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Unreasonable Hope






Unreasonable Hope by Chad Veach

That couldn’t happen to me if often our response to the unimaginable that others are experiencing in this world.  Yet, often the fright of a long and painful road is just the path we are on, despite our desire to run away.  In his new book, Unreasonable Hope by pastor Chad Veach, he tells the story of his family, specifically his long journey with his daughter Georgia’s disease, lissencephaly. This disease is a rare brain disorder that causes her to have many seizures and setbacks.  Fighting feeding tubes and hoping upon hope that things would become normal as other children experience, Chad and his wife knew that they were in for a difficult life, they just didn’t realize the immense struggle.  This book is Chad’s grasping at how to love and serve God even in the midst of a terribly rocky road with a child who suffers so much at the hand of this disease.

The honesty with which Chad shares his life is to be commended, even when he feels a deep sense of helplessness.  He writes, “After a few moments, she snapped out of it and the tremors began.  She shook in the aftermath of the seizure.  The whole thing looked so traumatic and painful and, worst of all, there was nothing I could do (35).”  The gut wrenching feeling of wanting to help, to soothe your daughter’s pain is a natural tug at the heart of every dad, so when you can’t do anything, you feel bad.  But as Chad indicates, this is sometimes a place where we pull back from God, but God calls us to lay bare our lives, for he knows and has provided for in us in every way. 

Many decry the absence of God in the midst of terrible and horrendous situations because they can’t see a perception of how God should act in their minds.  Chad reminds his readers that, “Whether through people, miracles, or medicine, God wants to help – even loves to help – in the day of trouble.  As he proves throughout the Bible, this is where he thrives (86).”  Chad reminds us that when we look for God, we’ll find him all around.  In failure we find God because we remember or recall the ways God has provided for our needs, our spouse’s needs, even our children.  The beauty of the way Chad expresses God’s presence is that he isn’t calling his readers to look for the miraculous in every situation, but in many ways the mundane ways God has already been present.

I think you will be encourage as you read this book, as someone who has seen stretches of painful events, Chad will bless you with his words.


Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for the book and Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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