John Trent - Chasing Skinny Rabbits: What Leads You Into Emotional and Spiritual Exhaustion...and What Can Lead You Out

Other Books by or Coauthored by
John Trent

The Blessing

Breaking the Cycle of Divorce

The Gift of Honor

Heartshift

The Language of Love

Life Mapping

Love Is a Decision

Superhero Swamp

The 2-Degree Difference

The Treasure Tree

The Two Sides of Love

2007 by John Trent, PhD

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Chasing Skinny Rabbits provides information of a general nature and is not to be used as an alternative method for conditions requiring the services of a personal physician or other health-care professional.

Information contained in this book or in any other publication, article, or Web site should not be considered a substitute for consultation with a board-certified doctor to address individual medical needs. Individual facts and circumstances will determine the treatment that is most appropriate. The Chasing Skinny Rabbits publisher and its author, John Trent, PhD, disclaim any liability, loss, or damage that may result in the implementation of the contents of this book.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Page Design by Casey Hooper

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Trent, John T.

Chasing skinny rabbits : what leads you into emotional and spiritual exhaustionand what can lead you out / John Trent.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-8499-1960-2 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-7852-8950-0 (IE)

1. Christian life. I. Title.

BV4501.3.T7325 2007

248.4dc22

2007030144

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 QW 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to my wife, Cindy, and to our daughters, Kari and Laura. All three do a great job of keeping me real and arent afraid to speak up if they see me chasing after Skinny Rabbits. May each of their paths always be blessed and ever lead toward Gods bestand away from Skinny Rabbit Trails!

CONTENTS

While any honest acknowledgments could go on for pages, Id like to give special thanks to five people who had an important part in shaping and taking this book on Skinny Rabbits seriously. The first two are publishers Byron Williamson and Joey Paul, for first sharing with me the idea that came to be called Chasing Skinny Rabbits. To John Fornof and Cedric Hornstadt, deepest thanks are due as well; to John for sharing his award-winning skills as a screenwriter to make characters in this book come alive, and for Cedrics outstanding drawing skills that have done a wonderful job of capturing Skinny Rabbits in art for this book and our Skinny Rabbit E-mail Alertavailable to send to a friend or family member whom you think is chasing a Skinny Rabbit at www.StrongFamilies.com or www.skinnyrabbits.com. at www.StrongFamilies.com or www.skinnyrabbits.com. Thanks are due as well to my very patient and professional book agent, Lee Hough, at Alive Communications. He has been a loyal friend for almost three decades and a wise and greatly valued counselor when it comes to all things books for almost a decade. My deepest thanks to all these and to all who, for sake of space, go unnamed.

ix

BEWARE THE
SKINNY RABBIT!

The bravest and strongest hunters of the village gathered by the flickering embers of the campfire. Their dogs lay quietly nearby, dreaming of the hunt to come. The magnificent Great Stag had been seen again. Farmers had spotted the immense creature standing proudly high on the crags. Travelers caught glimpses of it bounding through the woods. Women and children insisted they had seen a grand, noble animal that looked like an enormous deer disappearing into the morning fog or standing at the edge of a field at twilight. Whats more, they had found its trackshuge prints in plowed fields or in rain-washed roads. Yes, there was no doubt about it; the Great Stag was on the move.

THE HUNT FOR THE GREAT STAG

Each hunter gazed into the fire, his eyes gleaming not only with firelight but also with hope. Each prayed it would be his dogs that found the trail of the Great Stag and that his eyes would be the first to catch sight of the creature. They hunted this Stag not to kill the magnificent animal, for it was told that to the one who captured it alive would pass down power, insight, and untold wealth fit to benefit generations.

In the morning a battle cry arose from the mighty men. Quickly they gathered their kit, mounted their mighty steeds, and swept into the forest. On and on they rode, through wilderness and forest, over hill and dale, through stream and glade, hounds baying in the excitement of the chase.

For days and days the hunt went on. At times the hunters grew weary, but each new sighting of the Great Stags tracks renewed their energy. The Great Stag was elusive, and they knew the chase would not be easy. But the prize was worth every effort, so they pressed on.

After many days of trekking through bush and briar, the dogs were tired, and the hunters were dog-tired. All were famished. Their food supply was diminishing, and daily rations had become too meager to fill the gnawing emptiness in their bellies. Nonetheless, before the morning fog had lifted the next day, the men mounted and took up their chase.

With the hunting dogs far in front, one man in the middle of the pack of hunters glimpsed something moving to his right. Something moving swiftly through the fog. Surely it was the Great Stag! He spurred his mount, moving quickly away from the others, and soon spotted the movement again. Each time he was ready to give up the chase, there came a flash of movement that spurred him on again. The hunter followed doggedly, going deeper and deeper into the unknown forest, farther and farther away from his companions. At last, his persistence paid off. He had run his foe into a narrow box canyon. Finally, his prey was right in front of him! But instead of the Great Stag... it was a rabbit. A Skinny Rabbit at that.

Exhilaration turned to exhaustion for the Hunter. The long-eared creature that had drawn him so far off course was only now shown to be unworthy of the chase. This rabbit was thin as a hemlock twig, and its scrawny bones had no meat on them. The warrior turned away in disappointment and disgust and swung wearily into his saddle. He had wasted his time and much-needed energy, and by following a rabbit trail instead of the real trail, he had fallen far behind his companions.