A Whacky Dream Or Not?
Author Beth Praed was working on a devotional about disease, when she was told that her MS would eventually be fatal. Beth was depressed and angry. Depression is obvious, but the anger? She was mad at God! Then, Beth stopped writing the book.
Then, she had a dream about her funeral. She could see her body in a casket. Then the "dream minister" mentioned how "God gave Beth her first book on MS in a dream. That book became the top book on MS for six years at Amazon. (Which really happened.) But the book for which she is best remembered is her devotional about disease." When Beth awoke, she remembered the dream! So, she started writing again.
And now, So You Have a Disease: Devotions and Stories To Restore Hope" has been published by CrossLink Publishing. Beth says, āI am grateful to God for giving me the motivation to finish writing the book. It wouldn't have happened if He hadn't given me that whacky dream!ā
So You Have a Disease: Devotions and Stories To Restore Hope (ISBN 978-1633573208, Trade Paper, $9.95, ASIN B08BF9KTQ, ebook, $2.99, Christian Living / Spiritual Growth) from CrossLink.
A Whacky Dream Or Not?
Author Beth Praed was working on a devotional about disease, when she was told that her MS would eventually be fatal. Beth was depressed and angry. Depression is obvious, but the anger? She was mad at God! Then, Beth stopped writing the book.
Then, she had a dream about her funeral. She could see her body in a casket. Then the "dream minister" mentioned how "God gave Beth her first book on MS in a dream. That book became the top book on MS for six years at Amazon. (Which really happened.) But the book for which she is best remembered is her devotional about disease." When Beth awoke, she remembered the dream! So, she started writing again.
And now, So You Have a Disease: Devotions and Stories To Restore Hope" has been published by CrossLink Publishing. Beth says, āI am grateful to God for giving me the motivation to finish writing the book. It wouldn't have happened if He hadn't given me that whacky dream!ā
So You Have a Disease: Devotions and Stories To Restore Hope (ISBN 978-1633573208, Trade Paper, $9.95, ASIN B08BF9KTQ, ebook, $2.99, Christian Living / Spiritual Growth) from CrossLink.
My doctor says that I am dying. Every time that I see
her, she tells me this fact in a new way. āThe multiple
sclerosis is killing you; You will not live a long life;
your life will be shorter than most; the MS is causing your brain
to resemble Swiss cheese; and youāre lucky to know what you
are dying from, most people donāt.ā
She is a great doctor, and I truly believe that she is just trying
to help me when she says these things. Maybe she thinks that I
am in denial about my disease. Iām not. I just donāt think that anyone
can predict how long someone will live. What am I supposed
to do? Just sit in a chair, watch television, and wait to die? All of
us will die eventually. A perfectly healthy person can be walking
along and be hit by a bus, while another personāto the surprise
of his or her doctorsācan live decades with cancer. The truth
is, only God knows how long that I will live. I just donāt think
that He is finished with me yet and that is why I am still here.
And the fact is that I have already died before this time. I had
a Near-Death Experience (NDE) when I was just nine, and this
experience was written about in Guidepostsā Mysterious Ways
magazine. It is also told again in this book.
The devotions in this book were given to me by God to help
individuals when they are struggling to cope with a chronic illness
or a disease. This is the only reason for this book to exist,
and it was not written to make a ton of money. If my doctor is
right with her diagnosis, I wonāt need money where Iām going.
Money is not important to God. Why spend my final days on
something that has little meaning? If God can use this sick, broken
person to make a difference in the world, then that is everything
to me, and my life has some purpose.
In this book, you will hear me repeat the same mantra:
āSurround yourself with good people.ā There are many good
people in this world. Find them and foster those friendships.
We are here to help and support each other. You are not alone.
Search for the good people out thereāthey do exist! If you feel
alone, look around you and they will actually come running. God
uses his children to help others again and again and again.
I also state throughout the book that maybe you are an āangelin-
training.ā Did you ever realize this? Maybe angels are developing
from ordinary people who have gone through extraordinary
circumstances, both good and terrible. Right now, you feel sick
and discouraged. But perhaps God will use this to help you grow
and develop into the person that He needs for you to be. How
about this idea? Wouldnāt that be incredible?
When I was a child, my grandfather used to tell me, āThere
are only two things that you have to do in lifeādie and pay taxes!ā
Well, he was wrong. There is one more thing, and that is to
change. Our lives are constantly changing and I know mine certainly
did in December 1995 when I developed multiple sclerosis.
