Jada Mitchell has written about the life-changing experience of losing her fiancé. She endured countless hurtful words from people who mostly meant well, but their words brought more pain. With Jesus’ help she survived. He helped her through the terrible pain and now she is a stronger person. She had a few friends and strangers to depend upon and a few family members. But she gained a wonderful new family. She lives in the South and has been single most of her life. She has a B.A. in psychology and works in the grief ministry.

Countless others are grieving all over the globe for their loved ones. There are plenty of people who have endured more loss than I have, perhaps even losing many at once. Where there are those who grieve, there are those who do not know what to say. There are also those who think they know what to say to the grieving. I’m not certain which one’s words are more painful. This is my sensitivity training for the non-grieving. Remember, everyone is different, but this pointer would have helped me a great deal. Don’t ask, “How are you?” Perhaps a person could show concern and say, “I care,” or “I am thinking about you,” or “You are on my mind.” Give the person a hug and say, “I am here for you.” I could have handled those words much better. I knew that people were concerned, but I couldn’t truthfully say that I was great, never been better.

I have tried and still try to avoid answering the question of how I am. It sometimes makes me want to tell them exactly how I feel, which would not be a good thing to do.

What do people expect the grieving to say? I said in the beginning, after I could actually hang around after the church service without crying, “I’m fine.” I had a friend remind me that I was lying in church. So when the next person asked how I was, I told him the truth—and it was not pleasant. Jesus is my source of strength, but even so, we still grieve.

A cowboy’s rope is an essential tool, a major part of his daily life. Cowboys fully understand its importance. Tim Malm understood, and he knew how to skillfully use his rope. While that skill has temporarily been taken from him due to a tragic accident, those who know him and his God believe Tim will rope again one day. Fred G., a fellow cowboy, of Christian Cowboy Ministries, said it well: “You will never know how proud and humble I am to have you as a saddle pard for the Lord Jesus Christ. God picked a top hand when he chose you to deliver his word. You don’t have the strength to rope yet but I’ll tell you pard, you sure have the strength to give a gospel message. The calf ropin’ will come; in the meantime the soul ropin’ you’re doin’ makes you a champion.”

Tim’s story, In His Time, takes the reader on the journey from the day of his accident to his present rehabilitation. It is a story of courage, strength, and endurance. As we travel on this journey with Tim and his family, we truly see what faith in God can do.

Carter and Amee Benka are blessed with two sons. Their first, Rocky, is an energetic and sensitive boy. Their second son, Chase, only two years younger than Rocky, is a delightful child who was born with Down syndrome. The Benkas are a young couple, faithful and devoted to God’s ministry. But when Chase is born, their faith is challenged. They have no idea what Down syndrome is, and they are unaware of how much it will change their lives forever. More importantly, they don’t yet know how uniquely God will reveal Himself to them to strengthen and encourage them along the way. As Amee struggles to balance her time between her husband, her boys, and their ministry, God gently breaks through Amee’s defenses to let her know she’s not alone by speaking to her three times in a dream. She comes face to face with the dreams and realizes her life’s path, understanding how God intends to help the family raise and nurture Chase. Through God’s guidance, Amee learns to embrace the gifts of her sons.

Carter and Amee Benka are blessed with two sons. Their first, Rocky, is an energetic and sensitive boy. Their second son, Chase, only two years younger than Rocky, is a delightful child who was born with Down syndrome. The Benkas are a young couple, faithful and devoted to God’s ministry. But when Chase is born, their faith is challenged. They have no idea what Down syndrome is, and they are unaware of how much it will change their lives forever. More importantly, they don’t yet know how uniquely God will reveal Himself to them to strengthen and encourage them along the way. As Amee struggles to balance her time between her husband, her boys, and their ministry, God gently breaks through Amee’s defenses to let her know she’s not alone by speaking to her three times in a dream. She comes face to face with the dreams and realizes her life’s path, understanding how God intends to help the family raise and nurture Chase. Through God’s guidance, Amee learns to embrace the gifts of her sons.

Carter and Amee Benka are blessed with two sons. Their first, Rocky, is an energetic and sensitive boy. Their second son, Chase, only two years younger than Rocky, is a delightful child who was born with Down syndrome. The Benkas are a young couple, faithful and devoted to God’s ministry. But when Chase is born, their faith is challenged. They have no idea what Down syndrome is, and they are unaware of how much it will change their lives forever. More importantly, they don’t yet know how uniquely God will reveal Himself to them to strengthen and encourage them along the way. As Amee struggles to balance her time between her husband, her boys, and their ministry, God gently breaks through Amee’s defenses to let her know she’s not alone by speaking to her three times in a dream. She comes face to face with the dreams and realizes her life’s path, understanding how God intends to help the family raise and nurture Chase. Through God’s guidance, Amee learns to embrace the gifts of her sons.

A cowboy’s rope is an essential tool, a major part of his daily life. Cowboys fully understand its importance. Tim Malm understood, and he knew how to skillfully use his rope. While that skill has temporarily been taken from him due to a tragic accident, those who know him and his God believe Tim will rope again one day. Fred G., a fellow cowboy, of Christian Cowboy Ministries, said it well: “You will never know how proud and humble I am to have you as a saddle pard for the Lord Jesus Christ. God picked a top hand when he chose you to deliver his word. You don’t have the strength to rope yet but I’ll tell you pard, you sure have the strength to give a gospel message. The calf ropin’ will come; in the meantime the soul ropin’ you’re doin’ makes you a champion.”

Tim’s story, In His Time, takes the reader on the journey from the day of his accident to his present rehabilitation. It is a story of courage, strength, and endurance. As we travel on this journey with Tim and his family, we truly see what faith in God can do.

A cowboy’s rope is an essential tool, a major part of his daily life. Cowboys fully understand its importance. Tim Malm understood, and he knew how to skillfully use his rope. While that skill has temporarily been taken from him due to a tragic accident, those who know him and his God believe Tim will rope again one day. Fred G., a fellow cowboy, of Christian Cowboy Ministries, said it well: “You will never know how proud and humble I am to have you as a saddle pard for the Lord Jesus Christ. God picked a top hand when he chose you to deliver his word. You don’t have the strength to rope yet but I’ll tell you pard, you sure have the strength to give a gospel message. The calf ropin’ will come; in the meantime the soul ropin’ you’re doin’ makes you a champion.”

Tim’s story, In His Time, takes the reader on the journey from the day of his accident to his present rehabilitation. It is a story of courage, strength, and endurance. As we travel on this journey with Tim and his family, we truly see what faith in God can do.

The Montgomery family, David, Katherine, and their three daughters, Brittany, Alicia, and Megan, ages six, four, and two, arrive in Malawi as first-term missionaries with the keen anticipation of learning the language and beginning a fruitful ministry—a long-awaited African dream. Instead, the unexplained absence of a work permit changes their lives dramatically. Just when they have found a wonderful home in the Limbe House, they are forced to leave two days before Christmas, with no expectation of returning. Traveling a thousand miles by car to Kenya, they settle temporarily in “The Cave,” where homeschooling and learning a new language fill their time. There are blessings and challenges in their new location, and what seems to be angelic intervention in a time of danger, before circumstances require them to return briefly to Malawi. Will the work permit come in time for them to stay in the Limbe House, or will they be forced to pack all their belongings and transfer to a new country? When it seems that all dreams have been shattered, a shocking, last-minute answer to prayer changes dreams to reality. “The Montgomerys’ struggle to realize their African dream reveals how God’s providence leads his people, particularly those called into vocational missions. Dr. Meacham’s picturesque writing style literally transports readers into the drama of his family’s African adventure. Readers will be both inspired and informed by this remarkable story.” —Dr. Fred E. Meeks, Director, Logsdon Seminary Lubbock Program Emeritus Professor of Religion, Wayland Baptist University

Betty Sandoval recalls her amazing experiences in True Miracles throughout My Life in order to share how real God is in our lives. She has faced a lot of sorrow in her life, but she has also experienced many miracles. Her first brush with the miraculous occurred when she was five years old. The school she attended was very close to her home, and she walked to school every day. One day, while walking, she was hit by a truck. She remembered talking to a lady dressed in white and light blue who told her that she was not going to die because it was not her time and that her mother needed her. She had injured her right arm; the main nerve was cut, and she couldn’t feel anything. Even so, God gave her back use of her arm and hand again—truly a miracle. And this was only the beginning for Betty; she later suffered three strokes, the strokes were on holy week the week before Easter, and exactly one year apart. All three of them. Her memoir makes clear that no matter what we have to endure in life, we have to remember if we make God and Christ our first priority, believe in them wholeheartedly, and never lose faith, they will always be there for us.

In the fall of 1997 at a Bible college in Grantville, Pennsylvania, Dawn first set eyes on Jacob Cole. She didn’t know it then, but God had a special plan in mind for the two of them. In When Thunder Rolls, Dawn tells their love story—from their early friendship to the day Jacob died.

