Last week, I started a series on the blog that will appear each Wednesday in February in which I get to thank the endorsers of my book, Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal: A Boy, Cancer, and God. Today’s installment features a group of fantastic authors in their own right who have inspired and challenged me.

To begin with is Trevin Wax. I started following Trevin’s blog a number of years ago and found myself enriched at almost every post. Now, having gotten to actually know him, I find myself feeling the same way after most every conversation we have. He has a discerning eye and an unwavering commitment to the truth that is so badly needed in the world today. Because of these characteristics, I’m moved at what he wrote about the book:

Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal is about personal faith forged through the fire of suffering, and the all-encompassing grace of a God who won’t fit into the boxes we try to construct around him. This is not a sentimental memoir or another theoretical look at suffering. Instead, Michael leads us to the intersection of faith and life, of God’s love and our pain, of God’s plan and our questions.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan Leeman several months ago and almost immediately resonated with him. Jonathan helps leads 9 Marks, an organization that has a huge influence in the local church. Scarcely can you have a conversation with Jonathan that doesn’t eventually come back to the church and his love for her. I love this about him. And I’m thankful that he wrote these words:

You’re asked to blurb a book–I assume–to bring something to the book, like credibility. But reading Michael Kelley’s book I couldn’t help but think I am the one being honored to associate myself with it. It presents the picture of a man both walking with God, like Enoch, and wrestling with God, like Jacob. It takes you down a road where love and tragedy and wisdom and hope all merge. It is a genuinely special book, at once deeply personal and transcendently godward.

And then there’s Jared Wilson. Words drip from Jared’s pen in a seemingly effortless way. I’m constantly moved when I read anything that’s been through his hands, for here is a man who is daily encountering the God of the gospel in a real, personal, emotional way. Through his influence, Jared has moved me, along with many others, to look more deeply into the riches of Jesus. Here’s what he wrote about the book:

Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal is not a ‘cute kid overcomes the odds’ or sentimental story of suffering; it shows us the intersection of Christ’s gospel with the realest of the real. With wit, insight, and power, Michael Kelley reveals the promises of God’s Word found in the very wounds he allows. Joshua’s story won’t just move you, it will move you forward in your faith.

I’m excited next Wednesday to share endorsements from Thom Rainer, Ed Stetzer, and Jeff Iorg.

You can pre-order Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal: A Boy, Cancer, and God here.