This genre would not typically appeal to me as I am not a religious person but I was absolutely blown away by Vaneetha's story. It is a beautiful but often heartbreaking story of a woman coming through so many physical and emotional obstacles powered by her immense faith in God which sometimes wavered. It is at times very raw in its honesty particularly with regards to her struggles with her teenage daughters. A wonderful read particularly for someone in a difficult period in their life

Walking Through Fire by Vaneetha Risner is a beautiful, powerful memoir. It tells the story of so many, great losses and absolute disasters in life -- way more than I would ever wish for anyone to have to live through. The details of her story are painful, and yet that is what makes this book so powerful: that through so many losses, Vaneetha Risner could find God and even more so, the beautiful presence of God. This wasn't an easy book to read as it contained so much hardship and horrible events, but this was a good and powerful read for sure.

This is a great book. Life doesn't always turn out the way we want it to or look how we plan it out to be. God is working even during the hard times always for his good purpose. This is definitely a book that a lot of people can relate to. Pain is real and the struggles in life can make you feel alone, but God is there through it all. This was well written and I appreciate the opportunity to have had access to read it.

Walking Through Fire
A Memoir of Loss and Redemption
by Vaneetha Rendall Risner
Nelson Books
Thomas Nelson
Biographies & Memoirs | Christian | Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 19 Jan 2021
I am reviewing a copy of Walking Through Fire via Nelson Books and Netgalley:
Vaneetha Risner contacted Polio as an infant, she was misdiagnosed and lived with widespread paralysis. She was in and out of the hospital for ten years and after each stay she would endure a life filled with bullying. After she became a Christian she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate.
Sadly her life unraveled once more, she had four miscarriages, her son died due to a doctors mistake. And Vaneetha herself was diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome that would likely become a quadriplegic. After that her husband betrayed her and moved out, leaving her to raise two adolescent daughters alone.
Vaneetha was not experiencing the abundant life she thought God had promised her. But Vaneetha discovered, everything she experienced was designed to draw her closer to Christ as she discovered “that intimacy with God in suffering can be breathtakingly beautiful.”
If you are looking for a powerful biography about praising God in the midst of the storm. I highly recommend Walking Through Fire.
I give Walking Through Fire five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

I could not put this book down. (And put off other tasks to read it within 24 hours of starting it). This book was just what I needed at the time.

In Vaneetha Risner’s own words, she sums up the premise of the book… “Hadn’t I suffered enough? I felt it was my turn to live a comparatively carefree life. But here I was with a broken marriage, struggling children, and a failing body. What was the use of faithfulness, and what would that faithfulness mean to others? My life felt like a jigsaw puzzle with every piece loose on the tabletop, and someone had flipped every piece upside down and thrown away the box. In my heart I still believed God could make something beautiful from my life, but I had no idea how or when I would see that.”

I will not give away any spoilers on how things end in the book, you need to read it to find out. However, through all the suffering Vaneetha has been through in her life, she used that time to draw closer to God. Even when it didn’t feel like God was near, He never let Vaneetha go during any of her suffering.

This book was easy to read, and kept my interest piqued through the entire book. It brought home many uplifting messages about suffering, while not fun, suffering is usable and purposeful.

And if you are familiar with the song “Held” released by Natalie Grant, it was a song written about Vaneetha’s experience losing her 2-month-old baby.

I highly recommend this book.

It did not take long to get into the book. Once that happened I had to keep reading.

Vaneetha has experienced loss beginning with polio as a child. She continues to live with the effects of polio. She experienced the death of her infant son from a heart defect. Then the hurt of betrayal in her marriage.

In this book, she shares the losses that she has experienced but also the joy and blessings from the Lord. She shares her struggles. She does not write as a victim but as a victor. She admits to times when she reacted and needed to apologize.

She learned to lament and take the pain to God.

I found this book so encouraging for me personally. My pain and loss is different but seeing how she trusts God and praises him encourages me to do the same.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. The review and opinion is all my own.

What a powerful memoir. Risner leans heavily in her faith. She has needed that conviction to carry her through very dark times. Debilitating health issues, death of a child, a cheating spouse, and angry daughters, she survived it all. I read this book after having a frustrating day, but nothing compared to what she has endured. Although physically weak, she has been very strong. I think she was too kind To forgive her lout of an ex husband, but that's her business. If anyone thinks they have it horrible, read this book, you'll be hard pressed to beat what the author has experienced.

This autobiographical chronicle of her life that Vaneetha Rendall Risner writes in Walking through Fire is awe-inspiring and is sure to be a fantastic encouragement to those facing deep suffering. It is a book for the "keeper" shelf and one to gift to others as well.

She writes, "Suffering- not suffering itself, but turning to God in suffering- gave me an experience of God that was transformative. And breathtakingly beautiful." Vaneetha has experienced deep pain emotionally, relationally, and continues to feel it in her body most acutely. Life for her has been a series of significant losses.

Yet this book is upbeat, thoroughly engaging, and joyful in tone. In Vaneetha's words, " When we begin to understand God's purpose-begin to glimpse him working for our good-we can experience true joy even inside our sorrow.

I highly recommend this emotionally gripping, beautiful story. My thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book for this, my honest review.

We often hear "Your suffering is small compared to..." and don't draw any comfort from it. In this case it's true. I can not imagine going through all Vaneesha went through and still be happy and still trust in God.
It's an impressive and honest memoir that makes you feel for her and makes you see our own problems in a different light.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was a little taken aback that it was a heavily Christian story and it was not one I would normally read.

However Vaneetha’s story drew me in and I became heavily invested in her life and her journey. Vaneetha is a remarkable woman who doesn’t give herself enough credit for the strength, love and resilience she has.

This book was sooooooo good!! I simply could not put it down. I keep telling all my friends to go pre-order their copy NOW. I am finding much encouragement in the author's beautifully written testimony.

What a life. If you are suffering from any kind of illness, pain, or loss, the best I can do for you is to encourage you to meet other christian people who suffer, but the ones who suffer well, with faith, founded on the Rock, Christ and His Word. Otherwise you may pass out and you will want to quit, thinking that you are "the only person in the world" who has so many "problems" or pain. Vaneetha has been a lovely example for me from through the distance and even when she doesn´t know me I feel that I love her. Since her book "The scars that have shaped me" I have felt her as a friend living in another country so far away, and I´m the one who prays for her through the distance. This book is a bit different because it is like an autobiography, you will find more details of how it got to where it stands today. Personally, I enjoyed "The scars that have shaped me" a lot and this one helped me to understand how that process and what lead her to where she is today. I am grateful to God for Vaneetha's life and everything she shares encourages me to think that her existence has an eternal and glorious purpose, even in the lives of people like me, whom she will never meet, and she has encouraged and shared hope in the middle of chaos. Her pain has a purpose, at least for me, and her fidelity in the midst of tears, valleys, and loneliness too. I would love to meet her one day and give her a very strong hug, and simply say: thank you, for being with me in my room, in bed, in the midst of my own tears, illness, heartbreak, and pain. Thanks for writing, for being there. Allowing God to break you will bear fruit. This book is a gift for people who love Christ and want to remain faithful even though everything seems to collapse around them. Consider getting this book even if you are not walking through fire right now, because someday the most certain thing is that you will. I hope they will translate it into Spanish soon, one of my dreams is to help translate some of the books that I review in English first and that I like, inspire or encourage.