Walking Through Fire A Memoir of Loss and Redemption by Vaneetha Rendall Risner - Nelson Books
pub date 19 jan 2021
I encourage you to pre-order it here: https://amzn.to/33I2qLL
Spanish
Qué vida. Si estás sufriendo, de cualquier tipo de enfermedad, dolor, o pérdida, lo mejor que puedo recomendarte es conocer a otras personas que sufren, pero que sufren bien, con fe, cimentadas en la Roca, Cristo y en Su Palabra. De otra manera puedes desmayar, pensar que eres la única persona en el mundo que tiene tantos "problemas" o dolor. Vaneetha ha sido un ejemplo para mi a la distancia y sin saberlo, desde su libro "The scars that have shaped me" la he sentido como una amiga a la distancia. Este libro es un tanto diferente pues es como una autobiografía, encontrarás más detalles de cómo llegó a donde está parada hoy. En lo personal disfruté mucho más el de "The scars that have shaped me" pero este me ayudó a comprender cómo fue ese proceso. Estoy agradecida con Dios por la vida de Vaneetha y me anima pensar que su existencia tiene un propósito eterno, glorioso, incluso en la vida de personas como yo, a las cuales ella nunca conocerá. Su dolor ha tenido sentido, al menos para mi, y su fidelidad en medio de las lágrimas, valles y soledad también. Me encantaría un día conocerla y darle un abrazo muy fuerte, y simplemente decirle: gracias, por acompañarme en mi cuarto, en la cama, en medio de mis propias lágrimas, enfermedad, quebrando y dolor. Gracias por escribir, por estar ahí. Este libro es un regalo para personas que aman a Cristo y quieren permanecer fieles aunque todo parece derrumbarse alrededor. Espero pronto lo traduzcan al español, uno de mis sueños es ayudar a traducir alguno de los libros que reviso en inglés primero y que me gustan, inspiran o exhortan.
English
What a life. If you are suffering from any kind of illness, pain, or loss, the best I can do for you is to encourage you to meet other Christian people who suffer, but the ones who suffer well, with faith, founded on the Rock, Christ, and His Word. Otherwise, you may pass out and you will want to quit, thinking that you are "the only person in the world" who has so many "problems" or pain. Vaneetha has been a lovely example for me from through the distance and even when she doesn´t know me I feel that I love her. Since her book "The scars that have shaped me" I have felt her as a friend living in another country so far away, and I´m the one who prays for her through the distance. This book is a bit different because it is like an autobiography, you will find more details of how it got to where it stands today. Personally, I enjoyed "The scars that have shaped me" a lot and this one helped me to understand how that process and what lead her to where she is today. I am grateful to God for Vaneetha's life and everything she shares encourages me to think that her existence has an eternal and glorious purpose, even in the lives of people like me, whom she will never meet, and she has encouraged and shared hope in the middle of chaos. Her pain has a purpose, at least for me, and her fidelity in the midst of tears, valleys, and loneliness too. I would love to meet her one day and give her a very strong hug, and simply say: thank you, for being with me in my room, in bed, in the midst of my own tears, illness, heartbreak, and pain. Thanks for writing, for being there. Allowing God to break you will bear fruit. This book is a gift for people who love Christ and want to remain faithful even though everything seems to collapse around them. Consider getting this book even if you are not walking through fire right now, because someday the most certain thing is that you will. I hope they will translate it into Spanish soon, one of my dreams is to help translate some of the books that I review in English first and that I like, inspire or encourage.
Here I share with you some quotes and small paragraphs so you can feel the tone and passion of the book:
“But is there anything happy?” they ask. “Did you ever laugh with all the tears?” And then, quietly, “Has your life been good?” My eyes sparkle as I grin, my joy evident. “Come and see.”
"This is the place you reach when after years and years of trials and difficulties, you see that all has been working out for your good, and that God’s will is perfect. You see that He has made no mistakes. He knew all of the “what if’s” in your life. When you finally recognize this, even during the trials, it’s possible to have joy, deep down joy".
“Jesus, I don’t understand [...],” I said out loud. “But I need you right now. I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t. I want to feel your presence again and know that you love me.”
"Jesus is feeding me. God’s promises are true. God will never leave me and will walk with me through everything. Then my eyes widened. God has never left me."
"I wrote furiously in my journal, asking God questions and telling him how angry and hurt I was. But every sentence , every tear, drew me toward God and not away. My silence since Paul’s death had raised walls, and now it felt as if every word was helping to tear them down.
[...],
“God, I don’t know if you exist. But if you are real, please show me.”
[...],
I asked out loud, “So why did all this happen to me anyway, God ? If you are so loving, why did I get polio ? Why have I had to struggle all my life? How could you possibly be good?”
[...],
Could God use my life and disability for something good? Was God telling me that my polio had a purpose ? That it wasn’t senseless or random? As I rolled these thoughts around in my head, something changed inside me.
[...],
I felt a newfound freedom to be authentic with God. Every day I discovered pain on the pages of my Bible, and every day I offered it back to God. I yelled it, whispered it, cried it through tears.
[...],
"I realized that he wasn’t waiting for the pain to disappear. No, he was already inside it. Pain and lament were not opposed to praise—after voicing my lament, praise naturally followed. It happened to the psalmists. And it happened to me."
"It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me—that the bitter cup was never filled by His hand , that my trials were never measured out by Him, nor sent to me by His arrangement of their weight and quantity."
I´ll share some more here later if you com back I´ll edit here.
Description
The astonishing, Job-like story of how an existence filled with loss, suffering, questioning, and anger became a life filled with shocking and incomprehensible peace and joy.
Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for ten years and, after each stay, would return to a life filled with bullying. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate.
But life unraveled. Again. She had four miscarriages. Her son died because of a doctor's mistake. And Vaneetha was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, meaning she would likely become a quadriplegic. And then her husband betrayed her and moved out, leaving her to raise two adolescent daughters alone. This was not the abundant life she thought God had promised her. But, as Vaneetha discovered, everything she experienced was designed to draw her closer to Christ as she discovered "that intimacy with God in suffering can be breathtakingly beautiful."
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