Choose Joy, Beloved

In my first book, I dealt with overcoming stressors that engulfed my daughter from the age of five through twenty-seven. Her behaviors were so extreme at times that they surpassed what I expected in the mental health arena. I turned to God for answers as things escalated out of control. To my great relief and surprise, I heard His replies. He was in the midst of every difficult day, every challenging moment. He taught my family many things. The most important was that He was with us in the fight. At the end of that book, Kelsi seemed to have a future. She had obtained a job and held it for a time.

This book covers the last two years of her life here on earth. Things began to unravel. Mental illness arose with a vengeance I had never seen and took her down. She lost her job. She began to repeatedly hit herself in the head. We prayed. We saw psychiatrists, spiritual counselors, and autism specialists. Things looked hopeless, but I expected God to heal her in this realm, not the next. The day she “went ahead of us” to heaven was the worst day of our lives. Recovery from our loss seemed impossible. Parents that have lost children would fully understand.

This is a story of miraculous rebound as we listened to the voice of God. He brought us through the horror of devastating loss. The principles in His Word were the pathway to choosing life again.

No matter what catastrophe you have experienced, it is possible to make a comeback. You are still here because God has a purpose for you on the earth. As you read my story, I pray this: May you find hope in relationship with Jesus Christ. May the Waymaker define your open road. May you never falter in pursuing your destiny. No matter what.