Where Is God When a Child Suffers: Faith and Suffering in the Family [Paperback]

Penny Giesbrecht (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2005

Penny and Tim Giesbrecht naively believed that bad things couldn't happen to good Christians. Until their "perfect" baby began exhibiting such strange behavior that "it seemed the Jeremy we knew had died." Two years of painful tests brought no answers. Then Jeremy was severely burned. As he screamed in pain, his mother cried, "Dear God, where are you?" In her much sought-after book, which was first published in 1988 and re-released in 2005, Penny Giesbrecht explores the feeling a parent in such situations experiences and also Scripture admonitions and teachings about suffering. Dr. Ross Campbell, author of How to Really Love Your Child wrote the foreword.

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . . will help many other families who for years have suffered silently. Penny openly and honestly shares her feelings and experiences as a mother and wife through times of despair, anticipation, questioning, and eventually, growth. The reader struggles along with her and her family to find God in tragic situations." -- Paul V. Johnson, grief counselor

"Every five or ten years a really good book comes along on suffering. C.S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain, and Phillip Yancey's Where Is God When It Hurts? are classics. Penny Giesbrecht's Where Is God When a Child Suffers? is the book for now . . . How I wish there had been a book like this when my wife, Pat, and I were suffering with our daughter Kathy . . . when we couldnt understand. . . . Here are two wonderful, Christ-loving, Bible-believing Christian parents faced with some of the most awesome problems about life . . . How Penny . . . puts things together is really outstanding." -- Ross Campbell, M.D., author of How to Really Love Your Child, How to Really Love Your Teenager, How to Really Know Your Child, and other best-selling parenting books.

"Her absolute honesty and open 'take-you-there' style made me blink and cry through many pages. After I wept and hurt with her, I felt I, too, had climbed the mountain and was somehow a better person for it." -- Katie Wood, mother of two, Sunday School teacher

"a marvelous . . . story of courage, wisdom, and compassion which I highly recommend." -- Dr. Henry Panowitsch, public school coordinator of special education, Minnesota

From the Publisher

Penny Giesbrecht shoves aside the platitudes and cuts to the chase with her testimony of deep, personal anguish in the suffering of her son, Jeremy. She minces no words in describing how she freely and unabashedly shakes her fist at God for allowing such a tragedy and then, like the psalmist, returns to praise God for the ampleness of His grace in these circumstances. This book will help any reader who wonders how he or she should respond in the face of a friend's or loved one's tragedy and affirms the time-honored wisdom of saying little more than "I'm sorry," allowing actions to speak louder than words. It's difficult to imagine how a book any more helpful or encouraging than this one could exist to pass on to a family experiencing trauma because of a child's pain. Persons in the ministry who are in the position of lending comfort to such families could well benefit from brushing up on their bedside decorum by reading about the Giesbrechts and what things they most needed to hear.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Hannibal Books; 1st edition (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929292022
• ISBN-13: 978-0929292021
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,458,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!, January 1, 2000

By 

Darin A. Jensen (Becker, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Is God When a Child Suffers: Faith and Suffering in the Family (Paperback)

This books was shared with me becuase, like Penny, I have a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I don't read many books, and I didn't expect to read the book that had been thoughtfully shared with me. I began skimming the book, so I could politely thank the person who shared it with me. I glanced at the forward only to read it in it's entirety. I skimmed over the pages, and was drawn to read several paragraphs in each chapter. I went back to the beginning and started reading at Chapter 1. I didn't put it down until I was done reading. The first part is an excellent testimony of a family coming to understand what Autism is all about. The second part describes their struggle to understand the unimaginable pain their child has to endure due to a severe burn. The book takes you through their painful journey and if you read it to the end you can find the Christian understanding of suffering that the Giesbrecht finally discovered, and the peace that comes with it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Could Really Relate, July 9, 2000

By 

Peggy Chaves (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Is God When a Child Suffers: Faith and Suffering in the Family (Paperback)

I was so desperate for help one night when I found this book on Amazon. I have a son with Asperger Syndrome and I could really relate to Penny and Tim's story. My husband and I are Christians, my husband is a Pastor, and I'm always asking that question to God,"why my little boy? This book helped me to understand that just because were Christians it doesn't mean that bad things can't happen to us. I don't usually read books but I couldn't put this one down. I work on the weekends at a local hospital and I'm very thankful we were very slow because it gave me the chance to read the entire book. Reading this book will touch you heart no matter what diagnose your child has been given. Penny shares her deepest thoughts with you. I also loved the pictures of Jeremy (Punky) and his sisters!