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You-one person-an individual, can literally change this whole world with love. By focusing on love, making a choice to love, feeding all that is positive, good, and of the light with exuberance and abundance instead of feeding the negative and evil things of the darkness. You can literally change the world and yourself. One relationship--one interaction--one decision at a time.
If you are experiencing the dark night of the soul in affliction year after year, it will present you, as it has me, with opportunities not found in most other life circumstances.
This is a life story of being in the fire, where I currently remain, where my heart for the Lord has become increasingly insatiable. A deepened intimacy has developed and continues to grow even through this very moment, and will continue beyond. As you read, this is my hope and prayer for you as well.
Elizabeth Chalker is still in the furnace of life's calamities and fighting the good fight of faith and endurance, keeping her eyes on the prize of heaven. Before serious, physical illness devastated her body, Elizabeth was on the fast track as a successful psychologist and addictions specialist, working with violent juvenile offenders and their families, near the completion of her third graduate degree. Her life is a testimony of faith that is steadfast and remains no matter the seemingly dark, unjust, and treacherous circumstances of life. She resides in Boca Raton, Florida, with her beloved "son" Symon (a Corgi/Shepherd mix dog). Elizabeth continues to minister to those in need and aspires to show God's glory through every breath she takes.
To contact the author, go to www.helpelizabeth.net
onedesertrose
Posted October 25, 2012
Elizabeth Chalker’s story as told in Hanging on by the Scratch Marks my Nails Left Behind (Raw Faith) is a poignant story of life as a normal, healthy young woman, engaged to be married, who is struck down into the chasms of deep, painful diseases (Lyme and endometriosis).
Though her life eerily reminds you of the book of Job in the Old Testament, and she cries out similarly at times, yet she does not wallow in her condition. She spends many hours of deep intimacy with the Lord. She’s not superwoman, with hours and even days of severe pain, unrest and loneliness, but her goal is to reach people with the message of faith in Jesus Christ through her suffering and bring others to Him.
Hanging On is an inspirational book, dealing with the following issues:
Broken Yet Still Standing
Embracing God
Letters to loved Ones Over Time
Poems and Mediations
Seeing God Everywhere
A Song from the Heart
Will You Drink from This Cup?
Each of these sections is personal and specific, encouraging and exhorting. There are multiple entries within each chapter that typify her walk with Lord, as well as hearing some of the raw pain through her writing, but the pain doesn’t override her goal. Yes, she cries out for healing as would any of us. She surely needs our prayers and if possible, finances to receive the help that’s needed.
Though abandoned by her church, friends, and some family, she is not bitter. That spoke to me, as I have been abandoned through my illness, and her life lessons through the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin of bitterness. I saw myself in several areas. You will probably find yourself in her story as well.
The amazing aspect of Elizabeth’s book is her forgiveness, love, joy, encouragement, etc. in the midst of her pain. Though I don’t agree theologically with all she writes, the essence of God’s sovereignty, love, and presence are very real, personal and intimate and are a challenge for all of us to get and stay in tune with the Lord.
This book was proved free by Paulette Harper-Johnson in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was received or exchanged.
MaryAnn_Koopmann
Posted August 22, 2012
This book is honest, truthful events in Elizabeth's life. Inspiration to
everyone who reads it. I could relate to many things she went thru in my
own life. Faith, never give up! Hope, yes there is always hope for a
better life. Peace, finding peace within one's self. A must read !!!!! I
loved reading this book and will read it again. Thank-you Elizabeth!!! Blessings~~Love~~Peace.
Reviewed by Jorja Davis for Readers Favorite
Elizabeth Chalker suffers from late stage lyme disease, probably fatal, offering nothing but a slow, agonizing death. Lyme disease is complicated and compounded by other serious health issues that have left her bedridden and mostly alone. In this roaring furnace where she experiences daily frustration, unbearable pain, and, like Job, unjustifiable suffering, she has found the time to walk with unbound faith and trust in God.
In reading her book, the reader will first be a witness, and soon her friend. Then her story will become yours. At times, her cries to God for salvation are so powerful and passionate that the reader will have to stop reading to think. "Hanging by the Scratch Marks My Nails Left Behind" is a book to be read slowly and carefully. There is a force in Chalker’s book that moves faith from something on a page to a raw, living hope you know she has not asked. Chalker’s risk, trust, and unfinished faith lie bared to draw the reader into a relationship with the living God.
Chalker writes her prayers, poetry and devotions with blunt honesty. The gamut of emotions will take the reader to the depths and heights of misery and joy. If you are hurting, crying out in anger or fear, this is a book that will walk with you into your most barren places. If you know someone who seems to be weighed down with their hurts and their needs, this book has a place on their shelf beside C. S. Lewis’s "The Problem of Pain" and Philip Yancey’s "Where Is God When It Hurts?" It is a terrible, dark place that can only be lit by God's grace in all the ways it comes.
Jaxson33
Posted November 13, 2010
Its real, vulnerable, honest...and applicable to anyone who is suffering with any serious physical illness or who is a loved one of someone who is suffering. It speaks to Raw Faith and fortitude amidst any life tragedies or trials -- and shows how honesty of heart leads us closer to His heart and character. it will encourage you, strengthen you, and inspire you!
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Overview
You-one person-an individual, can literally change this whole world with love. By focusing on love, making a choice to love, feeding all that is positive, good, and of the light with exuberance and abundance instead of feeding the negative and evil things of the darkness. You can literally change the world and yourself. One relationship--one interaction--one decision at a time.
If you are ...