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| May 7, 2013 |
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| May 7, 2013 |
Finding Peace in the Storms by Yinka Vidal, published April 2013, by Lara Publications, 245 pages, Ebook, ISBN #978-0964-081857, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, $8.99.
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The story behind the book - In case people are still wondering why
I wrote this book, Finding Peace in the Storms, and what ignited my desire to write
this emotionally riveting book, here goes the story. n 1976, while I was in college, I received very devastating news that my most favorite aunt had died of breast cancer. For many years, I was silently agonizing over this unexpected death of this wonderful and very attractive woman I loved so much. I could not discuss my emotional pain with anybody. Years later my aunt’s daughter died of the same disease. My emotional pain I had kept secret for many years re-ignited. I refused to discuss the issue with anybody in the family. Even in 2013 when for the first time I mentioned the name of my aunt to my senior brother, he asked me why I never mentioned my aunt’s name over the years. |
He was unaware that I was burdened by her death for so many years. The emotional pain was secretly hidden in the depth of my soul. In early 2013, my hidden emotional pain not only resurfaced, but the reason re-igniting when I was confronted with a church member who was battling the same illness. In the face of this church member was the face of my fear vividly displayed before me. I saw the mirror of my own fear of death through her tearful eyes after I finished praying for her. I was confronted with the demon of the past fear I thought I had buried. This time, I had to fight the fear this illness had inflicted in my soul over the years. Breast cancer sounded like a very awful name! I was ready to stand and fight instead of running away like I did over the years. I had to confront this terrifying fear of death! This sequence of events motivated and challenged me to write this book, in the process of facing the fear of dying with grace, and destroying that poison of soul injury.
From a man’s point, women’s breast cancer terrifies us, but we are unable to express that emotional pain, for the fear of being called a wimp. I cannot stop asking myself the question why God created two most beautiful pair of organs hanging with amazing beauty, and bouncing glory with seductive synchrony from the chest of a woman, and later afflicted with such a devastating disease. How can we look at something so attractive like a very ripe orange so deliciously appetizing and at the same time think of the terror of breast cancer? Why should the beauty of a very attractive woman be destroyed with such a very devastating disease? Good Lord!
The thought of dying terrifies everybody! Preachers on Sunday are afraid to preach about death from the pulpit to prevent them from scaring their members away, and the resultant empty pews in subsequent Sundays. Unfortunately, everybody has to go through this process. Death becomes this very malicious spirit, hiding in the dark, and ready to strike with destructive blows without notice. Both Christians and non-Christians are scared of this uninvited guest that tends to show up without notice striking more than hell out of many people. Death has many allies that strike equal weight of terror in people. These allies are called the causes of death. These allies are death’s first line of attack on the human physical body, inflicting many painful ordeals.
Jesus was the only person who ever talked nicely about death. When he was delivering his farewell message to his disciples, he was comforting them that they should rejoice for him because he was going to his Father. Today, many people would react to such a statement by a person facing executing that he could have lost his mind. However, Jesus was right. He was looking beyond the physical death of the body, and looking at the glory beyond into the invisible. That was why he told his disciples that, he would see them again on the other side and that they would meet again in great jubilation. Jesus was telling his disciples that death was necessary for him to attain a greater glory because there is life beyond the grave.
Finding Peace in the Storms is a book that directly tackles the process of dying and to help neutralize the fear associated with the end of life. It helps to explain what Jesus was alluding to in the process of coming out of this world to attain eternal glory. It takes the reader on the journey of conquering fear that is hidden in the process of dying.
The book narrates the story of Lisa Anderson dying of breast cancer. She is the wife of a very rich industrialist living in the suburb of Chicago. After the bad news from her doctor, in the midst of her storms, she asks her closest friend for help. With the help of her friend, and her husband, Lisa learns the process of conquering her fears. What she does to reveal her everlasting love to her husband and her children redefines the meaning and the expression of true love.
Instead of allowing sorrow to invade your soul at the end of this earthly journey, this book teaches the glorious process of arriving at the departure and final airport with joyful grace. It instructs how caregivers, those nursing chronic illness, or those taking care of their loved ones and aged parents, to discover the source of eternal peace in spite of the odds. The greatest moment of life is not the time of birth contrary to popular belief. But, that glorious moment is when we pass to eternity in great jubilation to embrace and fully experience the magnificence of God. This book teaches how we learn to walk through our final journey in life without regrets. We learn to walk in great jubilation as fearless warriors stepping elegantly and boldly through the valley of the shadow of death.
If you are afraid of death, this book teaches that a better life exist beyond the grave. If you are scared of the pain of death, Jesus already has taken the poison out of death. If you are wondering what lies beyond the grave, there is magnificent glory of God beyond human comprehension. No matter how wonderful this earthy journey is, one day the journey will end. When the final call is heard, when we can hear the beautiful music of Heaven, and when the angels start to beckon on us, we should rejoice to enter the exit lane without regrets.
Lisa Anderson’s story is also the story of a romantic love beyond human imagination. It is the story of human compassion beyond the grave. It is the story that personifies true and unselfish love. She reveals her love for her husband while she is dying, in an unconventional way. What she does raising eyebrows, challenging other wives to redefine true love in a marriage, and dishing out a knockout blow directly at the ugly face of death! Instead of wasting away in sorrow, Lisa shocks the world by doing something so remarkable for her husband that ignites envy in wives today. In her journey, she rediscovers the real essence of life in the dying process. In spite of her afflictions in the flesh, she rediscovers the joy of life and becomes triumphant. She finds her true eternal joy and peace in Jesus.
"In his presence is the fullness of joy. In his right hand are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).
