Stumbling Into Happiness: A Catholic Priest Finds True Love in Wild Places

(Paperback)

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The true story of how, as a young priest is sent to Zimbabwe, falls in love and finally finds himself and happiness. He doesnt know what hes getting himself intobut finds himself on a journey that goes far beyond anything he could have expected.

Tasked with building a mission from the ground upliterallyMike Schoenhofer quickly realizes that he still has a lot to learn about life, work, and love. In a totally unfamiliar place, with an unfamiliar people, Mike has to learn a new language, a new culture, and connect with the Tonga people, while managing his own difficult team. But even as the success of the mission grows, and the Tongas embrace him as one of their own, he still feels something is missing. When he meets a pretty, funny young nun, he is finally forced to re-examine everything hes believed, including his own struggle with his commitment to the priesthood.

Part adventure, part romance, part coming-of-age, author Michael Schoenhofer takes readers on his journey through the often funny, sometimes painful, and totally relatable tale of how he finally stumbled into happiness.

Stumbling Into Happinesshas the self-discovery and adventureof Cheryl's Strayed'sWildand Elizabeth Gilbert'sEat Pray Love. Eachmemoirist is on a journey to find herself, and traveling to unfamiliar places and shaking up their lives in a huge way is the catalyst to soul-searching and self-discovery that sets them down a new path.What setsStumbling into Happinessapart is the added layer of struggle with religious faith, and more significantly, that it's told by a male narrator. The religious themecould be played up or down, depending on the market we decided to focus on. In any case, our main characterMike Schoenhofer is alikable, honest narratorsharing a universal story - the search for self, and the search for happiness, a common human goal whether the searcher is a recent divorcee or a young priest not sure he made the right choice by entering the clergy. Schoenhofer's easy, detailed but passionate prose has aGarrison Keillor-like appeal.

Author Bio

Michael Schoenhofer is a first-time author and a full-time mental health professional. He lives in Lima, Ohio with his wife. Michael is a contributor to the Lima News and publishes a blog called Overflow at www.overflow.care, which he illustrates with his original sketches. Michael is a sought-after speaker on optimism, mindfulness, and maintaining well-being in difficult circumstances. Michael Schoenhofer is the Executive Director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board serving the Ohio counties Allen, Auglaize, and Hardin where he plans and oversees mental health and addiction treatment and prevention programs for residents from children to seniors. Prior to that he worked in foster care, lived in Africa for six years, served in parishes in Tiffin and Toledo Ohio for 5 years where he taught high school. Michael has a degree in psychology from St. Meinrad College, Indiana; a Master in Theology from The Gregorian University in Rome; and a Master in Social Work from the Ohio State University. He lives in Lima Ohio with his wife, his cat Calvin, and occasionally one of his children who needs shelter.