The Next Thing
Winner of the 2023 Living Water Award* as runner-up in nonfiction
Starting with the worst day of his life, Cecil Taylor takes readers on a journey through various crises in order to introduce the concept of “The Next Thing” and a four-part model for addressing each crisis.
Cecil explains how we can control our response to crisis while leaving the outcome of the crisis in God's hands. He offers the scriptural underpinning for simplifying, trusting, resting and grieving in response to crisis. He shows how crisis fundamentally changes us and how his model helps us get through “The Next Thing” and be prepared for whatever “Next Thing” may follow.
To feel less stress and more control during a crisis, read this book. It will show you how to partner with God during your “Next Thing.”
* Presented by the Blue Lake Christian Writers' Conference
“The Next Thing could be one of the essential books in your life that you go back to time after time when crises overwhelm you. Our family has dealt with crisis after crisis all through our lives. Most recently we lost our special needs daughter at the young age of 25. This book is an easy read, based on practical experiences, and Biblically supported. I intend to reread it multiple times and will share it with others as they deal with their own crises.”
– Pat Warren.
Life never seems to be as monotonous as it sounds.
When was the last time you caught up with an old friend and used the words “same old”? As if the life you’re living is a doldrum; as flat and unresponsive as a windless sea. When we think in terms of rhythms and practices, we tend to fall into this sensation of monotony. Yet somehow when we shift instead to connect with our emotions, our stress, and our moods, we can map them as a dramatic rising and falling through varied seasons of life, like enormous waves on an ocean.
Oftentimes we experience life as a constant cycle of anticipation, crisis, and recovery.
This can lead to desperation, a sense of flailing and failing, and trauma. But the most core concept of our beliefs here at CTM is a 7-day practical faith, in which the goal is connecting our spiritual lives to the rest of our lives. In other series, we discuss how this concept is essential to living into who God made us to be, but the flip side of that coin is that this connection also aids us in keeping ourselves afloat when one part of us is sinking.
Because the spiritual doesn’t just help us forget crisis, it provides a beacon to help us survive it.
Step-by-step, this series is meant to help turn the reality of crisis response into a spiritual practice. Because faith never just sits on a shelf, and it never remains untested. Because part of God’s act of redemption is acknowledging pain and grief. And perhaps most importantly, because when we are paralyzed by tragedy, consumed by emotion, and stuck in darkness, we all need help to do The Next Thing.
"The Next Thing" helps with trusting God in difficult times
“Using his real-life experiences, Cecil Taylor shares his coping mechanisms to guide readers through their own difficult times. If you're hurting, facing hardships or in need of direction, use The Next Thing as your strategy to prevail when a crisis appears.”
– Greg Hasty, author of I’m a Nobody (But Not to God)
“In the very first chapter of The Next Thing, Cecil cites a study that estimates 1 in 6 people suffer from mental health issues. This hit home as our family recently became a family of 6 and my wife has been feeling the mental strain of raising our 4 young children. Stress, anxiety, and emotional swings are norms of our day. So, from chapter 1, I knew The Next Thing would be relevant and practical to our lives.
I appreciate the simplicity of Cecil's model which makes sense since the first step is simplicity. But in our home life, simplicity is important, and focusing on one thing at a time has gotten us through a lot of tough days.
I also appreciated Cecil's openness and transparency of his family's struggles as I felt like I was journeying with him. He was our guide having walked the mental health crisis trail before. It was comforting and reassuring to have someone walk the trail before us.
If, and when, you are dealing with any crisis, I'd encourage you to read The Next Thing."
– Michael Ong, Associate Pastor, Asian-American Baptist Church of Dallas, Richardson, TX