In A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller writes about his discovery that the same things that make for a great story also make for a great life. He describes the elements of a great story and explains how the reader can write these elements into his or her own life to make it more fulfilling and compelling.
But if you know anything about Don Miller, you know it’s not written in a self-help sort of way. It’s a narrative of discovery. It flows from offbeat and funny to reflective and serious as Miller writes about the experience of creating a screenplay loosely based on his autobiographical book Blue Like Jazz and how that changed his life.
I found A Million Miles in a Thousand Years enjoyable to read. But more than that it’s the kind of book that can change the reader’s life. So, I want to give away a copy.
I’d you’d like to win a copy for yourself or to give away as a Christmas gift read on.
One of the main principles in A Million Miles is:
A story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.
But as Miller explains in the author’s note:
If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end… you wouldn’t tell your friends… The truth is you wouldn’t remember that movie a week later… But we spend years actually living those stories.
For a story to be great, the protagonist has to want something really big – bigger than himself – and overcome big obstacles to get it. And the same is true about life, if you want to live a great story, you have to strive for something really big – bigger than yourself. True, isn’t it?
If you’d like to win a copy of for yourself:
First, post a comment about what you’re going to strive for in 2010 that will make your life a great story.
Then either Twitter: Win a copy of A Million Miles 4 yourself or 2 give 4 Christmas from @PaulSteinbrueck @DonMillerIs @ThomasNelson – http://bit.ly/8VlgO0
Or post a link to this post in Facebook.
If you’d like to win a copy to give as a Christmas gift:
Hey, don’t worry about re-gifting… I received two copies, one from @backstageleader the other from @human3rror (thanks again guys), I presume they received them from @ThomasNelson, so you would be quad-gifting, or something like that. Anways…
First, without giving away the name of the person you have in mind, post a comment telling why you think A Million Miles would be a good gift for them.
Then either Twitter: Win a copy of A Million Miles 4 yourself or 2 give 4 Christmas from @PaulSteinbrueck @DonMillerIs @ThomasNelson – http://bit.ly/8VlgO0
Or post a link to this post in Facebook.
I will draw one random winner at 3 PM EST tomorrow (Thursday) and mail the book off as soon as I get an address, so you should get it before Christmas.
Disclaimer: I am not associated with Donald Miller or Thomas Nelson, Inc in anyway, but I mention them in a shameless attempt to get them to retweet this post since in doing so they will get some extra pub too.
Spoke on story last week at our church, and how we are attracted to the Christmas Story because of the elements of it. I loved the book and have been talking to people about story and our invitation into the God story via the Christmas Story. Great book, great gift! Give as many away as possible.
Rusty, it’s neat to hear you’ve been talking about story in your church. We did a short 2 week video-based series in my small group on story. It really seemed to resonate with people. Now that I’ve read the book, I may suggest we read & discuss our way through the whole book, a few chapters a week or something.
In 2010 I will re-enter mentoring (something I have done previously and miss greatly). I know that mentoring is something that Donald Miller strongly advocates. Looking forward to being used by God to make a difference through mentoring in 2010.
That would be cool. Everyone that I have talked to has really embraced the idea that Miller talks about. It seems to be something that we have been missing in our church culture. I have been thinking of taking four or five men through the book and talking about ways that we can create better stories for our families. That part of the book really stood out to me as a dad and husband. Part of my leadership is creating a good story for my family to be a part of.
Joe, that’s awesome!
Rusty, the story about the father offering a better story for his daughter was really insightful and inspiring to me as a dad.
The emphasis at our church is on Living L.O.W.D. – Loving Others Without Discretion. You can hear the messages here:
http://www.oakpointe.org/services/messages.html
Living life that way is definitely living a life bigger than yourself – and definitely in keeping with Don Miller’s premise.
I endeavor to live that way now and in 2010, with the help of the Holy Spirit’s power living in me.
I keep hearing about Don’s book, and would love to win it and read it – and live it!
I will be tweeting, fyi.
Blessings & Merry Christmas – Andrea
Andrea, that sounds great. Do you have any specific goals for 2010? Anything in particular you are going to try to accomplish?
Satisfaction in His love alone. Really.
Congrats Joe! You’re the winner of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Mailing it today.
Paul,
followed you lead and now have a group of 6 guys that are going to read thought the book over the course of 6-8 weeks and discuss how we can create a better story for ourselves, our wives, and our kids. I am really looking forward to it. All of us have young kids.
Rusty, that’s cool. I hope you’ll blog about the experience at some point.