
Product Details
- Cover Type:
- 256 Pages
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Publication Date: January 2021
- ISBN: FRISNEVAR___WALKINGTHROUGHFIREAM9781400218110
Walking Through Fire: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption
The astonishing, Job-like story of how an existence filled with loss, suffering, questioning, and anger became a life filled with shocking and incomprehensible peace and joy.
Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for ten years and, after each stay, would return to a life filled with bullying. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate.
But life unraveled. Again. She had four miscarriages. Her son died because of a doctor's mistake. And Vaneetha was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, meaning she would likely become a quadriplegic. And then her husband betrayed her and moved out, leaving her to raise two adolescent daughters alone. This was not the abundant life she thought God had promised her. But, as Vaneetha discovered, everything she experienced was designed to draw her closer to Christ as she discovered "that intimacy with God in suffering can be breathtakingly beautiful."
Vaneetha Risner is a writer and speaker who is passionate about helping people find hope in the midst of suffering. Part of her story is losing her infant son, which was the inspiration for the hit song "Held," recorded by Natalie Grant. She is also the author of The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering. Before she started writing, Vaneetha had a career in business and received her BS from University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce and her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Vaneetha is married to Joel and has two grown daughters, Katie and Kristi.
Endorsements (${ productEndorsements.length })
“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!”
Joni Eareckson Tada
Joni and Friends International Disability Center
“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.”
Paul David Tripp
author of New Morning Mercies
“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.”
Randy Alcorn
New York Times bestselling author of Heaven, Happiness, and If God Is Good
“‘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.”
Ellie Holcomb
author and Dove Award–winning singer-songwriter
“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.”
Rosaria Butterfield
pastor’s wife, homeschool mom, and author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and The Gospel Comes with a House Key
“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.”
Sharon Garlough Brown
author of Sensible Shoes series and Shades of Light
“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.”
Tony Reinke
author and senior teacher at Desiring God
“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.”
Melissa Kruger
author and director of Women’s Initiatives for the Gospel Coalition
“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!”
Brian Fikkert
coauthor of When Helping Hurts
“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.”
Margot Starbuck
author of The Grown Woman’s Guide to Online Dating
“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.”
Quina Aragon
spoken word artist and author of Love Made and Love Gave
“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.”
Katherine Wolf
survivor, advocate, and author of Suffer Strong and Hope Heals
“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.”
Natalie Grant
recording artist, author, and philanthropist
“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.”
Mark Vroegop
lead pastor of College Park Church, Indianapolis, and author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy and Weep with Me
Product Description
The astonishing, Job-like story of how an existence filled with loss, suffering, questioning, and anger became a life filled with shocking and incomprehensible peace and joy.
Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for ten years and, after each stay, would return to a life filled with bullying. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate.
But life unraveled. Again. She had four miscarriages. Her son died because of a doctor's mistake. And Vaneetha was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, meaning she would likely become a quadriplegic. And then her husband betrayed her and moved out, leaving her to raise two adolescent daughters alone. This was not the abundant life she thought God had promised her. But, as Vaneetha discovered, everything she experienced was designed to draw her closer to Christ as she discovered "that intimacy with God in suffering can be breathtakingly beautiful."
About The Author
Product Details
- Cover Type:
- 256 Pages
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Publication Date: January 2021
- ISBN: FRISNEVAR___WALKINGTHROUGHFIREAM9781400218110