{"id":32,"date":"2011-08-22T15:09:27","date_gmt":"2011-08-22T15:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/?p=32"},"modified":"2011-08-22T15:13:04","modified_gmt":"2011-08-22T15:13:04","slug":"marie-lawson-fiala-the-healing-power-of-prayer-and-a-mothers-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2011\/08\/marie-lawson-fiala-the-healing-power-of-prayer-and-a-mothers-love.html","title":{"rendered":"Marie Lawson Fiala: The Healing Power of Prayer and a Mother’s Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere\u2019s no place on the map called \u2018Safe,\u2019\u201d a wise therapist friend told me many years ago, and her words came back to me as I read Marie Lawson Fiala\u2019s new book, Letters from a Distant Shore.<\/em> Her story reminds us how uncertain and unpredictable life is \u2013 despite the mighty effort we each expend trying to control our circumstances. How vain we are to think we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from danger, disaster, and death.<\/p>\n

Fiala\u2019s story is every mother\u2019s nightmare. She was living her life as wife, mother, and lawyer, just going along in her day-to-day activities as we all do. Everything was fine; life was good; the future looked promising; and Fiala feel safe, secure, and serene. Then in an instant, it wasn\u2019t fine \u2013 the unthinkable happened \u2013 and her world was turned upside down. On a relaxing Labor Day weekend at home with her family, Fiala\u2019s 13-year-old son Jeremy suffered a massive hemorrhage from a ruptured artery deep in his brain. He crumbled to the floor in a heap, and everything Fiala thought she knew about her life crumbled too.<\/p>\n

Her memoir is the powerful tale of a mother\u2019s journey to hell \u2026 and back. Her emotional roller coaster of despair, hope, disappointment, fear, confusion, frustration, and back to hope again is a ride none of us ever want to take. But we\u2019re heartened by the grace of Marie Lawson Fiala and her family as she tells us of their adventure together. Warning, gentle reader:<\/em> Buckle up; it\u2019s a heck of a roller coaster.<\/p>\n

Letters from a Distant Shore<\/em> has all the elements of a riveting motion picture: love, family, disaster, suspense, God, prayer, healing, hope, intensity, and eminently loveable characters. You\u2019ll fall head over heals for young Jeremy as he becomes the sun around which Fiala and her family orbit. He is courageous, intelligent, fun-loving, and boyishly charming. You\u2019ll find yourself rooting for him and his recovery, for he is too sweet a spirit for the world to lose so young. Your heart will be right there with Fiala, as her powerful mom-energy grows exponentially through the trials she endures at the side of her darling boy. And you\u2019ll see the power of prayer and divine healing, as world-wide prayer vigils hold up Jeremy in praise and love. The Bible tells us that not a sparrow falls from the sky without Him knowing about it \u2013 and Jeremy is a beautiful and broken sparrow in desperate need of God\u2019s loving, healing embrace.<\/p>\n

When you finish the book you\u2019ll want to immediately go find your own kids \u2013 or your friends or other loved ones \u2013 and hug them. You\u2019ll want to call everyone you hold dear and tell them how much you love them. You\u2019ll make a vow never to take life or loved ones for granted. But of course, that\u2019s a vow you probably won\u2019t keep, because we always slip back into taking our lives, and the lives of those we love, for granted. We\u2019re only human.<\/p>\n

Thank you, Marie Lawson Fiala, for reminding me how much I love my own son and how grateful I am that he is whole, healthy, and able-bodied \u2013 for today. Thank you for reminding me that I am not in control of my son\u2019s life \u2013 or even my own. I\u2019ve heard it said that \u201clife is what happens while you\u2019re busy making plans\u201d and your book reminded me how incredibly true that is. And thank you for reminding me of the power of prayer and gratitude \u2013 always available to us, no matter what\u2019s going on in our lives. Thank you for reminding me that life isn\u2019t about waiting for the storm to pass \u2026 it\u2019s about learning to dance in the rain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere\u2019s no place on the map called \u2018Safe,\u2019\u201d a wise therapist friend told me many years ago, and her words came back to me as I read Marie Lawson Fiala\u2019s new book, Letters from a Distant Shore. Her story reminds us how uncertain and unpredictable life is \u2013 despite the mighty effort we each expend…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38,36,37,40,39,42,41],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-healing-power-of-prayer","tag-letters-from-a-distant-shore","tag-memoirs","tag-mothers-love","tag-mothers","tag-prayer-circles","tag-prayer-vigil"],"yoast_head":"\nMarie Lawson Fiala: The Healing Power of Prayer and a Mother's Love - The Power of Positive Doing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marie Lawson Fiala: The Healing Power of Prayer and a Mother's Love - The Power of Positive Doing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThere\u2019s no place on the map called \u2018Safe,\u2019\u201d a wise therapist friend told me many years ago, and her words came back to me as I read Marie Lawson Fiala\u2019s new book, Letters from a Distant Shore. 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