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What God Had Emptied: How I Found Hope in my Children’s Diagnoses by Kathryn Casey
What God Had Emptied: How I Found Hope in my Children’s Diagnoses
by Kathryn Anne Casey
A memoir of the two years during which Kathryn Anne Casey became a mother to a medically-complex son, faced another unexpected pregnancy with a fatal prenatal diagnosis and expectantly awaited the birth and death of her daughter. This book illustrates the lesson that when we commit our lives to Christ, he will ask us to walk the way he walked, the mysterious journey through the cross and hope of resurrection.
Paperback: $14.95 | Kindle: $9.99
REVIEWS
An Honest Window Into the Heart of a Mother’s Suffering, a review by Jeannie Ewing, author of Waiting With Purpose
What God Had Emptied: How I Found Hope In My Children’s Diagnoses by Kathryn Anne Casey is a powerful read. Her depth of spirituality is interwoven into every loss and every fragmented moment of peace or joy in the midst of constant crises and unexpected/surprise pregnancies (and subsequent losses).
I am a mom of 5, two of whom are neurodivergent. Sarah, my middle daughter, was born with a rare disease. As I turned the pages of Casey’s book, there were moments I nodded my head enthusiastically – because, finally, someone expressed in words my experience! There were moments I shed tears – because, yes, I asked myself the same questions about God’s goodness and mercy. I wondered if life would ever return to “normal” again.
She is so direct about her struggles, but never in a defeated manner. Casey offers incredible insight as she draws the reader into her journey of navigating Peter’s complex medical needs and the fatal prenatal diagnosis and subsequent death of her baby daughter, Celeste.
Another aspect of the book that makes it unique is that Casey explains the ways she found meaning and joy and cared for her body and soul and mind in the midst of the incessant uncertainty. Her daily walks, which she scheduled while Peter was in the hospital, included exploration and adventure – a return to her senses and to grounding her with what simple delights may await in the form of local cuisine, a scented candle, a book, some lipstick.
For mothers who find themselves, or have found themselves, in a place of constant mental exhaustion, particularly if they have a child or children with ongoing medical needs, this book is a light. A genuine light. There is no fluff here. There are no pat answers or platitudes we tend to hear when people don’t know what to say.
Casey is an incredibly gifted writer, as well, and selects her words thoughtfully and beautifully.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kathryn Anne Casey is a writer with a focus on faith, art, psychology, and the importance of local community. She blogs at KathrynAnneCasey.com and is a regular reporter and columnist for The Hughson Chronicle and Denair Dispatch. She studied gender complementarity and psychology at the University of St. Thomas and clinical psychology at Divine Mercy University. Kathryn lives in Hughson, California, with her husband and children.
After leaving US Army Special Operations as a Non-Commissioned Officer, Sean Kelley applied those leadership principles to automotive management, and successfully led car dealerships for over a decade. After recently surviving severe covid pneumonia, Sean’s most recently published book The Visitor is being sold in multiple countries and published in several languages. The non-profit Sean launched, Cards for COVID, cards4covid.org, supports hundreds of medical professionals and COVID patients in multiple States. Sean’s passion for people development and ability to coach led him to grow from General Sales Manager to Chief Business Development Officer of a multi-million-dollar CRM software company. Now, as CEO of Car Motivators, and founder of Market Motivators, Sean and his team works with dozens of car dealerships, technology companies, fortune 500 companies, start-ups, and hundreds of coaching clients across the country to help them achieve their biggest goals. Sean helps his clients grow with a no bull approach, ability to improve communication, follow through and a focus on continuous improvement. As such, Sean’s clients consistently set sales records, eliminate employee turnover, all while increasing gross and net profit. More importantly, Sean and his team help the managers throughout the businesses they coach enjoy their role by helping them grow as leaders. Sean was consultant of the year in 2018 by Dealership News and recently ranked #10 in Ambition.com top 100 sales coaches. Sean’s engaging presentations have been featured at conferences like: Digital Dealer, Automotive Game Changers, Rockstar Tech Conference, Canadian Game Changers, SLADA, TIADA, and DrivingSales. Sean’s vision is to positively impact the leadership landscape and culture of the businesses he works with, by teaching managers the leadership language of coaching. 
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