A story of relationships and loss, When Thunder Rolls narrates Dawn’s journey through a heartbreaking trial in her life that drew her into a deeper walk with Christ. They were married in 2001 and were happy for several years. But the young couple’s life changed in 2008 when Jacob was diagnosed with malignant melanoma and died just a year later. This memoir tells how that experience forever changed Dawn, who became a young widow and single mother to four children.

Through her personal testimony, Dawn encourages others facing deep trials to know they are not alone and that with God’s strength within them they will come through. And as they yield their hearts to Him and trust Him no matter what, God will be glorified.

Lois and Tim had been married almost twenty-five years and were the parents of three teenagers. In a single moment, a fatal accident altered the course of Lois’s life and changed her family forever. In the face of intense pain, God used a variety of people and circumstances to reveal His presence and provisions for Lois and her family. In her memoir, A Garment of Praise: A Story of Blessings in the Midst of Grief, Lois chronicles her journey of grief during her first year as a widow. She shares how she and her family experienced God’s amazing, overwhelming, lavish love and abundant blessings. Within days of her husband’s death, Lois began to see ways God had prepared her family for life without Tim. A Garment of Praise: A Story of Blessings in the Midst of Grief presents Lois’s written record of how God provided care for Lois and brought her and her family unexpected blessings during a time of tragedy.

In the fall of 1997 at a Bible college in Grantville, Pennsylvania, Dawn first set eyes on Jacob Cole. She didn’t know it then, but God had a special plan in mind for the two of them. In When Thunder Rolls, Dawn tells their love story—from their early friendship to the day Jacob died.

A story of relationships and loss, When Thunder Rolls narrates Dawn’s journey through a heartbreaking trial in her life that drew her into a deeper walk with Christ. They were married in 2001 and were happy for several years. But the young couple’s life changed in 2008 when Jacob was diagnosed with malignant melanoma and died just a year later. This memoir tells how that experience forever changed Dawn, who became a young widow and single mother to four children.

Through her personal testimony, Dawn encourages others facing deep trials to know they are not alone and that with God’s strength within them they will come through. And as they yield their hearts to Him and trust Him no matter what, God will be glorified.

In the fall of 1997 at a Bible college in Grantville, Pennsylvania, Dawn first set eyes on Jacob Cole. She didn’t know it then, but God had a special plan in mind for the two of them. In When Thunder Rolls, Dawn tells their love story—from their early friendship to the day Jacob died.

A story of relationships and loss, When Thunder Rolls narrates Dawn’s journey through a heartbreaking trial in her life that drew her into a deeper walk with Christ. They were married in 2001 and were happy for several years. But the young couple’s life changed in 2008 when Jacob was diagnosed with malignant melanoma and died just a year later. This memoir tells how that experience forever changed Dawn, who became a young widow and single mother to four children.

Through her personal testimony, Dawn encourages others facing deep trials to know they are not alone and that with God’s strength within them they will come through. And as they yield their hearts to Him and trust Him no matter what, God will be glorified.

Lois and Tim had been married almost twenty-five years and were the parents of three teenagers. In a single moment, a fatal accident altered the course of Lois’s life and changed her family forever. In the face of intense pain, God used a variety of people and circumstances to reveal His presence and provisions for Lois and her family. In her memoir, A Garment of Praise: A Story of Blessings in the Midst of Grief, Lois chronicles her journey of grief during her first year as a widow. She shares how she and her family experienced God’s amazing, overwhelming, lavish love and abundant blessings. Within days of her husband’s death, Lois began to see ways God had prepared her family for life without Tim. A Garment of Praise: A Story of Blessings in the Midst of Grief presents Lois’s written record of how God provided care for Lois and brought her and her family unexpected blessings during a time of tragedy.

Lois and Tim had been married almost twenty-five years and were the parents of three teenagers. In a single moment, a fatal accident altered the course of Lois’s life and changed her family forever. In the face of intense pain, God used a variety of people and circumstances to reveal His presence and provisions for Lois and her family. In her memoir, A Garment of Praise: A Story of Blessings in the Midst of Grief, Lois chronicles her journey of grief during her first year as a widow. She shares how she and her family experienced God’s amazing, overwhelming, lavish love and abundant blessings. Within days of her husband’s death, Lois began to see ways God had prepared her family for life without Tim. A Garment of Praise: A Story of Blessings in the Midst of Grief presents Lois’s written record of how God provided care for Lois and brought her and her family unexpected blessings during a time of tragedy.