Suffering is an ugly word, especially when it's an undisputable part of your own life. It can literally destroy you--mind, body, and spirit. It can control you and turn you into someone you have never been. A loving, spiritual-minded person can become a crooked human being--bitter, desolate, wretched and hopeless but still a human being. Suffering transforms our attitude about ourselves. Instead of us being self-confident and outgoing, it can humble us to the point of wanting to die. It removes the blinders to our vulnerability. It makes us fragile and weak, and it can often bring out the worst in us.

A crooked tree is still a tree. Not every tree is tall and straight, nor is any person exempt from pain and suffering. A tornado can take a strong, straight tree and turn it into a pile of rubble with one gust. Just so, none of us expect to experience the pains of loss, disability, and suffering that may come without warning but, in a split second, changes the course of the rest of our lives. Even the strongest and most godly of human beings can reach a breaking point when the tragic events of life crush their human spirit. However, one of the lessons that I have learned through this experience is that God is not finished with me yet; I can find strength in my relationship with him and discover that I still have gifts to offer him. I must remember that God blesses even the crooked tree with what it needs to continue living. When I first wrote this book, I had been in the ministry for thirty years.

Now it has been more than fifty-five years. It is proving to be a practical tool for training and use in caregiving rather than a theory or simple narrative. A Cry for Relief will tell you my story and the process of healing through the blessings of spiritual growth and tender caregiving.