Surprised by Children [Hardcover]

Harold Myra (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

The inspiring and touching story of how Christianity Today, Inc., president Harold Myra and his wife, Jeannette, have become the parents of three African-American children and how this has impacted their faith.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Harold Myra has complied an amazing track record in Christian publishing. Since taking over the financially-strapped magazine, Christianity Today, in 1975, he has turned it into a successful family of eight highly-respected magazines. But his greatest challenge came several years later when his wife, Jeannette, approached him with a plan that would change his life forever. At an age when most men were seeing their nests empty and anticipating grandchildren, Jeannette wanted them to become the parents of an African-America boy from a deeply troubled home. Since then, Harold and Jeannette have adopted a total of three African-American children. Surprised by Children is their inspiring and touching story. Yet the focus of this wonderful story is not race, but the love that a man can experience, with God’s help, for children that have been neglected by society.

About the Author

Harold Myra is president and CEO of Christianity today International, has taught at Wheaton College Graduate School, and is author of several books, including Leaders and Surprised by Children. Along with his family he resides in the Chicago Suburbs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310234654
• ISBN-13: 978-0310234654
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,735,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harold Myra served as the CEO of Christianity Today International for 32 years. Under his leadership, the organization grew from one magazine to a communications company with a dozen magazines, copublished books, and a major Internet ministry. Myra started his journalistic career with "Youth for Christ" magazine, which under his leadership became "Campus Life" magazine. Author of five novels, numerous children's and nonfiction books, and hundreds of magazine articles, Myra has taught writing and publishing at the Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois. He holds honorary doctorates from several colleges, including Biola University in California and Gordon College in Massachusetts. Myra has received various awards, among them the prestigious Magazine Publisher's Award and the James Deforest Murch Award from the National Association of Evangelicals. The Evangelical Press Association presented him with its highest honor, the Joseph T. Bayly Award, for his triple career as an editor, author, and publishing executive. Harold and his wife, Jeanette, are the parents of six children and grandparents of five. They reside in Wheaton, Illinois.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Authentic Life, March 6, 2001

By 

Linda L. Rosenbaum (Great Falls, MT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surprised by Children (Hardcover)

I write this review as a person who has known the author and his wife for 37 years. The story of their growing family and the consistency in which they have been true to their Christian beliefs are told with total honesty. Myra's style is simple, honest and perceptive. The characters are real people. He begins with his own childhood and the impressions that formed his belief systems. His story then broadens to include the national scene and how he was influenced by racial issues that touched his life in rural Pennslyvannia. In reading this story you become acquainted with people who not only have ideals that surpass the average persons ideals, but find people who go beyond talk, to live out, daily, ways to communicate God's love and hope which they have experienced in their own lives. Myra is able to weave the story of his parents, his wife, his birth children, and his adopted children in such a way as to realize it is the only way the story could have played out. I highly reccommend this book, especially if you want to be inspired to reach beyond selfishness and to reach out to be a light in a dark and hurting world.