Before that time, I was young; I was healthy; I was superwoman!
Or so I thought. I worked long hours as a public relations
executive for a Fortune 100 company in Atlanta. I was married
with one child and another on the way. I also was completing my
second masterās degree in communications. I worked eight hours
and then went to class at night. I was young! I was invincible!
Before I developed MS, I considered myself a spiritual person.
I went to church on a regular basis. And most days, if I remembered,
I prayed before bedtime. But, honestly, God was not
a large part of my life. I knew He was there, but I was too busy
with work, children, and school to take much notice.
It is interesting how an illness can change you. For some
people, a chronic illness or disease can be devastating and more
than they can handle. I realized just how unbearable illness can
be while I was reading an Associated Press article about Dr.
Kevorkian, or Dr. Death. According to the article, twenty of the
ninety-three people whose āsuicidesā he engineered had multiple
sclerosis (MS)! Although multiple sclerosis can be a dreadful
disease, most MS sufferers donāt die from it. As I read the article,
I was immediately struck by the power illness has to devastate
peopleās lives. These gentle souls were so fatigued and tired of
dealing with the MS every day, they no longer wanted to liveā
they wanted out.
I truly believe that people can sometimes have too much tragedy
in their lives. Just like Dr. Kevorkianās patients, many of us
can and do have more than we can bear. Life can be very difficult.
Illness or disease greatly adds to that burden, and we can
feel that we are broken. In reality, it might even feel worse than
being broken. It can sometimes feel like our lives have been shattered.
How do you begin to heal from your disease if you are in
little pieces?
So You Have a Disease: Devotions and Stories To Restore Hope is
intended to help bring Godās hope and reassurance to individuals
who feel like they are broken from illness. If you have been diagnosed
with a disease, it will change your life. If I told you differently,
I would not be telling the truth. Sometimes a disease can
start suddenly, or sometimes you will slowly realize that something
is wrong.
I hope and pray that this book is helpful to you. I would like to
begin with a Gaelic blessing that is one of my motherās favorite
prayers. Perhaps you have heard it before. Even though you and I
might not ever meet, we are related. We are brothers and sisters.
Not only because we all are suffering from a disease, but because
we are children of God.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
āGaelic Blessing
Every now and then we come across a book that restores our hope for a better time in future and opens our eyes to the treasures around us that we often fail to see because of being held captive in fog of uncertainty. Beth Praedās inspirational book So You Have a Disease is one of them.
Ā
Beth starts the book with the uncomfortable revelation about her health in the Preface to the book: in the words of her doctor, she is dying of multiple sclerosis. But the many short chapters following this revelation take the reader inside her lifeās challenges that each transformed her for better. From her childhoodās near death experience to losing her fitness and a good deal of mobility due to her progressing disease, the suffering in her life moved her closer to her belief in the higher power, God. She shares those precious lessons with readers via this book.
So You Have a Disease is a book easy to read as it is short and individual chapters are just a few pages at most. Yet, the emotional and spiritual impact of Bethās words is deep and lasting. She narrates her experiences in a simple and beautiful manner that touches the soul. And it is owing to her positive and peaceful voice that many of the tragic incidents described from her memories make a case for seeing the beauty of life instead of cultivating fear or sorrow. As the bookās subtitle āDevotions and Stories to Restore Hopeā indicates, her stories, questions, thoughts, and prayers carry hope and faith in the divine good.
Ā
There are two main lessons for readers of So You Have a Disease: kindness and gratitude. Beth illustrates both excellently in her many experiences with poor, handicapped, or suffering peopleāand some animals too. She shows the importance of being kind because it makes life better and of being grateful because it keeps one going. Like most other people of faith, her way of expressing gratitude is praying for all.
Each brief chapter in this book comes with a related biblical verse or prayer, mostly at the end. The author believes in the importance and power of prayer.
So You Have a Disease is also a book of self-improvement via faith. Beth confesses to shedding her former arrogance and pursuit of material values after MS took the toll on her health and mobility. She uses her life experiences to convey the true beauty of life in the many things we take for granted until we lose them. This is a precious lesson in the book delivered straight to the soul.
Beth Praedās So You Have a Disease is a book everyone should read, particularly those who have been through or are living in difficult times in their lives. This book can change their life for better.