Pain, Purpose, Passion

Twenty-two true stories of triumph through the most challenging times, by Peter Ajello Cindy Anderson Kathleen Booker Sandra Champlain Joe Cirulli Marilyn Gansel Erin Garcia Cathleen Halloran Pamela Holtzman Susan Jacobs Jason Jean Betsy Jennings Margaret-Mary Kelly Joe Leonardi Jeremy Manning Mary Monahan Mel Morgan Craig Piso Martin Plowman Betty Ruddy Deanna Stull Tessa Zimmerman

He had twelve cents to his name when this globally recognized businessman listed ten impossible goals. A baby is taken from his young mother's arms, and she heals by becoming a midwife to vulnerable young mothers. Witnessing his brutal father's accidental death leads to his son's liberating forgiveness. A girl loses her leg and regains her spirit as she leads an effort to encourage others. A student suffering crippling anxiety develops a coping system for other teens. An Olympian-level weight loss takes him from 445 lbs.to fabulously fit.
"I never wanted you," a mother tells her tiny daughter, who struggles up from that darkness to recreate self-esteem for herself and others. A chaotic upbringing creates a people-pleasing anorexic whose hunger for faith saves her and her family.
What does it take to more than survive our stories, to more than merely overcome in the face of what we fear most? Each of these true stories offers these gifts: breathtaking candor, the kind of courage that lies hidden in all of us, and a powerful glimpse of the same light we, too, are seeking.