A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I just finished a new book by Donald Miller. The title is "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." The author said this book is about what he learned while editing his life. The book describes a situation where a company was making a movie about the author's life. The author realized early on that his life was not worthy of writing a book about or making a movie. He realized luckily at a young age (mid-thirties) that he was not writing a very good story about his life. He did something about it and began to take on various challenges, such as climbing mountains in Peru and riding cross country from Los Angeles to the East Coast ( a two month bide ride). He also begain his greatest work....starting a mentoring program for fatherless children.

Miller points out that we all have a story to tell. Some are exciting some rather bland. He describes in the book that "a story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it." He goes on to say "if I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically into the story, and put us with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you.

This book is not an action packed adventure, but a man pouring out his heart about his place in this life and the story his life will tell. Yet I found myself unable to put the book down. I read this book in a few nights and know that I must reread it for all the nuggets hidden in it's pages. While this is the first book I have read by this author I know that I will read his other works.

Now to my problem with applying this book. The author as stated is in his mid to late thirties. I am in my late fifties. Am I too late to edit my story and make it an exciting life? I believe that God writes a story for each of us. The question is do we live the story? Or do we live aimless lives, rolling with the flow and taking life as it comes? Can we make our latter years more exciting than our early years? My faith tells me that we can start where we are, today. We can make the most of the time God has given us.

I can say unequivocally.....buy this book....buy it today. It will change your outlook. It will change your life. I believe with all my heart that God ordains books such as this in the hopes that His children will live their stories as he wrote them. It is never too late to start. Today is the first day of the rest of your lives. Again the book is titled....A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller.