Have you ever had a Christmas gathering or family vacation that was way too interesting? Have you had a family member in the military or deployed to a combat zone? Have you struggled with your Christian faith? Have you or a family member faced cancer or another serious illness? If so, you are not alone, although you may sometimes feel like it.

Author Terry A. Roberts has felt that way. He shares his experiences in his memoir, You’ve Got to Be Somewhere. This slice of Americana, sometimes hilarious and sometimes starkly intense, recalls Roberts’s idyllic childhood, filled with baseball, Boy Scouts, and outdoor boondoggles. Life later finds him as a single Baptist minister in the South and Midwest while also serving as a marine. He saw combat in the first Gulf War, later as a US Navy/Marine Corps chaplain, and once again during the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. He was later diagnosed with cancer, a fact that changed his life forever.

Through it all, his faith in God has helped him through the difficult times while making him more appreciative of the good in his life. Now he tells the story of his truly American life–an odyssey of humor, tough issues, and faith.