“We set the date (for my husband’s operation) for late April to give our parents enough notice to be in town for the week. Then we left the surgeon’s office with a handful of paperwork and a pamphlet that promised to answer all our questions. The pamphlet was reassuring and confirmed what the doctor said. Day one they would do the surgery. Martin would spend days two and three in the ICU, day four in a regular bed, and be released on day five. After that he’d spend a few weeks recovering. It was reassuring to think that five days after surgery, our life would begin returning to normal.
I felt relieved, almost happy. God is going to fix this” (When God Doesn’t Fix it, 29).
Laura Who?
Few books, however gut-wrenching, make me cry—but this one does. Laura Story, GRAMMY award winner, singer/songwriter, certified GOLD for her 2011 song Blessings records her journey with husband Martin. As a young wife, mother, and worship leader, Story tells us what she learns from Martin’s incapacity from his brain surgery complications (i.e., meningitis), and its treatment: a hole drilled into his skull to relieve pressure on his brain.
The operation was successful, but left Martin unable to care for himself. Fix chronicles the lessons Story learns through this uncharted territory of God’s will for her and family’s life. But she precedes each Lesson (“Truth”) with a Myth that sets our expectations to be shattered. Example: “Myth: God’s primary purpose is to fix broken things; Truth: God’s primary desire is to fix my broken relationship with Him” (41).
Myths We Tell Ourselves
Story’s style, as the introductory example shows, is informal, warm, and engaging. The content is excruciatingly painful, as husband Martin requires a second hole drilled into his skull, loses his short-term memory and requires full-time care. But Story is up to the task of honest reporting on Martin’s progress, however meager, God’s provision for their family’s needs, relating their crises to Scripture, and, finally, drawing crucial lessons (“Truths”) to counter the “Myths” we tell ourselves.
I have a personal affinity with Story as she describes Martin’s plight, in that in my Tragedy Transformed: How Job’s Recovery Can Provide Hope For Yours, I describe our son and daughter-in-law’s struggle with chronic fatigue, now recognized as a bona fide medical illness (myalgic encephalomyalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS). The word “intractable” came to me studying Job. What do we do when, like with Job, life brings us situations not amenable to our best skills and knowledge, when chaos rules, and our only options require time, patience, and waiting on God.
“Myth: Contentment begins with understanding why. Truth: Contentment begins with asking how God might use this for his glory” (146). I’m pleased to award Story’s Fix a five-star rating.
Laura Story, When God Doesn’t Fix It: Lessons You Never Wanted To Learn, Truths You Can’t Live Without, W Publishing, 2015.
