God in the Midst of Thorns
A Journey of Faith, Hope, Strength, and Justice
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Christopher’s Memory
Have you ever had a life-changing experience, one in which your world collapsed around you and nothing would ever again be the same? Maybe it was a bad diagnosis, the loss of a loved one, an accident, a divorce, the loss of a job, or general unwelcome news. Perhaps you experienced an injustice in the legal system. How did you handle the situation? Did you run as fast as possible away from God? Did you blame God for everything? Or did you run right into his arms, asking, begging, and pleading for strength, comfort, and peace? Did you question God, asking why this happened or how it could happen? Did you ask what the purpose was for all these trials? Did you stand and fight, or did you run and hide? Did you fall down a well into deep depression or despair, only to find you must choose to live in your well or do the difficult task of climbing out of it? Did you see any “rainbows” of blessings in your situation, those blessings that were right before you but that you were just too blinded by grief and pain to see at the time?
These are just a small sampling of the questions Hilda and I asked ourselves. Oh, there were a great many others that have come to our minds over these many years. To be perfectly honest, our world changed in an instant, in ways we would have never thought of or predicted. It was very mysterious to us, foreign by its sheer nature. My Hilda went from a happy, joyful, hardworking, and active woman to a person who literally has to fight for every breath she takes, as has been the case for almost two decades now. Being thankful for every moment and every breath was something she, and I too, took for granted until a December day long, long ago.
Hilda wrote some beautiful words after the birth of our first granddaughter and some of her experience, which I could not re-create. Her inspiration after such difficulties brings her hope and life and shows her how God continues to love, heal, and teach in all situations. Together, we have learned to trust God, who never abandons us, who constantly loves us, and yes, who walks every step with us in difficult times. These words of hopes, dreams, difficulties, and blessings are pinned as a legacy for others who suffer and are a message to our grandchildren in the hopes that they too will always learn to trust a loving God in all life situations, especially the difficult ones.
Hilda’s words are meaningful, insightful, and heartfelt and bring meaning to life itself.
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About the Book
Christopher and Hilda Talley were living what they thought was the American dream. They had two beautiful and healthy daughters, a comfortable home, cars, clothes, food on the table, a wonderful faith community, and two terrific jobs they loved. They played at life just as hard as they worked for their lifestyle, traveling in the United States and to foreign lands as often as possible.
But in 1999, that all came crashing down. Hilda went from a happy and healthy person to someone who struggles for every breath she takes, after an inadequately trained pesticide tech came into her office. Two minutes after he left, she was fighting for her life. The chemical permanently damaged her lungs and vocal cords and led to two debilitating diseases: reactive airways dysfunction syndrome and vocal cord dysfunction. Their family life changed instantly.
In God in the Midst of Thorns, Christopher and Hilda share their story, a story intertwined with the testament of God’s love and the power of Christian community, as they began their journey of learning to live a new normal. The Talleys discuss how, in their struggle for understanding, they both found a new and deeper relationship with God.
About the Author
Christopher and Hilda Talley are a husband and wife team who met each other when they were nine and ten years old, respectively. They were raised in the Appalachian Mountains. Christopher has been serving in full-time ministry for more than thirty years in the United Methodist Church. Hilda worked full time in the corporate world until her pesticide exposure in 1999. They have children and grandchildren.