Kelley - Wednesdays were pretty normal: a boy, cancer, and God

Get ready to go on a remarkable journey of what it looks like to watch your world shatter before your very eyes and be forced into a wrestling match with the fears and doubts that inevitably accompany us in our darkest times. Faith is more than a gift were given; its a tool we must exercise and use in order to experience its supernatural power. Michael Kelley poignantly illustrates the process of turning faith from a noun to a verb and how it can transform and shape our ability to persevere. Everyone needs to read this book.

Pete Wilson, pastor and author of Plan B

A huge man and a tiny child walk hand in hand through these pages, then right out of the book and into your heart. Read it for your own edification, if you wish! But be alert! There are other parents you may not have noticed, who grieve quietly and are much afraid. Look hard, theyre not usually out in the open, but they are there in the shadows of desperation. They need this book. Care! Then buy it for them. Then read them the first page and leave them alone. From that one page they will begin their own journey through Gethsemane. Then in the company of Michael and his Savior, their neediness will dissolve in wisdom.

Calvin Miller, author and professor at Beeson Divinity School

Many parents fear, often from the very first breath of a baby, that they will someday find themselves in a cancer ward with their beloved child. At first I resisted reading this book, afraid that it would be emotionally draining and gut-wrenching. I was wrong. This book will drive you to hope, joy, and trust in Gods purposes, even if you find yourself where you feared you might be.

Russell D. Moore

dean, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

In the midst of a battle no one wants to face, Michael wrestled with issues about God and faith and the difficulty of life that many of us will confront in some way. Honest, heartbreaking but beating loudly with hope, Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal is a beautiful book.

Jon Acuff, best-selling author of Quitter and Stuff Christians Like

C. H. Spurgeon used to say that doubt was a foot poised to go forward or backward in faith. This book is an uncomfortably honest one that raises the foot. But throughout the story, Michael points back to a God that is deeper than the pain and doubts and guides us beyond Christian platitudes to genuine rest in the arms of our heavenly Father. I look forward to recommending this book to people in our church who cant seem to get an answer to the why.

J.D. Greear, lead pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina and author of Gospel

The Christian lives life between Earth and heaven, with one foot in each. Michael Kelley captures this dynamic well, taking the reader between sorrow and triumph, pain and joy. I feel very strongly that this story is one that must be shared again and again. Youll find yourself seeing faith, hope, and ultimately, God, in a much more intimate way than you have before.

Mark Batterson, author pastor of National Community Church, Washington, DC

There are countless wildernesses: from depression to divorce, from brokenness to bankruptcy. For too many of us, cancer is our wilderness. Michael Kelley wandered that particular wilderness with his wife Jana as they watched and waited while their son Joshua wrestle with leukemia. I am sorry for their suffering. I am sorry for the time they lost that they will never get back. But I am deeply thankful that they did not waste their sorrow, and I am deeply thankful that Michael wrote this book.

Michael Card, Christian singer/songwriter

A heart-breaking, thoughtful, and profoundly encouraging book written from real life experience. For everyone who has ever wondered why bad things happen, Michaels book doesnt answer the question. It does something betterit points all of us who know what it means to hurt to a God who is both passionately loving and still divinely sovereign.

Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research

What a moving, honest memoir of real people facing the horrific nightmare of a life-threatening childhood disease! It pulsates with raw emotion, frank questions, and deep spiritual resolve. My friend, Michael Kelley, tells his familys story with transparency and authenticity. No sugar-coated, pseudo-spirituality here! Just the truth about finding Gods grace in the midst of genuine pain. An inspiring story for alla life-changing story for those who are facing a similar situation.

Dr. Jeff Iorg, president, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary

Anyone who has ever had a sick child will find much needed words of comfort, encouragement, and a powerful reminder that youre not alone. Whether for yourself or your friends, youll discover divine solace in these pages.

Margaret Feinberg, author of Scouting the Divine and Hungry for God

Michael Kelley is a gifted communicator and offers the church in this generation much promise. I am pleased not only to recommend this book, but also to commend this faithful servant of the Lord. These pages are filled with the life-changing experience of his sons cancer diagnosis and treatment. The relational and spiritual insights youll read about are hard earned and precious. Michael pulls back the curtain on faith and hope during times of difficulty. He does so with honesty and transparency, allowing us to hear his questions and doubts and to feel the weight of the struggle alongside him. But he also gives us the chance to hear profound truths that God taught him in those momentstruths about Gods character, purposes, and love.

Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources

Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal is not a cute kid overcomes the odds or sentimental story of suffering; it shows us the intersection of Christs gospel with the realest of the real. With wit, insight, and power, Michael Kelley reveals the promises of Gods Word found in the very wounds He allows. Joshuas story wont just move you; it will move you forward in your faith.

Jared Wilson, author of Your Jesus Is Too Safe and Gospel Wakefulness

Youre asked to blurb a bookI assumeto bring something to the book, like credibility. But while reading Michael Kelleys book, I couldnt help but think I am the one being honored to associate myself with it. It presents the picture of a man both walking with God, like Enoch, and wrestling with God, like Jacob. It takes you down a road where love and tragedy and wisdom and hope all merge. It is a genuinely special book, at once deeply personal and transcendently godward.

Jonathan Leeman, editorial director of 9 Marks

Parenting is a word that should make us all tremble. The daily joy comes with multiplied challenges for anyone blessed with the responsibility to lead and care for little lives. Anyone who knows Michael and Jana respects that for their family, parenting has taken their family on a journey face-to-face with leukemia, with too many needles, hospitals, and departures from the normal parenting journey. In Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal , Michaels father voice shares the difficulty of the most simple things like playing baseball and the joy of looking back to see that the journey has led them to the heart of Christ.

Randy Hall, CEO of Student Life

Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal is about personal faith forged through the fire of suffering and the all-encompassing grace of a God who wont fit into the boxes we try to construct around Him. This is not a sentimental memoir or another theoretical look at suffering. Instead, Michael leads us to the intersection of faith and life, of Gods love and our pain, of Gods plan and our questions.

Trevin Wax, editor of TGM (Theology, Gospel, Mission) at LifeWay Christian Resources, author of Counterfeit Gospels and Holy Subversion