Have you faced profound loss, received devastating news, navigated career changes, or encountered financial hardships? Have you questioned your faith in God during these times? Where have you sought hope and direction? Have you wondered how to find God in the midst of it all?
When the Madden family tragically lost their firstborn son in infancy, they embarked on a journey to discover God amidst their grief and continued to seek His presence thereafter. In Breathless Haste: Finding God in Ordinary Life, they share thirty diverse stories of encountering God in everyday moments - from the mundane to the miraculous: in sorrow, at a McDonalds, through music, poetry, a cassette tape, creation, a scrapbook, an old digital clock, a bankruptcy case and beyond. Each story bears witness to a living God actively involved in their lives, offering a profound testimony that the modern world desperately needs.
With over twenty-five years of ministry experience in churches in South Carolina, Chicago, and Atlanta, Jay and Rebecca Madden have dedicated themselves to guiding others on their spiritual journey in churches, neighborhoods, and groups. They currently serve at one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the United States, with Jay as Executive Pastor and Rebecca as Women’s Ministry Director. Their ministry is to inspire and empower others to awaken their own heart, mind, and soul to encounter an extraordinary God in their ordinary life.
When they aren’t working, they enjoy spending time with their daughter and son-in-law, Neale and Robert, who live in Atlanta, and they love visiting their son, William, who works in Costa Rica. They venture to Clemson football games, and they take long walks at the river with their beloved black labrador, Ranger, and they love to read – especially on the beach.
In Breathless Haste, we share 30 stories of how we found God in our ordinary life. In this story, Jay shares how God confirmed that this interview at a church in Atlanta was indeed - without a doubt - the next place for us to serve and work.
The moment we heard about a baby bonnet being in the church's cornerstone, it resonated deeply within our hearts and souls, for we too had experienced the pain of losing a child in infancy.
Book Excerpt
Breathless Haste
On Saturday morning, Rebecca and I had breakfast with Vic. He shared the story of how the Peachtree church began. In 1909, a couple in a horse and buggy were on their way home from the funeral of their four-month-old son, Lance. They noticed children playing along the road and decided to start a Sunday school for those children to honor the memory of their son. The church grew from there, and Lance’s baby bonnet is contained in the cornerstone of the church. As Vic shared this story, Rebecca and I looked at each other, knowing what the other was thinking. The convergence of their story and ours was amazing. If we had a cornerstone for our life in ministry, it would contain something from Brock’s life. Here we were, one hundred years later in a restaurant located on the property near where their home once stood, feeling led to be a part of carrying on their vision.
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