When the Joslin family’s stable existence was suddenly turned upside down, their deep-rooted faith was shredded. Crafted during the heart of their struggles, K. Howard Joslin’s new book offers an intimate and raw opportunity to witness how the pain of their reality challenged and even contradicted their core beliefs.
Rowlett, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/06/2012 -- Trials and heartache plague even the steadiest of souls. However, the story of K. Howard Joslin and his family’s struggle with a frayed faith displays a series of unjust challenges that readers likely hope they never experience. In his compelling new book, ‘Honest Wrestling’, Joslin takes readers on a candid and honest journey through life’s most testing difficulties.
Synopsis:
“Sometimes trials attack us so extensively, that the pain of our reality contradicts even our core beliefs. Our faith is frayed.
In Honest Wrestling, we're given the rare opportunity to observe the depths of a family's tattered faith, when they are forced to face the unthinkable. In a raw and real way, K. Howard Joslin takes an intentional risk, allowing us to venture into the intimate struggles of his faith in order to come along side and encourage us with ours.
As a seminary graduate, we would expect K. Howard Joslin to know answers to the tough questions that arise when one's faith is tested. Yet, in what seemed like a matter of moments, his family was faced with job loss, three miscarriages, an unexpected heart attack, and the brutal diagnosis of a rare cancer, one that was both aggressive and incurable. Joslin finds himself in the match of his life as he wrestles with God about the authenticity of His goodness and the reliability of His promises, while he grasps for hope when there is none. Writing with gut-wrenching frankness and transparency during the heat of his battle, Joslin rejects easy answers and raises questions that believers often secretly ask, but find too risky to reveal.”
As the author explains, his book offers unique insights and perspective.
“Many books on suffering present reflections several years after the final outcome. However, I wrote Honest Wrestling as the battle unfolded during the two years of my wife’s cancer and in the year following her death. I share and question in the middle of this fray, enabling readers to identify with the depths of my pain and embrace the strength of my hope,” says Joslin.
He continues, “I chose to remain honest and transparent as I chronicled our family’s struggles, because the family of faith needs more people willing to take off their masks in the midst of great trials and stop attempting to protect God’s reputation. I reasoned that if I shared what we were learning, others might grow in their faith through the testing of ours.”
Critics are speaking highly of Joslin’s account.
“Joslin asks the questions that we all do in pain and suffering, and through his "honest wrestling" you’ll experience the resolve that comes through trusting God completely. You'll be glad you walked through this family's faith with them, because when you're finished reading this book, you'll unexpectedly realize that they have strengthened your own,” wrote Cherry Hill, best-selling author and founder of ScriptureNow.com.
Another reviewer, Eva Pauline Scott, endorsed the book with these words, “The book was like reading a novel, except I knew these were real people; and that how it ended, and the journey there, affected real people. I found myself cheering for each victory along the way. This is a beautiful love story. It tells the love of a man for his wife, his wife for her husband and their children.”
In conclusion, Joslin’s inspirational work proves that there is always hope, Scripture is true and that God will always answer prayer.
‘Honest Wrestling’, published by Authenticity Book House, is available from Amazon: http://amzn.to/UdRPvF. A Spanish version will be released in December.
For more information, please visit the book’s official website at http://www.honestwrestling.com. You can also follow Joslin’s reflections on authentic spirituality (http://HonestWrestling.Wordpress.com) or his ponderings relating to indie book publishing (http://AuthenticityBookHouse.Wordpress.com).
About K. Howard Joslin
K. Howard Joslin earned a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2006, having received the Merrill Unger Award in the Old Testament. Future hopes were shattered when a heart attack and incurable cancer struck their family immediately following graduation. Howard enjoys hiking in Colorado and resides with his family in Rowlett, Texas.