 |
Author Young created this chronicle after what could certainly be called hell on earth, yet through her experiences, she found a closer bond with God. It began one quiet evening when a female relative revealed to her that she had been molested by Young's husband. His admission was the beginning of a long, harrowing journey for the author. After resigning from his prominent church leadership, her husband turned himself in, was given lie detector tests, and was put in jail to await trial for child rape. Despite some rational support from his children and others, he was sentenced to prison—ten years to life.
Young struggled with her inner fears, regrets, and rage, finding the greatest comfort in her staunch Christian faith, which included watching a television pastor who spoke of changing the word “nowhere” to “now here.” This gave her the impetus to start constructing a new life, acknowledging that the past gave her little to build on. She became active in church, took college courses, concentrated on her artwork, and gradually fashioned a viable, satisfying path for herself in outreach to others.
Young shares her experiences with the hope that they might offer help or inspiration to her readers. She candidly depicts her spiritual journey without “preaching,” simply offering memories of credible emotional torments, sometimes leading to absolute numbness, along with the small practical ways in which she found brief solace. Changing all names, she draws from family journals to provide a sense of the shared distress of all concerned and to assure readers that despite this enormous trauma, the family has held together. Young’s baring of her inner ordeals during bouts of extreme, much-needed self-examination will doubtless touch those who may be facing similar crises, inviting them to consider God’s role in all aspects of life.