The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing [Kindle Edition]

Jeff Goins

Jeff Goins (Author)

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Book Description

We're an "instant gratification" generation, but the trouble is, most change happens gradually.

Most of us spend our lives searching and longing for something more than what is in front of us. Whether it's traveling abroad or chasing cheap (or expensive) thrills, we're all looking for medicine to satisfy our restlessness. And, so often, we're looking in the wrong place.

The In-Between is a call for all of us to accept the importance that waiting plays in our lives. In this spiritual memoir, Jeff Goins reveals the unexpected good that came from his times of waiting.And he encourages us to embrace the extraordinary nature of the ordinary and enjoy the daily mundane, what lies in between the "major" moments.

Moments of breakthrough are not where life's greatest transformation happens; the stuff that God uses to shape us often lies in the in-between. It's the bus stops and layovers and DMV lines and moments of unintentional pause that force us to become better people.

That's not to say there aren't moments of epiphany. There are. It's just that most of us find ourselves living somewhere in the in-between. Learning to live in this tension, to be content in these moments of waiting, may be our greatest struggle...and our greatest opportunity to grow.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jeff Goins has penned a beautiful reminder that time is sacred, of how even ordinary moments brim with heaven, and that great souls are forged in the crucible of delay. What a delight.
Ian Morgan Cron, bestselling author of Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir...of Sorts and Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale 

If you find yourself in the quiet valley of waiting, Jeff Goins offers a kind voice in the silence. This gently honest book challenged me to surrender to the waiting moments rather than try to rush ahead to the next thing-a simply lovely read.
Emily P. Freeman, author of A Million Little Ways and Grace for the Good Girl

In the past few years I've had the honor of watching Jeff Goins transition from a writer into a thought leader and one of the most exciting next generation voices. In this book, you'll see why and perhaps even more importantly how he did it.
Jon Acuff, New York Times Bestselling author of Start

Jeff Goins is a master wordsmith. And this book is no exception. In it, he uses his personal journey and struggles to paint a poignant picture of what life could be like if you stopped rushing and started embracing each moment-even those seemingly long moments when you're stuck waiting for the next thing. Instead of living life wishing you could jump ahead to the next adventure, these pages will inspire you to slow down and savor the in-between.
Crystal Paine, founder of MoneySavingMom.com 

According to Jeff Goins, life is more about waiting than we'd like. We try to avoid it at all costs. We linger over a past we can't repeat (or don't want to) or long for a future we can't reach. Either way we are not present to what is happening now. And that is precisely where the important stuff is happening. This book is a powerful reminder that we must embrace the 'long game' of life, if we are to experience the love, joy, and peace we seek.
Michael Hyatt, New York Times Bestselling Author, Former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers 

The In-Between is a happy little reminder to stop hating the waiting, a lesson I've had to learn over & over again.
Myquillyn Smith, author of The Nesting Place 

I distinctly remember, in second grade, thinking that my life would be perfect once I was a fifth grader-and so my thinking went until I was about 32. Needless to say, Jeff's book resounds clear to me, as a clarion call to live in the moment and make the most of life's waiting room moments. His storytelling is captivating and full of warmth and humor; this book is for anyone who loves to read stories about travel, wisdom, and redemption. I am thankful Jeff put into words the issue so many of us struggle with-how to be content when we live in-between.
Tsh Oxenreider, author and blogger at SimpleMom.net 

Jeff Goins retells his life-so-far story, pointing out the treasures found along the way, and I'm suddenly more aware of the overlooked richness of my own life. Unflinchingly transparent, gentle, moving, smart and instructive but never preachy, The In-Between is a lesson in living deliberately with eyes wide open right where we are.
Shaun Groves, songwriter

--Reviews

Review

Jeff Goins has penned a beautiful reminder that time is sacred, of how even ordinary moments brim with heaven, and that great souls are forged in the crucible of delay. What a delight.
Ian Morgan Cron, bestselling author of Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir...of Sorts and Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale 

If you've ever felt like time waiting is time wasted, it's because you haven't read The In-Between by my brilliant writer friend, Jeff Goins. Capture those in between moments with great purpose and focused presence to manage the tension of waiting for what's next.
Lysa TerKeurst, New York Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries

If you find yourself in the quiet valley of waiting, Jeff Goins offers a kind voice in the silence. This gently honest book challenged me to surrender to the waiting moments rather than try to rush ahead to the next thing-a simply lovely read.
Emily P. Freeman, author of A Million Little Ways and Grace for the Good Girl

In the past few years I've had the honor of watching Jeff Goins transition from a writer into a thought leader and one of the most exciting next generation voices. In this book, you'll see why and perhaps even more importantly how he did it.
Jon Acuff, New York Times bestselling author of Start

Jeff Goins is a master wordsmith. And this book is no exception. In it, he uses his personal journey and struggles to paint a poignant picture of what life could be like if you stopped rushing and started embracing each moment-even those seemingly long moments when you're stuck waiting for the next thing. Instead of living life wishing you could jump ahead to the next adventure, these pages will inspire you to slow down and savor the in-between.
Crystal Paine, founder of MoneySavingMom.com 

According to Jeff Goins,life is more about waiting than we'd like. We try to avoid it at all costs. We linger over a past we can't repeat (or don't want to) or long for a future we can't reach. Either way we are not present to what is happening now. And that is precisely where the important stuff is happening. This book is a powerful reminder that we must embrace the 'long game' of life, if we are to experience the love, joy, and peace we seek.
Michael Hyatt, New York Times bestselling author, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers 

The In-Between is a happy little reminder to stop hating the waiting, a lesson I've had to learn over & over again.
Myquillyn Smith, author of The Nesting Place 

I distinctly remember, in second grade, thinking that my life would be perfect once I was a fifth grader-and so my thinking went until I was about 32. Needless to say, Jeff's book resounds clear to me, as a clarion call to live in the moment and make the most of life's waiting room moments. His storytelling is captivating and full of warmth and humor; this book is for anyone who loves to read stories about travel, wisdom, and redemption. I am thankful Jeff put into words the issue so many of us struggle with-how to be content when we live in-between.
Tsh Oxenreider, author and blogger at SimpleMom.net 

Jeff Goins retells his life-so-far story, pointing out the treasures found along the way, and I'm suddenly more aware of the overlooked richness of my own life. Unflinchingly transparent, gentle, moving, smart and instructive but never preachy, The In-Between is a lesson in living deliberately with eyes wide open right where we are.
Shaun Groves, songwriter 

For the adventurous heart, this book is a great reminder that some of the most exciting adventures happen right where you are. If you're anything like me, you feel bored sometimes by life, tired of waiting for the "next big thing," and a little too impatient to take things one day, one moment, at a time. The stories Jeff shares do a great job of reminding me to slow down and look around, because some of life's most important lessons, and best memories, happen while we're waiting.
Allison Vesterfelt, author of Packing Light: Thoughts on Living Life with Less Baggage 

I'm not good at waiting. I'm a traveler, I'm trying to get somewhere, and the "waiting" gets in my way. Then my friend Jeff emails me his new book, The In-Between. I began reading it on a flight in-between Tennessee and Texas, in-between one concert and the next, in-between busy and busier.  Jeff has inspired me to see the value in what takes place in my life not only at point A and point B, but in the space where there doesn't seem to be a point.  Jeff Goins wrote this book for me, and for anyone else who needs to embrace the waiting and exist in the in-between.
Warren Barfield, singer, songwriter, speaker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 837 KB
• Print Length: 174 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0802407242
• Publisher: Moody Publishers; New Edition edition (August 1, 2013)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00BUOMM8S
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,015 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Live well with whatever time you have left. July 29, 2013

By Patricia Storbeck

Format:Paperback|Verified Purchase

Jeff Goings is a wordsmith par-excellence. This book, "The In-Between" is his second book and in my opinion his best book. He takes us on a gentle journey of his life. He is candid and honest in his writing. Chapter 8, 'Ice Cream" especially resonated with me. I lost my teenage daughter and her death taught me more than one lesson...."about life and death and what to do with the moments in between."

Life is something to be cherished, a privilege to be appreciated.

Jeff's sentiment I can only echo; "My journey through life is now full of moments of joy, still moments, sad moments, anchorages, park benches, tiny tables in piazza's in foreign places. Full of drinking milkshakes and eating ice-cream while the ironing piles up. We enjoy the in-between moments. Life is full of surprises, we never know which day will be our last."

I urge you to read his book, slowly, to savor the words, slowly. The In-Between is his gift to me, and to you:

Live with no regrets.

Live life with gusto.

Enjoy every hug.

Relish every tear.

Be grateful for every moment;

For tragedies, challenges and the overwhelming goodness of God.

While we are still somewhere in-between the beginning and end of our lives;

Live well with whatever time you have left.

Patricia Storbeck
Mojito and Me

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A book on growing, from an author that's growing August 9, 2013

By Trent M. Nicholson

Format:Audio CD

This review, by Dr. Nicholson, has been provided courtesy of Desert Bible Institute ([...]

