Unexpected Gifts by Christopher L Heuertz

Unexpected Gifts by Christopher L Heuertz

In this heartfelt and thoughtful book, Christopher Heuertz writes of the dangers of isolation, the challenges we face when we join together and the struggles and joys that emerge from genuine community bonding.

Ironically, as much as we yearn for deep friendships and meaningful communities, many of us seem to be unable to find our way into them. Even if we know we're made for community, finding one and staying there seems almost impossible. Though we hate to admit it, if we stay long enough in any relationship or set of friendships, we will experience failure, doubt, burnout, loneliness, transitions, a loss of self, betrayal, frustration, a sense of entitlement, grief, and weariness. Yet it's these painful community experiences, these tensions we struggle to navigate, that hold surprising gifts. --FROM THE PREFACE

IN A STRIKINGLY confessional tone and vividly illustrated through story, Unexpected Gifts names eleven inevitable challenges that all friendships, relationships, and communities experience if they stay together long enough. Rather than allowing these challenges to become excuses to leave, Chris Heuertz suggests that things like betrayal, transitions, failure, loss of identity, entitlement, and doubt may actually be invitations to stay. And if we stay, these challenges can become unexpected gifts.

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Betrayal, failure, loss of identity, doubt. If your relationships have suffered from any of these pitfalls, this book will show you that staying together can create something more--even something beautiful.

IN THIS HEARTFELT and thoughtful book, Christopher Heuertz writes of the dangers of isolation, the challenges we face when we join together, and the struggles and joys that emerge from genuine community bonding.

Whether readers are forming a new community, searching for deeper community, or participating in a longtime community, they will find inspiration, caution, guidance, and encouragement as they discover the beauty of pressing in to the ambiguities of growing relationships in this tender and honest testimony about how we are woven together by grace.

Heuertz, Christopher L.: - Christopher L. Heuertz is founding partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism, which exists to nurture the integral connection between Christian spirituality and activism. He and his wife Phileena Heuertz spent nearly twenty years traveling to over seventy countries working for women and children victimized by human traffickers in the commercial sex industry with Word Made Flesh, an organization that serves Jesus among the poorest of the world's poor and for which Chris served as International Director. Heuertz began his journey with social justice ministry in 1993, when he volunteered for several months in Kolkata, India, with Mother Theresa and the Missionaries of Charity. Heuertz married Phileena in 1996 they moved from India to Omaha, Nebraska, the headquarters of WMF where they now live. They then founded Gravity in 2012 to support the development of Christian consciousness by making contemplative practice accessible to individuals, communities and organizations who engage the challenging social justice perils of our time. Heuertz has shared his knowledge and experience with Christian culture at large through his books Simple Spirituality and Friendship at the Margins, coauthored with Christine Pohl. He has also been asked to speak at numerous conferences including Catalyst, Urban Youth Workers Institute, Passion, and Faith, Film and Justice. He has participated with Lausanne, Urbana, and To Write Love on Her Arms. Heuertz has written articles for Christianity Today, The Other Journal, and Lausanne World Pulse. In addition to his public speaking and writing, Heuertz is an ordained minister through the Association of Evangelical Churches and Ministries and an adjunct professor at Lakeview Seminary in Chennai.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781451652260
ISBN 10	1451652267
Title	Unexpected Gifts
Author	Christopher L Heuertz
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Howard Books
Year published	2013-01-08
Number of pages	240
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable