Additional information
by Kary Oberbrunner (Foreword by), Joyce J. Ritchie (Author)
What happens when we get gut wrenchingly honest with God about our anger, our doubts and our fears? Read Joyce's story and find out Joyce Ritchie was living a wonderful life with a great family and a thriving career. While a long time Christian, she admits her relationship with Jesus was fairly superficial. Her life began to unravel, though, when her health mysteriously began to fail. She earnestly sought answers about her life and about Jesus. She dug deeper into who Jesus really was and who she really was in Him. Realizing how superficial her Christian walk had been, she also prayed for a deeper faith. These prayers were answered, but not in the way she expected. Her life began to crumble around her as she found her marriage in a precarious position. Seeking counseling, she soon found herself battling flashbacks, body memories that were complete with the dry heaves, and a spiritual battle she was ill prepared for when she began to realize her childhood was not what she had always assumed. Joyce takes the reader deep into her journey of battling a chronic illness and recovering memories of childhood sexual abuse. Her story is powerful, personal, and vulnerable. She opens her journals and her counseling sessions, allowing us to experience the pain, anger, shame, loneliness and feelings of guilt...but also to share in the victories, the spiritual lessons, the freedom, and the ultimate deep relationship she gained with Jesus along the way. Jesus wants to heal our hearts, and this book underscores how He will often go to great lengths to do so. It tackles the hard but honest truth about the realities of childhood sexual abuse and chronic illness, but doesn't end there. Joyce focuses on the God of redemption, healing, and love. This is an honest portrayal of what happens when we truly open our hearts to Jesus and allow Him to speak truth and healing into our pain. The journey is intense and spiritually and physically exhausting, but the divine destination to Joyce's healed heart is a glorious testimony to God's ability to transform lives. It will inspire you to a deeper faith in God and in His ability to heal all wounds past and present. -Discover how trials DO have a higher purpose in our lives -Learn about the long-term effects of sexual abuse, but also that healing IS possible! -Understand how wrestling with God over your doubts and anger CAN actually lead to a deeper faith.
Author Biography
Joyce Ritchie lives in the country with her husband, two dogs, and an empty nest. Her life perfectly demonstrates that we never know where God will take us. After years of studying for a medical career, she never dreamed she would find herself retired at such an early age. A private and introspective person by nature, she is even more astonished to have penned such an open and vulnerable memoir. She enjoys daily learning more about Jesus and about what walking with Him entails.
