This book is a journey guide for interreflection by the reader and those who can attest to having lost their way and the struggle to find the path back to the light.

Loss has a thousand different faces, and in the tension of today’s culture, the demands placed upon us can quickly knock us off balance. Loss can mean all sorts of things, from loss of freedom, financial loss, relationship change, death of a loved one, a lifechanging illness, failure of a dream, etc., and each instance is a trauma. Whether or not we embrace the changing landscape determines our ability to walk through a trauma rather than become stuck in it.

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You might ask, “How do you know about being stuck in trauma?” I’ve been given a special place in the world of trauma, partly because of my own traumatic experiences (which were not processed for many years) and as a healthcare provider directing one of the world’s largest trauma centers, serving a large metropolitan city in Texas.

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On a personal level, the tipping point for my descent into the darkness happened one beautiful day in May of 1998, while the garden was in full spring bloom. It was a perfect day to prepare for the upcoming arrival of my son from Nashville, Tennessee. In less than a month, he was returning home to stay. My days were full of excitement, anticipation, and plans for the longawaited arrival of my dear Adam Thomas. That day never came.

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Instead, I received a call that shattered my heart into a million pieces and flooded my soul with darkness. My son had died by suicide. In an instant, everything changed—my family, community, way of believing, and core life purpose. The following eleven years were spent groping along in the dark, trying to find a way back to the light and life. It has been decades now, and the power of that loss, along with many God-ordained moments, have become keys in my hand both for my journey and those who have joined me to dare and invite His light and unlock a plan for their own life, one step at a time.

Rather than remaining in pain and staying stuck, we have the choice to welcome God into the process and, in essence, choose life anew. This becomes a veritable force of transformation. The outcome is the production of good fruit—a masterpiece drawn from productive pain, which is translated into resources for our own gain and for others.

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Today, men and women who have learned these keys of putting their courage and compassion into action are building a God-given roadmap in their spheres of influence. This book offers an invitation to view various situations and relationships through the lens of risk, to look into painful wounds, and to make a prayer invitation for the light when finding a “stuck place” to welcome the possibility of something new. Transformation is possible as we take intentional steps to walk through the valley of the shadow of death because there is light on the other side.