Don was "that kid" when he was younger. He was the chubby one. He didn't have a father to share memories with. He didn't know how to love himself, let alone love God. The one thing he did have, though, was his sense of humor. Eventually he was able to forgive his father for leaving, accept God as his Heavenly Father, and learned to love himself. But, it wasn't an easy journey. Throughout his five books, he tells the story of his journey, and how God has helped him through it all.
Not only do I love his writing for the honesty of it all, how he can tell all who read of the happiness and anger he's felt...but also his ability to laugh. I'm a very sarcastic person, and I write the way I speak, because its raw that way. This is how Don writes, and I love every second of it. In his last book, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, he spent many pages writing on the fact that he did everything he could for months to avoid writing said book, simply because he's lazy. Honesty, I always love it.
Not only is he entertaining to read with all his witty sarcasm, he's definitely got his attention grabbing methods. For example, some of his chapter titles include: "Santa Takes a Leak", "How To Kill Your Neighbor", "Why I Am Better Than You", "Penguin Sex" and "Thoughts on Paying the Rent", along with comics entitled "Don Rabbit and the Sexy Carrot". This guy may seem like a joke to you, but he's the one who brings me closer to God. He's real. That's who we all are, we're all humans and Don is the first to admit it.
A year ago I got the chance to go to a seminar with him and Susan Isaacs, writer of Angry Conversations With God. I don't think I laughed more that entire year than I did that night. (especially when D
on goofed up and said David had sex with Goliath...."You didn't read THAT in your bible, did ya?!") Afterwords, the rest of the audience that stayed after the closing prayer got in line to talk to Don and have him sign his books. I brought my favorite, Blue Like Jazz with me and bought A Million Miles In A Thousand Years that night. The thing I appreciated is, he wasn't sitting behind a table or refusing to take pictures or only limiting his signing to one book. He stood in the middle of the church aisle (even though he'd been standing on stage all night), shook each and every persons hand as he looked in their eyes and smiled. He asked everyone their names, and asked how they were doing. He couldn't have been more friendly, and this was close to midnight!The reason Don is my motivator, isn't because he's funny. He's my motivator because, although he makes close to nothing off his books, he's made a difference. He's started a mentoring
program for kids without fathers, biked across the country to raise money for starving families, and simply spends time with people. He's proved to himself that he's capable of anything he puts his mind to, which is one thing I'm striving to accept. He takes part in many adventures all over the states that benefit not only him, but other families as well, he's always on a mission to help others. That is my goal, to make a difference. It may not be huge what I do, but like I said, its the little things in life that matter the most.
