We know life is more a marathon than a sprint, but we’ve emerged from the pandemic expecting a smooth track, only to find formidable challenges still ahead. Here, Greg Funderburk reframes the obstacles we all face with a Gospel mindset and a dose of Stoic philosophy, suggesting that the hurdles we encounter aren’t incidental to the race—they are the race.

In each of these accessible, story-driven chapters, we’re asked to consider what if, rather than losing heart as we come to them, we used the hurdles to develop spiritual momentum? What if we began to think of our lives not as we might wish they were—long straightaways free of trials and pain—but as they really are, realizing that it’s in the hurdles that we cultivate strength and beauty in our personalities, discover opportunities to offer grace to one another, and connect more closely to God through the very nature of the obstacles we face.

Gregory Funderburk is a pastoral care minister, a lawyer, and a writer. He’s the author of The Mourning Wave, a novel about the Galveston storm of 1900 that was included on Kirkus Review’s “Best of 2020: Our Favorite lndie Books” list and named one of its Best lndie Debut Novels of 2020. A compilation of Greg’s essays titled Let It Be Said We’ve Borne It Well was published in 2021 by Smyth & Helwys in the midst of the pandemic. He lives in Houston with his wife, Kelly. They have two sons, Hank and Charlie.