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Thirty Thousand Days: The Journey Home to God
Christ came so that we could have life to the full. But what does this really mean for everyday life? It is so easy to become disheartened by the sadness or just bogged down by the monotony of life. We have a constant ache reminding us that we don't belong in this fallen world. Thirty Thousand Days offers an opportunity to think about and savor the reality of Heaven - of finally going Home. This special book draws your mind irresistibly to Christ and invites you to revel, with a childlike excitement, in the salvation He has secured for us.
- GenresChristian
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2016
3 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 12, 2017
This is an absolutely beautiful book full of insight and joy. Reading this book feels like talking with a sweet friend. You will be challenged to live and love purposefully, rejoicing in a God who lavishly loves us. I can't recommend it enough!
July 13, 2017
Standing Ready to Be Amazed
The average human being lives approximately 30,000 days — which sounded like a long stretch of time until I did the math and discovered that, as of today, I will have lived 20,005 of mine. Catherine L. Morgan envisions these Thirty Thousand Days as a journey home, traveling on a rattle trap train toward a sure and certain future of abundance.
In the meantime, however, there is waiting, and there is heartbreak, and no matter how well we try to manage our journey, there is always regret. This following life, then, is one in which we look boldly at Solomon’s cynical Old Testament pronouncement that “all is vanity” and “a chasing after the wind” — all the while trusting in Jesus’ promise of an abundant life.
Living Well
Offering her own wisdom alongside that of others, Catherine lays down a cobblestone path of words for this journey gleaned from her personal reading of a broad range of authors and thinkers. She speaks out of the context of experiences gained through inner-city ministry with her family in an impoverished section of the sprawling Denver metro-area. Far from Chicken Soup for the Soul, her conclusions are a bracing cup of strong tea — no sugar.
If we want to live well within the gift of our thirty-thousand days:
We will walk purposefully.
We will offer up our hearts to care passionately.
We will open our hands to give generously and unclench our grasp from around the things of Earth.
We will love deeply because it is commanded — not because it is easy.
We will stand firmly in a dangerous faith.
Bold Questions
Pursuing “the things over which Christ presides” is a chasing after light, a darkness fighting strategy if ever there was one. And this is the gift of viewing our days on this planet as a temporary prelude to a glorious eternity. Childlike, we will ask questions that promote a bold following:
Why not read Psalm 37 with a reckless abandon? What would it be like to wholeheartedly trust, dwell, do good, and delight? Can I even imagine a life without fretting?
What if my present circumstances are a canvas against which the glory of God will be radically put on display? What if this current set of troubles is “light and momentary” after all?
Am I able to view my marriage — or my singleness — as a mission? Can I hold my church membership in the same light as a gym membership in which I “expect to sweat, to strain, to run an extra mile?” Let this thought marinate to adjust your perceptions on community and the local church:
“I am an alien and stranger here in the thick of a great battle. If I am engaged in this battle, I will need the refuge of the church. Love will sustain me. If I do not perceive this need, maybe I am not really engaging the fight.”
Leaning into the truth that I am mightily loved by God, that He delights in my delight, I am emboldened to discover where this great love might lead. Catherine points out a pattern in the book of Acts that I’m eager to see reproduced in my life and in the lives of those I love: “The disciples prayed, and then they were amazed. They prayed, and then they were amazed.”
With thirty thousand days ticking by so quickly in this journey, I stand ready to be amazed.
//
This book was provided by the author in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
The average human being lives approximately 30,000 days — which sounded like a long stretch of time until I did the math and discovered that, as of today, I will have lived 20,005 of mine. Catherine L. Morgan envisions these Thirty Thousand Days as a journey home, traveling on a rattle trap train toward a sure and certain future of abundance.
In the meantime, however, there is waiting, and there is heartbreak, and no matter how well we try to manage our journey, there is always regret. This following life, then, is one in which we look boldly at Solomon’s cynical Old Testament pronouncement that “all is vanity” and “a chasing after the wind” — all the while trusting in Jesus’ promise of an abundant life.
Living Well
Offering her own wisdom alongside that of others, Catherine lays down a cobblestone path of words for this journey gleaned from her personal reading of a broad range of authors and thinkers. She speaks out of the context of experiences gained through inner-city ministry with her family in an impoverished section of the sprawling Denver metro-area. Far from Chicken Soup for the Soul, her conclusions are a bracing cup of strong tea — no sugar.
