Mez McConnell’s childhood story is that of severe deprivation, abuse, and mistreatment. His abuser(s) enjoyed hurting him and his sister in the cruelest of ways. He spent his early years in an impossible situation where each day of life was lived in fear of ‘her’ and the starvations and various abuses she meted out with relish and regularity. He prayed to God to save him from these but couldn’t tell that God even cared. He learned to ‘take it’ without complaint as he nurtured an inner rebellious defiance against the satisfaction she would gain through the pleasure of administering abuse. Years later, after McConnell’s own inner torment was well into self-destructive mode, he began to explore the possibility of there being a God, and, secondary to that, why a just God would have allowed such horrific abuse to occur. He eventually realizes that Christ suffered and died for people who hated Him. He begins to understand the bigger picture of Christ’s love to the world of scarred humankind. This book is an uncomfortable read but it is also the encouraging story of a redeemable human being. McConnell shares insights about the theology of God in offering His caring, loving, and redemptive hope to all, especially to those wounded by life.

I am writing a book about living to give, how to live with a giving sort of mindset. I found this book while checking out other books in the genre. I put in the search word, ‘generosity,’ and this book was spotted. I’d never heard of it before. Because of the amazingly complimentary reviews, I decided to read it. S. Truett Cathy had something to do with it too, Chick-Fil-A and all; I’m always curious about the ‘what for’. The book’s story line is great! The message is meaningful. The impact will be on-going. My book club just finished reading it. They had enthusiastic reactions, and we all were impacted by its message. How wonderful that someone can live to give from what they have — when the giving factor takes hold — and then others replicate the message; and it continues to replicate. In some ways it made me think of the underlying message in the century old book, “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do.” This is also a book about faith that lives and transforms. I loved it!