72 years ago today, this headline appeared in the local paper from my hometown:                                      “Baby’s Birth Saves Gainesville Boy From Drowning.”

The story behind it is one I remember each birthday. The headline got it almost right.
A life was saved that day, but not by me.

My mom had called my dad home to take her to the hospital. It was time to give birth, to me. As my dad pulled into the driveway, he saw, from the corner of his eye, the three-year-old neighbor boy ride his tricycle off the dock into the pond in our backyard. Understanding the emergency, my dad ran from the car into the water and pulled the unconscious boy out. He gave him breath—mouth-to-mouth resuscitation—and the boy fully recovered.

I took my first breath because my heavenly Father first breathed life into humanity.
And my neighbor took a breath because my dad shared his until he could breathe again.

There is something sacred about breath. It is given, shared, and sustained…moment by moment. I pray that until my last breath, my life will bring God glory. And then, shared glory will become reality in a different form, but still sustained in the shared life of God.

That’s why today, my birthday, feels like a fitting day to release my new book about shared life:

The Shared Life of God: How the Trinity and Atonement Invite Us into Healing and Transformation

At the heart of this book is a simple but life-changing message.  We are healed and transformed because our relational, triune God, the One who gives us breath, shares His life with us. It has been a transforming journey for me to write this book, and I pray you are also encouraged as you read it.

The book is now available in paperback and Kindle:

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTLSPX5W/
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSXPQPWQ/

If this message resonates, it would mean so much if you would share the link. And if you read the book, an Amazon review would be a tremendous help in letting others discover it.

I’m eager to share this because it has deeply encouraged me, and I hope it will do the same for you.