If we want to live well within the gift of our thirty-thousand days:
We will walk purposefully.
We will offer up our hearts to care passionately.
We will open our hands to give generously and unclench our grasp from around the things of Earth.
We will love deeply because it is commanded — not because it is easy.
We will stand firmly in a dangerous faith.
Bold Questions
Pursuing “the things over which Christ presides” is a chasing after light, a darkness fighting strategy if ever there was one. And this is the gift of viewing our days on this planet as a temporary prelude to a glorious eternity. Childlike, we will ask questions that promote a bold following:
Why not read Psalm 37 with a reckless abandon? What would it be like to wholeheartedly trust, dwell, do good, and delight? Can I even imagine a life without fretting?
What if my present circumstances are a canvas against which the glory of God will be radically put on display? What if this current set of troubles is “light and momentary” after all?
Am I able to view my marriage — or my singleness — as a mission? Can I hold my church membership in the same light as a gym membership in which I “expect to sweat, to strain, to run an extra mile?” Let this thought marinate to adjust your perceptions on community and the local church:
“I am an alien and stranger here in the thick of a great battle. If I am engaged in this battle, I will need the refuge of the church. Love will sustain me. If I do not perceive this need, maybe I am not really engaging the fight.”
Leaning into the truth that I am mightily loved by God, that He delights in my delight, I am emboldened to discover where this great love might lead. Catherine points out a pattern in the book of Acts that I’m eager to see reproduced in my life and in the lives of those I love: “The disciples prayed, and then they were amazed. They prayed, and then they were amazed.”
With thirty thousand days ticking by so quickly in this journey, I stand ready to be amazed.
//
This book was provided by the author in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
February 8, 2017
This book is full of wisdom and insight. Catherine Morgan draws from many literary sources as well as from her extensive understanding of scripture. She shares many personal stories and is very transparent with the reader. I have actually read this book a couple of time, because it is so packed with truth I can live by. I highly recommend it.
January 7, 2020
May 12, 2017
Living Purposefully
“Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” These were the opening words to the soap opera my great aunt watched when I would visit her growing up as a young child. Her interest in the storyline became mine, and much to my dismay today, I watched off and on through high school and college. Today, a new generation is more likely to spend their time watching reality TV or Netflix, playing video games, and engaging with social media. But if these are, in fact, the “days of our lives,” what are we doing with them? Are we living on purpose and with intention? Do our lives have meaning? Or do the days assigned to us simply slip by as those sands through the hourglass? Are we at risk of wasting our lives, distracted by many trivial things, losing focus on the One thing? Each year, I choose a word or theme and a Scripture to focus on. This year, my word is “abundance.” Abundance means extremely plentiful, an over-sufficient quantity, overflowing fullness. It makes me think of more than I could need, lavish, extravagant. We see God is a God of abundant redemption (Psalm 130:6). He doesn’t just offer a little or a partial amount or even just enough, but it overflows. His redemption is plentiful and full. Not only is this redemption abundant, but we are intended to live abundant lives here and now as we wait on an abundant eternal life. John 10:10 tells us “Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly.” What does it look to live life from this abundance that God has given—to overflow to others out of the abundance He has poured out on us?
Living Abundantly
Into my new year with this new theme and verse, Catherine Morgan’s new book Thirty Thousand Days arrived in the mail. I opened the introduction: “Live Abundantly” with John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” As I began to read, I found echoes of all that God has been revealing to me in this perfectly timed book. The title of Catherine’s book (Thirty Thousand Days) is a reference to the average number of days that we have in our lifetimes. The subtitle “The Journey Home to God” reminds us that we are meant for another home, another place. The book is a call to live the abundant life that we are offered in Christ (John 10:10): to see eternally, worship wholeheartedly, walk purposefully, care passionately, give generously, hold loosely, love deeply, stand firm, choose light, and rest (the titles of the chapters). Catherine talks about transformation and asks, “How do we spend the days granted for us? How do we live abundantly, fully, richly, deeply satisfied before the sand in the hourglass is gone?” These are the questions the book answers. Each chapter provides another answer to what the abundant life is. Each one deepens our understanding of what it can be.
