A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I have been reading a book named "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years," by Donald Miller. Mr. Miller and I didn't get off to the best start the first time I read him. I am one of the few that did not care for "Blue Like Jazz." In fact, it got me quite riled up and while I recommended it to others to read because it causes you to think, the book made me angry also, leaving me conflicted and not anxious to pick up another of his books. A friend recommended this one, a friend that I trust, so I managed to borrow it and read it this week. I must say that I liked this book much better than the first. I still feel like he and I  would butt heads quite a little if we met, which can be fun, I loved the concept of this book and it got me thinking. Donald talks about the importance of the story of your life and the book challenged me to look at the story I am living. It moved me to tears in a couple spots because I can see how I have wasted so much of my story and I see how little I have left to write. Don talks about how every story has conflict that has to be overcomed to make the story worthwhile. He talks about how, for a story to "work", one must overcome fear and I liked what he said about fear. He said that overcoming fear is about being afraid and walking through it anyway and how so often we think of fear as self protective when it is actually a major distraction and is highly destructive. Fear keeps us from living our best story. It takes awhile to get into the book, but is worth the effort. It left me determined to write my "story" with much more thought and deliberation and to work hard to overcome some obstacles that have kept me back for so many years. I have decided not to wallow in what I have missed in my story but to instead to walk forward with deliberate thought with the time I have left. I have always been fascinated by the "story" of others lives and have enjoyed the beauty of others ideas. Now I see the need of being purposeful of the "story" my life is writing and telling. It will either bring glory to God or be just a waste of space and time. I know what I want it to be but that will not come by accident. We are each writing a "story" with the time God gives us and while mine may not translate into a book or movie, I hope it will make a difference.