'I Choose Peace' Author Opens Up About His Struggle to Trust God During Loss
I Am Second ‘Second Edition’ Film Catches Up with Doug Bender Surrounding Book’s Nov. 12 Release
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 14, 2019 - When Doug Bender, author of I Am Second’s debut book, I Am Second: Real Stories. Changing Lives., appeared in his first White Chair film seven years ago, he shared his powerful testimony of exchanging a life of loneliness for a fulfilling friendship with Jesus. Now, in conjunction with the release of his second I Am Second book, I Choose Peace: Raw Stories of Real People Finding Contentment and Happiness, Bender sits down to reflect on the reality of heartbreaking loss and how it’s impacted his faith and journey toward peace in a new Second Edition short film from I Am Second.
“One thing that draws me to the kinds of stories I Am Second tells is the rawness, and that we tell stories that are a little rough around the edges,” said Bender. “When I look at my own life, I see all these bumps in the road...and that there’s hope at the end.”
Bender recounts experiencing God’s goodness as an adolescent struggling to find friends when God answered his life-long prayer of bringing “just one good friend” into his life, which ultimately led him to know unending friendship with Christ. Since then, Bender has continued to walk with the Lord, a journey full of ups and downs that took Bender and his family through a devastating low when they were expecting their first child.
“The second book was just about to go to print, and my wife was at the doctor, getting a sonogram done,” said Bender, “...and she texts me that the doctor says our baby is ‘incompatible with life.’ That was a really ‘rock your world’ kind of moment for us. I can still see us sitting in that guy’s office with him telling us that.”
At 20 weeks along in their pregnancy, just when they were expecting to discover the gender of their first-born, the Benders instead learned that their child was alive but would not be for very long. Upon receiving this devastating news, Bender recalls feeling dark and empty, like their future as a family had been ripped away.
“I said, ‘God, I know you have a plan in all of this,’” said Bender. “‘I know you’re in charge,’ and I told Him, ‘I’m going to be real honest with You right now...this just does not seem like a good plan.’ But I heard Him say, ‘There will come a day when I will make this right.’”
In the Second Edition film, Bender reflects on how God brought him through the loss of that first child with unexpected blessings on the other side of the pain, similar to how God gifted him with friends after a long period of loneliness.
To watch the full film, visit iamsecond.com/second-edition.
Bender’s personal story is also included in the new book, I Choose Peace: Raw Stories of Real People Finding Contentment and Happiness, available now from Thomas Nelson.
I Choose Peace offers 16 unique accounts of broken people who found contentment as inspiration for readers to discover the secret to attaining peace. It features previously untold accounts from the lives of the movement’s “Seconds” who have sat in the iconic I Am Second white chair and told their stories, such as television host Kathie Lee Gifford, cultural commentator Eric Metaxas, KoRn founding member Brian “Head” Welch, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, and more. For more information, visit thomasnelson.com/p/i-choose-peace/.
About I Am Second
I Am Second is a non-profit launched in 2008 that ignites hope and inspires people to live for God and for others. Its website, iamsecond.com, features written and film-based stories of more than 100 athletes, actors, models, musicians, cultural influencers and everyday people who have stepped in front of the camera and declared, “I Am Second.” For information, visit iamsecond.com.
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