cross the same start line (though, by the time I actually cross the line, he should be about 3 miles in), run the same course, and (God-willing) cross the same finish line (I’m hoping to be halfway there by the time Ryan finishes).

Oh, and after 10/10/10, I’m also hoping to cross out the “World Marathon Record” comment…I’m hoping that Ryan will take care of that (so I won’t have to). 🙂

Here’s the link to the “shoe video.” Sorry…couldn’t find a way to embed.

(And here’s a pic of me, signing Ryan’s marathon shoe. )

Great, challenging article

I really like what this article has to say about how parents can/should pass on authentic Christianity to their kids.

My “Champ”

Today was a big day for my oldest.

He started kindergarten. Already learned “at” words, and, tonight, at bed, read about 13 pages of Hop on Pop with a little guidance from me on the word families. Wow. He was pretty proud. I was pretty thrilled at his excitement for learning.

This afternoon, I took Gabie and his younger brother out for some “man time” (that’s time with just the three of us guys…Gabe named it). We went to PAWS, an animal shelter in Lincoln Park to look at dogs. We really had a great time being together. We took our time looking around, and narrowed it down to three dogs we wanted to spend a little time with. I was blown away at Gabe’s confidence and with the perceptiveness of some of the questions he was asking the staff person who was working with us. We spent time with one “special” dog named Spinner, a yellow lab that incessantly runs in circles. He was Gabe’s fav. Mine too, though Gabe concluded Spinner probably wouldn’t make a good running partner for me (spinning and all).

He’s such a neat kid. And he totally thrives on spending this type of time together.

I’ve been praying since before Gabe was born that he would know Jesus and live a life devoted fully to Him. Gabe is a real thinker, and a real skeptic…kind of like his dad. He has tons of good questions, and he struggles to accept anything at face value. And I sense that God’s been working to draw Gabe to faith in Christ. Tonight, as we read from his children’s bible about John the Baptist, Gabe asked why people were going to John to be baptized. I explained that the people wanted to show that they didn’t want to sin anymore, that they wanted to be free from sin to do what’s right. Gabe said something along the lines of “I want to do that.” So I talked with him about how we place our trust in Jesus to save us from our sin and be the leader of our lives. Gabe said he wanted to trust Jesus, but he couldn’t. I asked if it was that he couldn’t, or if he wanted to but didn’t know how to trust Jesus. He said he wanted to but didn’t know how.

Now I’ll pause here  to say that this is the first time I’ve ever seen Gabe say he wanted to trust in Jesus with his life. In previous conversations like this, he’s always said he didn’t want to talk about it and I let it go, not wanting to push Gabe into making a decision that had to be his own. Tonight was different. He had a genuine openness and expressed a desire to ask Jesus to be the leader of his life.

I explained that to trust Jesus means to believe that He is the son of God, that He died to take away our sins, and that He rose again from the dead. I explained that it means we want to turn away from doing the wrong things, and we ask Jesus to take away our sins and to be the leader of our lives. I asked Gabe if he wanted to do this. He said he did.

And I led him in a simple prayer, acknowledging that he knows he needs Jesus and asking Jesus to come into his life. It was truly a beautiful moment.

In recent months, my prayer for Gabe has been based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 19: “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” This same verse was the basis of his Bible lesson on his first day of kindergarten.

I don’t understand how all of this works. And I’ll admit, I have my share of questions about how a child at the age of 5 can give himself to Jesus. But I take comfort in remembering that when we come to Him, he doesn’t drive us away. I take  courage in believing that Jesus will actually answer that simple prayer Gabe prayed.  I believe He did just that for me when I prayed a similar prayer with my dad at about the same age as Gabe.

It was a beautiful day with my “Champ.”

Wait! Where did summer go?!

So, I haven’t blogged in a few weeks. Maybe more like a couple of months. It’s been a good, busy, exhausting, good, busy summer.

The quick update: I’m still training for the 2010 Chicago Marathon. I’m almost 30%  of the way to the $2620 I hope to raise (with your help) for the Hall Steps Foundation.  Many of you, family and friends, who read my blog (or I should say, “read,” as in past tense), are to be thanked for your generous support. THANK YOU!!!

Training has suffered a bit in recent weeks due to my work, but I’m thankful to say that I have not yet missed a long run on the weekend. I’m also extremely thankful that the pain I’d been having in my right hip flexor has gone away. Ironically, it stopped hurting after I ran my (then) longest run of my life: 17 miles, while we were spending the weekend with the family of one of Sara’s childhood friends in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. Thank you, God!

My longest run yet (a few nights ago) has been 18 miles. It’s all beginning to feel real. I no longer have a hope to finish in a time that I’d be proud of; I’m really not a fast runner, and I’ve come to accept that. Now, my goal is just to finish the training and, Lord willing, finish that 26.2 mile race on October 10.

It feels like summer is just beginning for me, and kids are starting back to school this week. At work, we had no real downtime between the end of the school year and the launch of our new summer program, which lasted six weeks and pretty much kept me on my toes for each of those 6 weeks. (Which is the reason my blogging really went on hiatus for the bulk of the summer).

The summer program was part of this College Readiness program we started last October. We called it Summer Scholars, and we served two groups of kids: a middle school-age group and a high school group. Each group of kids came in for programming three days per week, and we took the on trips almost every one of those days. Trips included career trips (to provide exposure to different workplaces…highlights included a tour of the World’s Finest Chocolate plant and the Cook County Criminal Courthouse) college/high school trips (self-explanatory), and community trips to various cultural centers and events (e.g. DuSable Museum of African-American History, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago Public Library, etc.). Programming also featured standardized test practice, Bible study discussions, enrichment classes, and team-building activities.

Toward the end of the summer program, things got increasingly busy, as a report to a major funder had to be completed, a new grant application deadline had to be met, and a new staff member had to be hired.

I will say that while it was an exhausting summer workwise, it was also very good. God really seemed to bless Summer Scholars, He really knit our staff together as a stronger, more cohesive team, and I believe that kids’ lives were impacted for good in the process. Each day was tremendously fast-paced, beyond my comfort zone, but I really believe God carried me along through it and proved His presence and faithfulness once again.

Needless to say, though, I was glad to reach last Friday, knowing that I had (almost…still have to take care of some things while I’m off) crossed the finish line for my summer responsibilities. And now, I’m off this week and hopefully next week as well. Finally ready to kick it into a carefree, summer state of mind. But wait! Kids are starting school this week! Mine included! I’m so confused!

So now, summer is over. Gabe starts school tomorrow (more on that, I hope, later). I’m not at a point where I can just cast work aside during time off, taking on a truly carefree state of mind, which tempts me to be discontent and to feel sorry for myself. But, I trust that, for whatever reason, I am where God wants me. He’s giving me what I need for this particular point in my life, and regardless of the season (as in summer, winter, etc.), He is good, and He’s taking care of me and my family. And for that, I’m tremendously thankful.

I hope to get back into keeping this blog up to date. In the meantime, please share my fundraising page with your contacts! Only 7 weeks to go until the marathon!