A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: A Review

I've been waiting for this book for more than two years. It was at least that long ago now that Donald Miller spoke at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI on the subject of Story. It was a talk that I have gone back to probably a dozen times. It's a talk that led me to dream, and then to ultimately step out and begin planting a church - Story Church.

I must admit that I am already a Donald Miller fan. I've read Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What, and To Own a Dragon. Each of these books has played a key role in my spiritual journey. But even as a fan, I don't think I was ready for what A Million Miles has done to me.

This book is the result of Don's real life experience with editing his memoir Blue Like Jazz to be made into a movie. During the process, he begins to learn all the elements of story - what makes a story good, what makes a story bad, etc. After realizing that his own real life story wasn't really going anywhere, he decided to apply the elements of story to his life. He begins to intentionally seek out a story of purpose and meaning by facing his fears, chasing down his dreams, and embracing the challenges and conflicts that come his way. The result is profound.

A Million Miles is raw. It's gut wrenchingly vulnerable. I found myself regularly laughing out loud. A few pages later I found myself weeping. It was convicting, challenging, inspiring, and unsettling. I was blown away at how vulnerable Miller is in this book. I felt at times like he was letting me in on parts of his life and his thoughts in a way that I haven't even done with some of my closest friends. From the journey to find his dad, to the quest to find love, it was an unbelievable ride.

This is one of those books that will forever change me. I will no doubt read it again and again. As a pastor I can say without a doubt that this is a book I will be giving away to everyone who will read it. It isn't preachy. It's honest, funny, beautiful, and inspiring. And if you and I let these truths seep in, our stories will never be the same.

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First Preview

Now that we're two days removed from our first preview, here are some things that we learned as a team:

1) We knew we had a lot to setup, but we didn't really have tasks assigned. So we ended up looking like a 5 year old soccer team - all of us together running around chasing the same problem.

2) Flexibility is the name of the game in a portable environment. When we showed up, there were 200 chairs set up and the back wall of the gym was open into the cafeteria. While we ended up getting it closed and most of the chairs put away, right from the start we had obstacles we weren't planning on.

3) We needed start times for each of our jobs. What time should we be at the door greeting? What time should the band be done? What time should kids registration start? etc.

4) Our screen is too big. Seriously a 9' x 12' screen is cool, but way too big for our setting. Because of the size we had very little flexibility on our setup and it had to be way over on the side which caused people to look sideways to see it.

5) Transitions. They need work.

6) Borrowing from three different sound systems is confusing. It made for a much more complex setup and teardown. "Is this mine, or yours, or theirs?" Next time we'll try and piece enough together to use just our own stuff.

7) Connection Cards are awkward. We didn't really know when in the service to do them, and it just felt weird.

8) Money. In our effort to not talk much about money and not make an offering a big deal - we ended up making it a big deal. haha.

9) Our band rocked. Too bad they may be all different next time!

10) This is stinking fun. I could give my life to this kind of thing.

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Today

Today is the day. It's so cool to work toward something and pray about something for years and then finally get to catch a first glimpse of it. Today is the first preview service for Story Church. We'll be meeting at 6pm at Spring Valley Elementary School. I am so proud of our team. They have worked so hard over the last few months to get ready for this day. They have given of their time, their resources, and have served this community without any negativity or complaining.

It's quite humbling to know that there are literally hundreds of people praying for us today. At my home church in CA they will be showing a video from us today, and spending some time praying for us and our service. Many others have committed to pray for us on this day as well.

I feel a sort of nervous excitement. Part of me thinks we're going to knock it out of the park, and the other part of me hopes someone shows up! Either way, we can't really do anything about that now. We realize as a team that today is a necessary step for us whether anyone shows up or not. It's a day that we need, as a team. We will learn so much today about our systems, about our readiness, and about our ability to be flexible when we need to be.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted about how things went. In the meantime, you can check out the new website that went live today at www.storychurch.org.

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Fire

In case you missed it, CA is on fire. And I'm not just talking about the economic condition. You may know that I have only lived in NC for a year. Before that, I spent my whole life in a little city called Yucaipa in southern California. CA regularly gets fires this time of year, and right now there is a major fire in my city of Yucaipa and the surrounding hills. Many of my friends have had to evacuate their homes. I have many firefighting friends as well. Please pray that God will send cooler weather and that those fighting the fires will have success and safety.

(Thanks to Ron Sheveland for the photo)

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