Walking Through Fire: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption

“It’s not often you find a friend who will pray for you at 2:00 a.m. when they lie awake in pain, but Vaneetha Risner is that friend to me. And I am all the richer, all the stronger for it. It’s why the book you hold in your hands is so powerful, for we all want to see someone in whom living for Christ and dying for Him is indistinguishable. We crave a visceral story that has meat on it. A story that soars and inspires. It’s what you’ll find in Walking Through Fire. Here is a true story that shows how God can turn tragedies into remarkable triumphs of faith and endurance. So, be inspired by Vaneetha’s extraordinary story, and rest assured that the same God who sustained her will uphold you through every heartache and hardship!”

“I must admit, over the last few years as I’ve gotten to know Vaneetha and her story, she has become one of my heroes. But in her book Walking Through Fire, Vaneetha doesn’t present herself as the hero of her amazing story. No. She is careful to let you know her Lord is the hero. I know of no other book that more engagingly and graphically presents the deep heartaches of life in this fallen world and the comforting glory of the presence, power, and promises of the Redeemer. Walk through fire with Vaneetha and see her Lord in the flames. You’ll be glad you did.”

“I have endorsed many books over the years, but I don’t recall reading one from start to finish the day it arrived. It held me all the way. I’ve never met Vaneetha, but for years I’ve known and loved her through her writings. In Walking Through Fire, you will see her heart, her honesty, her pain, her eternal perspective, and her love for Jesus. As I read, my heart ached for Vaneetha’s losses, identified with her hopes, laughed at her sense of humor, rejoiced in our King’s redemption, and longed with her for that blood-bought home where our dreams will forever come true. Beautifully done.”

“‘Men of the breaking hearts had a quality about them not known to or understood by common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority. They had been in the presence of God, and they reported what they saw there.’ This quote by Tozer describes the beauty and power of Vaneetha’s memoir, Walking Through Fire. I couldn’t put this book down! Vaneetha writes raw with vulnerability and honesty about her past, her deepest pain, her biggest losses, and her God who faithfully held and transformed her through every broken chapter in her story. This book is a close-up and colorful reminder that life is full of suffering, but that God draws near to the brokenhearted.”

“John Bunyan said that believers are like bells: the harder they are hit, the better they sound. This is because believers sound more like Christ when afflicted. This mature Christian wisdom, winsomely and poetically rendered, is replete in Vaneetha’s powerful memoir.”

“Is a life of suffering a life worth living? In her transparent and inspiring memoir Walking Through Fire, Vaneetha Rendall Risner answers that question with a resounding yes. Not because suffering is good, but because our God-with-us is faithful—even when, even if, even here. Vaneetha’s story of excruciating losses and radiant hope reveals the glory of God in such a way that you might just find yourself removing your shoes.”

“The moment I finished reading this remarkable memoir, I was struck by the phoniness of much of what occupies my time. What we call ordinary life is often a form of unreality. Vaneetha had re-grounded me to see again the precious value of each human life, the gift of joy despite the sorrows, and the goodness of God over everything. This book will minister to anyone acquainted with the lacerations of a severed marriage, the chronic aches of a broken body, or the haunting flashbacks of a buried child. But it’s a story for anyone who needs to be re-grounded in order to feel human again. I highly recommend it.”

“From the moment I started reading Walking Through Fire, I couldn’t put it down. As Vaneetha recounts various trials and tragedies—disability, death, and divorce—she shares them with humility, honesty, compassion, and conviction. This book will encourage your faith, kindle your hope, and show you how to walk with God in the midst of life’s unexpected hardships.”

“It’s one thing to serve God when things go right. But what does it look like to serve God when everything goes wrong, time after time after time? Walking Through Fire provides such a picture, showing us faithfulness in the midst of a lifetime of trial. This is Vaneetha at her finest: vulnerable, transparent, honest, and hopeful . . . always hopeful. It made me want to run the race with greater perseverance. I loved reading this book. Spectacular!”

“Whether we’ve endured childhood trauma or faced obstacles in adulthood that we never would have chosen, each one of us longs to make sense of our suffering. We wonder if God is with us and for us. Because Vaneetha Rendall Risner is the spiritual guide I have trusted to navigate my own suffering, I am thrilled to be able to share Walking Through Fire with all my friends. This book equips readers to trust God when we need God most.”

“A friend of mine says that when anyone in his life suffers to a degree he can’t even imagine, he likes to ask that person, ‘Who is God?’ Through the pages of the Bible we find a God who most beautifully reveals himself to and through the poor, the marginalized, and the suffering. Christ identified with the vulnerable, all the way up to the cross where, in his weakness, he mightily secured a victory of which we’ll forever sing. We do well, then, to lean in when a sister like Vaneetha writes and, as we read, ask, ‘Who is God?’ In her page-turning memoir, Vaneetha doesn’t merely tell us who God is. She masterfully shows us.”

“Our brains need stories of how others have flourished within their constraints so that we might know our own hard stories can be ones of flourishing too. Vaneetha poignantly offers herself—and the valuable lessons she’s learned—to us as a reminder that often life’s most difficult struggles can be our most powerful assignments.”

“I had the incredible privilege of recording the powerful song “Held,” written by Christa Wells, based on Vaneetha’s story of the unimaginable loss of a child. This book beautifully and honestly tells a story of deep loss and redemption, and it is a must-read for anyone who’s ever wrestled with the question of why a good God would allow such suffering in this world.”

“Every lamenter has a story. It’s rare to be invited into the sacred places of the soul and hear the long and confusing struggle with pain. Grief is messy. Sorrow is humiliating. Doubt is discouraging. Yet Vaneetha Risner welcomes us into her journey. Not just to hear her story but to marvel at the redeeming grace of God. Walking Through Fire is more than a memoir. It’s a memorial to hope in Christ for those who hurt.”