Living Freely
Catherine concludes Thirty Thousand Days considering the time when she will meet Jesus face to face, what He might say, and how she might answer—and what that means for life now. “What would it look like to live full, to live free? How might a person’s life be transformed by joy? What would it look like to really understand that you are fully loved, uniquely created, and designed for a purpose, and to live a life abandoned to the will of God?” It’s obvious Catherine wants her life to matter, to pour it all out for Christ, and she wants to show us why we should want this, too. Not only is the book full of biblical truth, it is filled with beautiful writing. Catherine has a gift with words, and when those words communicate truth, they become a gift to the reader. There is also a Group Study Guide at the end so that you can go through this material with a small group or a friend and do more than read, but digest and apply.
Living Purposefully
“Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” These were the opening words to the soap opera my great aunt watched when I would visit her growing up as a young child. Her interest in the storyline became mine, and much to my dismay today, I watched off and on through high school and college. Today, a new generation is more likely to spend their time watching reality TV or Netflix, playing video games, and engaging with social media. But if these are, in fact, the “days of our lives,” what are we doing with them? Are we living on purpose and with intention? Do our lives have meaning? Or do the days assigned to us simply slip by as those sands through the hourglass? Are we at risk of wasting our lives, distracted by many trivial things, losing focus on the One thing? Each year, I choose a word or theme and a Scripture to focus on. This year, my word is “abundance.” Abundance means extremely plentiful, an over-sufficient quantity, overflowing fullness. It makes me think of more than I could need, lavish, extravagant. We see God is a God of abundant redemption (Psalm 130:6). He doesn’t just offer a little or a partial amount or even just enough, but it overflows. His redemption is plentiful and full. Not only is this redemption abundant, but we are intended to live abundant lives here and now as we wait on an abundant eternal life. John 10:10 tells us “Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly.” What does it look to live life from this abundance that God has given—to overflow to others out of the abundance He has poured out on us?
Living Abundantly
Into my new year with this new theme and verse, Catherine Morgan’s new book Thirty Thousand Days arrived in the mail. I opened the introduction: “Live Abundantly” with John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” As I began to read, I found echoes of all that God has been revealing to me in this perfectly timed book. The title of Catherine’s book (Thirty Thousand Days) is a reference to the average number of days that we have in our lifetimes. The subtitle “The Journey Home to God” reminds us that we are meant for another home, another place. The book is a call to live the abundant life that we are offered in Christ (John 10:10): to see eternally, worship wholeheartedly, walk purposefully, care passionately, give generously, hold loosely, love deeply, stand firm, choose light, and rest (the titles of the chapters). Catherine talks about transformation and asks, “How do we spend the days granted for us? How do we live abundantly, fully, richly, deeply satisfied before the sand in the hourglass is gone?” These are the questions the book answers. Each chapter provides another answer to what the abundant life is. Each one deepens our understanding of what it can be.
Living Freely
Catherine concludes Thirty Thousand Days considering the time when she will meet Jesus face to face, what He might say, and how she might answer—and what that means for life now. “What would it look like to live full, to live free? How might a person’s life be transformed by joy? What would it look like to really understand that you are fully loved, uniquely created, and designed for a purpose, and to live a life abandoned to the will of God?” It’s obvious Catherine wants her life to matter, to pour it all out for Christ, and she wants to show us why we should want this, too. Not only is the book full of biblical truth, it is filled with beautiful writing. Catherine has a gift with words, and when those words communicate truth, they become a gift to the reader. There is also a Group Study Guide at the end so that you can go through this material with a small group or a friend and do more than read, but digest and apply.
January 31, 2018
This book was a great one to start the new year off with as it does a great job of putting life in perspective in comparison with eternity. The writing style is more casual. I wasn’t particularly pleased that she quoted some scripture from The Message Bible or that she quoted Eugene Peterson.
January 28, 2017
Got this as a Goodreads Giveaway. It's like a religious Susan Jeffer's book with positive messages. If you are religious and into self-help books this is a must.
July 12, 2017
I loved this book! I liked the honesty of the author when she shared struggles she's had with God or when she realized a plan was hers and not God's. Her words touched me because often I've had the same thoughts of wanting meaningful relationships, but struggling with the people closest to me in my life. Her book gave me hope!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews