Dancing with Max
A Mother and Son Who Broke Free
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4.6 • 14 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
The true story of a single mother's love and perseverance, her son's autism diagnosis with its challenges and gifts, and their triumph together over life's toughest obstacles.
Journey with Emily Colson--daughter of former White House Special Counsel Chuck Colson--as she takes you from her darkest days of pain to her adventure through life. With candor and wit, she shares about her personal battles and heartbreak when, as a suddenly single mother, she discovered that her only child has autism. Emily illuminates the page with vivid imagery--making you laugh, making you cry, and inspiring you to face your own challenges.
This is the story that will inspire you to break free of the barriers that threaten to constrict your life, and Max is the young man who will capture--and even change--your heart. As you learn more about Max and his journey, you'll learn about:
The incredible power of communityFacing each day with grace and faithTurning your challenges into blessings
In a special prologue and epilogue from Chuck Colson--his most personal writing since Born Again--he details how Max's resilient spirit unraveled his thinking and brought out his tender side as a grandfather.
Along the way, you'll discover that Max's disability does not so much define who he is, but reveals who we are. Dancing with Max is not a fairy tale with a magical ending. It's a real-life story of grace, second chances, and fresh starts in spite of life's hardest problems. And Max? Max will make you fall in love with life all over again, leaving you dancing with joy.
Praise for Dancing with Max:
"Emily shares her moving story, of life's struggles but of its even greater victories, in her own words. This is a story of triumph, in spite of the suffering and pain. It is most of all a love story, and a story about changed lives--Emily's, Max's, and also mine."
--Chuck Colson, former White House Special Counsel
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An average of 1 in 110 children has autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disability that affects communication and social skills. Author Colson tells a common tale of life with her autistic son, Max, with uncommon grace and candor; she's a single mom and artist who developed her own visual communication system for working with her son. She is also the daughter of high-profile evangelical Christian leader Chuck Colson, who contributes candid material about his family in front and back matter that surround the main narrative like a paternal embrace. None of this story is easy, or heroic, or happily ever after if readers expect that the autistic son will miraculously arise and be normal. But if the story is rightly understood as the tale of healing a family and portraying the grit and grace in getting up every morning, readers will find a heartening and modest miracle.
Customer Reviews
Good For the Heart
Emily Colson's 200-page book, Dancing with Max, is divided into 26 short chapters with a Prologue and Epilogue. Although this was not a typical read for me, I placed it on my Amazon Wish List several months ago for a few reasons...
1. Emily Colson is the daughter of Chuck Colson, a Christian leader and worldviews expert who has written over 15 books. I have greatly enjoyed a couple of Chuck's books and knew he wrote the Prologue and Epilogue to this book. Chuck calls Dancing with Max the most personal book he has participated in since his first book, Born Again.
2. I was also attracted to reading a true story about a Christian lady who has persevered through some difficult circumstances. In Dancing with Max you read the story of a mother whose husband walked out on her and their autistic child Max. I know a little about desertion and have a fun-loving autistic nephew so I can identify a little with this story.
Ms. Colson's writing style could be described as a little over the top; however, I enjoyed her way with words and feel Ms. Colson is a gifted writer. Perhaps I could argue some theological points, but we can do that with every book. If you are not a Christian, I would still highly recommend this book. It is evident what Ms. Colson believes, but she comes across in a very non-threatening manner. If you are looking for a real message of hope and endurance, I highly recommend taking an evening or two to read this wonderful testimony of God's grace.