The suffering guy: the title i never wanted. - Paperback

by Jim Barnard (Author)

When Jim and Alisha met and started dating, there was no real indication that things would go the way they did. In September 2006, they stood in front of their friends, family, and God and made a covenant together for life. The vows promised to love, comfort, and support each other through good and bad, joy and pain, and most importantly... sickness and health.

Three months later, Alisha's health took a dramatic turn when she could no longer keep any food down. The honeymoon would take them to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota during the middle of winter, which was the least of their problems. Alisha was ultimately diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The disease would slow her digestion down to nearly nothing and cause an abundance of other painful issues. Countless surgeries, tests, treatments, and therapies failed to solve the rapid downfall she continues to experience.

Told from Jim's point of view, this book details the real struggle to find hope amid suffering. Several near-death experiences, financial ruin, and more took a severe toll on this husband as he fought to stay strong for his physically failing wife. While having a deep faith in Jesus and His redemptive grace, Jim and Alisha battled the challenges in order to hold each others' arms up to gain victory in the Lord. A life in ministry was a significant part of that victory, as God has given them a voice in many peoples' lives and expectation gaps.

The suffering guy establishes an understanding of how suffering changes the world. We are all suffering guys and gals to varying degrees and at different times. Who we suffer with can make all the difference in the world.

"Our brains need stories of how others have flourished within their constraints so we might know our own hard stories can be ones of flourishing too. Jim poignantly offers himself and the valuable lessons he's learned to us as a reminder that often life's most difficult struggles can also be our most powerful assignments."-Katherine & Jay Wolf, survivors, advocates, authors of "Suffer Strong" & "Hope Heals"