Mark Yaconelli

The Gift of Hard Things by Mark Yaconelli is a quick and easy read on the difficulties of life through a Christian lens. Yaconelli covers such topics of burnout, failure, anger, etc through story and a very brief Biblical reflection. Each chapter ends with some discussion questions and reflection points.

The book itself is a pretty run of the mill formula. Tell a story, share how it applies to the topic, and then add Jesus into it. This does not mean it is a bad thing, but it is a formula that follows what many Christian authors do (including me- Grace. Justin Johnson *cheap plug).

Yaconelli is a great storyteller which makes the book move very quickly. He writes from the heart and shares simple story that connects well.

I will state that some of the stories were too simplistic for me. I was a bit thrown off right from the get go with his story Maddalena. Yaconelli states he was feeling burn out, so his friend takes him on a road trip and they stop at a restaurant. As they get a little tipsy, full, Yaconelli smiles and his friend declares him cured! They then order the cook to keep cooking after hours for them. The first off-putting portion was how they treated Maddalena. It seemed more rude than anything. The other was that a meal and a road trip would cure burnout. I know he knows more than that, but that was what was portrayed on the page.

Yaconelli has some stories I connected with such as his disastrous prayer service for teens where only elderly women come. I have been in a very similar situation, so I felt his pain. Other stories were heartbreaking such as Graduation Day, where he shares the story of a woman who graduates alone, so her husband dubs cheering over her video to show she is not alone. The stories are what drive the book.

I rated this one 3 stars. Without Yaconelli's voice, it would be less of a book as there wasn't much there to work with. I often wonder why publishers include a question section in books like this due to wondering if the intent is to study it with a group automatically, which comes off a bit more pretentious.

I received this book for review from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)