Jeff Goins does a good job of presenting an often overlooked issue in our society - living in the moment. So often people in general, and Americans especially, are concerned about what they are going to do once they finish college, after the kids leave home, or when they retire: Seldom are they concern about what God is doing in their lives right now as they sit at their computer reading a book review.

One of the strengths of Gions's book is its clear, logical structure. At the beginning of each section, Goins makes a point that he wants address as most readers do. Then he gives a detailed analogy that ties this point together in several different ways. This adds to both the ability of the book to relate to the audience and the scope of the audience the book reaches. He then ends with a summation of his point followed by what I liked best- a brief testimony of someone detailing with the exact point Goins was just discussing. This last element proved a saving grace for the book.

Not only did this use of testimony break up the narrative and didactic writing of the book, but it also added credibility to what Goins was saying. Goins was 26-years-old at the end of writing this book (likely he still is since it was released 2 weeks prior to this review) and therefore many of his personal analogies were connected to his childhood and college experiences. While these are great, they limit the scope, depth, and reflection that are necessary for a book of this magnitude. Cleverly, he makes up for some of this by including testimony of people who have dealt with issues that only come along later in life. At the end of the book Goins tries to further close this gap talking about his experiences with death, but again it is a teenager (and then later young man) dealing with death causing it to lack real perspective. Probably my greatest criticism of this book is that there should have been not only more testimony but also that it should have gone into more depth.

While Goins chapter structure was excellent, his overall structure was a little shaky. This is a normal transition that one might expect from someone who goes from blog writing (Gions's specialty) to full-fledged, non-fiction, book writing. This is most apparent in the middle of the book when Goins talks about his experiences as a writer, what it takes to be a writer, and what that meant in his life. Again, this was not surprising to find in his book since it is a topic he often talks about, but it was only vaguely on point to the crux of the book. It ultimately came off as either something he had pulled in from another writing project to beef this book up to 179 pages or his book didn't have a good through-point: Either way it's a weakness, but one that is later overcome.

Goins saves his book, and brings his points altogether, with his images of his newborn son. This allows him to explode out of the minimalistic issues of angst-ridden teen years and finding-myself college years. Here his book stops being for teens and starts being for a far wider audience. What makes this part of the book so compelling is that it captures how the hard, everyday challenges grow us into the person God wants us to be.

While Goins doesn't out-and-out state this, I think he touches on the idea that by embracing the little moments of growth throughout our lives we endear not only ourselves but also Christ to the unbeliever. The unbeliever definitely sees how we, as Christians, deal with death, the loss of a job, and persecution, but these instances are few and far between. What they truly see is the little moments - the moments when God breaks us and remakes us, one act at a time, into the person He wants us to be. They see the struggle and they see the growth and in the end (with a little luck) they see the Lord.

This is a good book and if you have a hard time in the middle, hang in there, there are some big payoffs at the end. It is my firm hope that Goins comes back and re-releases this book in 20 years. If he does, I bet this book will shift from good to astounding.

Trent Nicholson, Ph.D., D.Min.
Desert Bible Institute, President

Dr. Nicholson is a member of the christianaudio review program. To learn more, visit their website at: [...] Read more ›

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Live in the moment - no regrets. July 30, 2013

By Michael Nichols

Format:Paperback|Verified Purchase

"We all want experiences that we can be proud of, but what we fail to realize is that the best moments may be happening right now."

In his newest book, The In-Between, Jeff Goins writes, "Maybe the good stuff isn't ahead or behind us. Maybe it's somewhere in-between."

On Saturday, I will celebrate my 40th birthday. There are moments in every life that seem to demand a pause - for reflection on the past and to envision a future that can be. For me, turning 40 is one of those moments.

Looking back, I've done a lot of waiting in my life. More than I ever expected. There have been many delays, detours, and postponements. Looking forward I see more of the same - more waiting. More in-between. And that's ok, because the in-between is "a place to slow down. Where we learn to be present in an increasingly noisy world. It's the place where we learn to let go." And live.

So after 40 years, my only regret is that I haven't lived more in the moment.

So many things distract us from living life in the moment - success, work, projects, productivity, problem-solving, social media, email, even our dreams. Looking for the next big breakthrough - in our work, in our career, in our finances, with our kids, in relationships.

When will it happen? robs us of what's happening now.

I used to be one of those people who'd zip in the driveway and lower the garage door while getting out of the truck. in fact, most places I've lived, I never even knew the name of our neighbors next-door.

It's different now. A couple of years ago, our family started doing something that we'd never done before - we started hanging out with our neighbors. Weird, huh?

