Book Review: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I love Donald Miller. It started when I took my friend’s advice to read “Blue Like Jazz” and it’s continued ever since. After reading “Blue Like Jazz”, I read “Searching for God Knows What” and “Through Painted Deserts”. Over time, I must say that I have a certain expectation for Miller’s work, and this book did not disappoint.

I will admit that I was hesitant about the topic of the book. Reading about Donald Miller’s journey after becoming very successful didn’t REALLY appeal to me that much. However, once I started the book, I found myself reading as intently as I had read with his other books. Reading “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” was refreshing to me. It took me back to a place of curiosity within my faith that I’m sad to say has been missing recently. What I appreciate most about Miller is his ability to not only see God in the most ordinary, every day things; but to subsequently express that in a way that his readers can easily understand. That skill, as a writer, is truly a gift.

As with previous books that I’ve read by Donald Miller, I was pushed to think about myself, and how I view my faith and my relationship with God. Miller also seems to have mastered the ability of writing about ones self without seeming too self-absorbed or overly arrogant, which is another skill that as a writer, is a gift.

I would (and already have) recommend this book to anyone who is seeking to explore their faith in a new way, or just want to go a deeper level in their faith. Those not familiar with Miller and his style of writing may have to adjust, but it’s an easy adjustment to make and definitely one that is worth it. Miller doesn’t disappoint.

Teaching = Humility Builder

I think that for several years I have misinterpreted the look that I’ve received when I told people that I wanted to be a teacher. I always thought that the look was condescending and that the giver of the look was implying that I must lack the intellectual capacity to do anything else with my life. Now that I’m in my second year of teaching, I understand the look to be more along the lines of, “You must have an infinite amount of patience and energy, because I know that I don’t have what it takes to do what you do.”

That may sound conceited or arrogant, but I don’t mean for it to. What I’ve discovered is that teaching is an incredible humility builder, and if you can’t take being knocked down several times a day (at least 3 times, and I don’t literally mean being knocked down), it’s a hard career.

It could be that I’m too hard on myself. It may very well be that my lessons are better than I think they are, or that my students could be retaining more information than they express to me. At any rate, I spend a great amount of my day in reflection as to how to make things better- and when I say make things better, I mean make me better.

It’s humbling because there are always areas that can be improved. Even on days where the lessons go well, the students are even more well-behaved than they would be normally, I’m finding areas where I can be more dynamic and more effective to create a better learning environment.

I guess the best way to sum it up is like this: “There’s always room for improvement. It’s the biggest room in the house.”

Book Review: Max Lucado’s Fearless

Before reading this book, I’d never picked up a single Max Lucado book. While I’d seen them in various bookstores, the titles never seemed to jump out at me.

I’m glad to say that my foray into the world of Max Lucado was a delightfully enjoyable and inspiring adventure! In Lucado’s latest book, Fearless, he encourages the reader in how to live free from fear and confident in the faith that we profess.

There are many things that I like about this book, but perhaps what immediately grabbed me was the realistic nature by which Lucado communicates with the reader. In my experience, I’ve found that many faith-based writers tend to talk AT the readers and not TO them, often in such a way that they seem preachy or either exempt from the circumstances that they write about. Lucado’s realism is refreshing and I felt as if I were having an engaging conversation with someone who had faced the same challenges that I had.

I also enjoyed the way that scripture was used in this book to affirm the reader as well as to emphasize the point that the author was trying to make. At no point could it be said that the book was based off of Lucado’s own spiritual assumptions—the use of scripture is too compelling. As I read through the chapters, I was encouraged by his use of scriptures; many of which I had read before, but I hadn’t thought to put in my scripture lineup in regards to fear. Thanks to this book, I have many more to choose from besides relying on 2 Timothy 1:7.

I would definitely recommend this book to others- new Christians, old Christians, or just those who need a refreshing take on how to handle fear as they go through life as a Christian. Additionally, the discussion guide that accompanies the book makes it pretty awesome for those who want to read it in a group. But whether you read it in a group or alone, it’s a wonderful choice!

Thursday Thoughts

“The thousands of little compromises we make every day eventually add up to the loss of ourselves.” ~Anonymous