Miracle Stories Worth Reading

After a couple of years away, I returned recently to a local community organization to renew old friendships, meet a few newcomers, and read excerpts from Chasing Rich: Stories of Men, Miracles, and the God Among Us.

It was the first of several readings I hope to do, since I think this independently published title is worthy of getting picked up by a New York firm. Someone like Simon & Schuster, which boosted the self-published, word-of-mouth novel, Theo of Golden, onto the New York Times’ bestseller list.

Granted, I speak from a slanted point of view, since I did a substantive edit of Chasing Rich last year. But if the reaction to my reading is any indication, the book is a winner.

Astonishing Encounter

I started by reviewing a couple pages from the introduction, where author Nicholas Schwartz describes his initial encounter with Rich, a homeless man in Stamford, Connecticut.

The results of their intermittent meetings for lunch are what inspired the author to search for other stories of God’s often behind-the-scenes work in men’s lives.

The smiles and nods that greeted me after the introductory material encouraged me to read an excerpt from one of the book’s 20 chapters. Then people wanted to hear another.

Moving on to the story of Luke, I gave a basic description of what happened to the former high school athletic trainer.

On the verge of leaving for a getaway weekend with his wife to celebrate their tenth anniversary, Luke discovered things weren’t as wonderful in his marriage as he thought.

After loading the two excited sons into the car for a trip to Grandma’s house, Luke noticed his wife hanging behind on the porch. Finally, he went up to tell her everything was packed and ready to go.

“I can’t do this,” she replied.

“This” was their marriage. Turns out she had been having an affair—a long-term relationship. A foray into couples’ counseling didn’t work. Finally, she deserted her family to live with her lover.

Unable to afford the mortgage on his income alone, Luke had to sell their house for a fraction of its value. Then he moved back to his home state to live in his parents’ basement.

Providential Provision

It’s hard to imagine a bigger gut punch than that kind of betrayal. And yet, the faith Luke learned as a child suddenly became as real as the air he breathed.

Finding a good church helped. The people were real; many carried similar stories of getting smacked in the face by life, but not flattened.

With a new job that paid much less than his old one, Luke made a radical decision: despite his precarious financial position, he would tithe 10 percent of his income.

“Two weeks later, Luke received his first paycheck and gave the 10 percent as promised,” Nick recounts. “Several days later, he received a handwritten note in the mail. Luke was surprised to see his uncle’s name etched above the return address—someone he barely spoke to any longer.

“Curious, when he opened the letter, a check fluttered to the ground. As he unfolded the paper, a laugh escaped him, shocked to see the total.

“He read and reread the number, running his fingers over the ink as if to verify its legitimacy. It was the exact value he had just donated earlier in the week, down to the dollar.”

That would be followed by other, similarly unexpected “gifts” appearing out of nowhere. The ovation I received when I finished reading the excerpt tells you everything you need to know about the value of getting the book yourself.