A few days ago, one of our neighbors asked us to hang out with them on their boat. To be honest, I had a lot of work to do - and I was tired. But I knew I needed to spend time with my wife and our children. And I knew I would be encouraged by spending time with our neighbors. So we did.

For a couple of hours I bounced all over the lake in the wake of the boat tightly gripping the handles of a big round tube. (No - there's no video.) And I laughed more than I have in a long time.

Yes - I got behind on a couple of projects. And, yes - I was sore the next day. But living in the moment was worth it!

Here are 3 things that I'm learning...
1. Life is the in-between. Life is not the series of highs that we dream it to be. It really is an adventure - a journey - of ups and downs between occasional mountaintop experiences. To live in the moment, you'll have to slow down. It's impossible for you to live in the past or the future - all you have is now. So you might as well take your time. While you're waiting for the experiences of a lifetime, you're missing the life in your experiences.

2. Make the most of every moment. Wherever you are be all there. Say, No, to restlessness. No, to busyness. No, to worry. No, to shortcuts. No, to regret. No, to hurry. And, Yes to today - to right now. There's really no good reason to be in such a hurry anyway. Because you can't get from where you are to where you need to be without traveling the path that you are on. You have a choice - you can try to shortcut the detours and bypass delays, or you can embrace the growth that happens in the in-between.

3. Everyone has a story. When I started writing several years ago, I primarily wrote to help me process what I was experiencing - in my work, at home. Yes - it's a mess sometimes. But people aren't that interested in hearing how great I am. They're far more likely to relate to my latest slip up. My experiences matter to others - and they tell me. Every day. My mess has become my message. I've decided - I'm going to live more in the moment. If it's not fun I'm not doing it!

"We don't get to choose how many days of life we have left, but we can choose how we spend them."

Someone needs to hear your story - to know you don't always have it all together. To know they're not alone.

Embrace the wait. Appreciate the delays and postponements. Some things in life are worth waiting for.

Check out The In-Between and other titles from Jeff Goins. Read more ›

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars When bloggers rush to be published, this happens... October 24, 2013

By Dawn

Format:Kindle Edition

Jeff Goins believes that the greatest growth in our lives comes in the lulls between the 'big things'. He reminds us that growth comes imperceptibly, as we learn to slow down and relish the mundane moments that make up most of life.

To illustrate, Jeff candidly shares experiences from the growth seasons of his own life: a semester of study in Spain, a year traveling with a Christian band, proposing and getting married, the birth of his first child... These narratives are of mixed quality from a strictly literary standpoint, but each is a vulnerable opening of Jeff's heart to the reader. He walks us introspectively through his own 'in-between's reflecting on what he has gained from each. His hope is that we too will slow to notice the growth in our own souls in the waiting seasons of life.

His retelling of his wedding ceremony brought tears to my eyes. Other sections, particularly the final two scenarios, were unduly drawn out and unconvincingly presented-- as though they were necessary filler to round out Part Three.

The book is light reading and, like blogging, can be picked up and put down in those waiting moments every day holds. It is best read in this way, as too analytical a reading will disappoint.

The light copy-editing throughout contrasts sharply with the professional cover and formatting of this book. Under scrutiny numerous passages are unclear, cumbersome or otherwise awkward:

"Maybe it was the fact that he didn't grow up with much money or maybe he just liked looking good, but Al was a precise, clean-cut man."

"...I swaddle our son in the dark, wrapping him in thin sheets we bought at Target for more than a glorified blanket should cost."

"...and I'd often pull out my parents' cell phone, which I rarely used, and call my friend Ashley."

"The train had to be going half the pace as the ones in Europe,..."

Whether this is a book directed to 'believers' or 'non-believers' is also unclear and problematic. "God" is mentioned throughout but often in the most apologetic of ways. Those who don't share Jeff's faith are offended, or assume any 'god' will do(as per the Amazon reviews). Those who may in fact share his beliefs are uncertain what he actually believes and why he is so reticent to say so... This fence-sitting position in hopes of appealing to a greater audience is unlikely to have a life-changing impact on anyone. For this reason I was disappointed that Moody would carry it under their publishing banner, but grateful to receive it free-of-charge in exchange for an honest review.

Considering the fine job Jeff does as an up-and-coming blogger to would-be writers of all kinds, the lax copy-editing of this book seems an unfortunate oversight. Though his informal, self-doubting 'voice' is preserved, his reputation as a serious writer is called into question.

On the other hand, perhaps this is just the book to illustrate the need for long waits between the 'big things'--such as getting published. Some things should not be rushed. It does indeed matter what a writer does with the 'in-between' stages in his career. Read more ›