"I am here to tell you that you are worth your weight in gold to God and you were placed on this earth for a reason, even if you don't see it yet."
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Cathy's Second Chance:
Just Moving Forward by Cathy Conley Trafford Publishing
book review by Barbara Bamberger Scott
In a memoir spiced with quotations from the Bible to illustrate her points, Conley describes her idyllic childhood, raised in a Christian family with simple values of love and sharing. Unfortunately, she veered off that path as a teenager and wound up pregnant and unmarried. Though her family was supportive, she compounded her first mistake by marrying a cold, older man who, she thought, would be a good father and offer stability. By the time she realized that she made a mistake, she was far from home and had begun to experience radical signs of an illness she didn't know she had: epilepsy. Once the disease was diagnosed, her life quickly changed for the worse, with blackouts when she was driving preventing any semblance of normal life.
God then guided her in two major ways: She met a man who really did love her, and her children ("I knew it was of God that we were put together"); and through the Internet, she found an epileptologist who referred her for a radical surgery that has left her seizure-free for the past six years. She and her husband Wally have steady employment and are very active in their church, a miracle in itself since Wally was not, when she met him, a Christian. Conley has become an active advocate for those with epilepsy, not only giving public talks, but also directly mentoring people who have the same surgery that she had. To her delight, she has been able to sing again, after having lost that talent while in the grip of her disease.
Though she is clearly unpracticed as a writer, Ms. Conley has created a heart-warming story that will inspire many. It will be especially appreciated by fellow epilepsy sufferers and members of her Nazarene faith. She now happily declares, "I know why I am here and I will live my life for my Jesus."