Eva Piper - A Walk Through the Dark: How My Husbands 90 Minutes in Heaven Deepened My Faith for a Lifetime

PRAISE FOR A WALK IN THE DARK

I have known Don and Eva Piper for close to twenty years, and I am proud to call them friends. We served on the staff at FBC in Pasadena, Texas, for almost ten years together. What a blessing both of them were to me during those years. This book by Eva will be a blessing to everyone who reads it. She knows firsthand how life can quickly take a painful turn and the heartache that accompanies such a nightmare. She also knows how God can see you through the devastating experiences of life and somehow bring you out stronger than you were before. I highly recommend this book to all who want to not only survive the storms of life but to thrive again after the winds have stopped blowing!

JON REDMOND, ASSISTANT PASTOR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PASADENA, TEXAS

In A Walk Through the Dark, Eva Piper reveals what its like to suddenly become a caregiver to a loved one. Her story is riveting, but its also filled with practical information on how to provide the support system that is needed when you are living in a new kind of normal. This book is a valuable resource for anyone who longs to grow in faith and provide tangible help when life takes an unexpected turn.

CAROL KENT, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR, WHEN I LAY MY ISAAC DOWN

Eva Piper candidly and compassionately shares her experiences in A Walk Through the Dark. The redemption and hope of this book shows us how to walk with the confidence and assurance of The Light. For all of us who have struggled with experiencing the pain and questions that come along with our fragile lives--this is a must read.

KATHY TROCCOLI, SINGER, SONGWRITER, SPEAKER, AUTHOR

The extraordinarily important contribution of Eva Pipers , A Walk Through The Dark, to the Body of Christ, is its ability to grip your emotions and thoughts, will help you make a decision to serve the One who called us to salvation as we serve the ones in need closest to us. Illuminating insights from a person who has been there and so candidly shares her way to peace and victory.

BECKY KEENAN, PASTOR, GULF MEADOWS CHURCH

I laid down Don Pipers book after reading it during a week-long personal retreat at a monastery while trying to process the loss of several family members. My thought was, I sure would like to meet the wife of the man who spent 90 Minutes in Heaven. She must have a most fascinating story of her own. Millions of caretakers will find themselves ministered to by Evas book.

DAVID BURRIER, CHIEF DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICER, HOPE MINISTRIES

A WALK

THROUGH

THE DARK

2013 Eva Piper with Cecil Murphey

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Piper, Eva, 1952

A walk through the dark : how my husbands 90 minutes in heaven deepened my faith for a lifetime / Eva Piper ; with Cecil Murphey.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4002-0470-0

1. Piper, Eva, 1952- 2. Spiritual biography--Texas. 3. Spiritual life--Christianity. 4. Fear--Religious aspects--Christianity. 5. Spouses--Death--Psychological aspects. 6. Piper, Don, 1950- I. Title.

BR1725.P543A3 2013

231.73092--dc23

[B]

2013000162

Printed in the United States of America

13 14 15 16 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

In loving memory of my mom, Ethel Pentecost.

She was a model of strength, will, and utter determination.

God, Family, Country

CONTENTS

BY DON PIPER

R ecently, I fell down the stairs of our home. Because falling down has become somewhat of a habit for me, my friend Cliff McArdle has observed that Ive fallen in some of the nicest places in town.

Ive discovered that falling down seems to go with being in a horrific car wreck, badly breaking both of my legs, and having many surgeries on those legs. Eva was there for those operations and shes been there after each fall, including the most recent one.

As I completed my latest fall to the bottom of our stairwell, I was reminded of the helpless feeling on the way down. I had no control over my body; there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the tumbling. Gravity ruled the moment.

Thats similar to the situation in which I found myself on the morning of January 18, 1989, when a big truck struck me head-on and killed me. I had no control over my death or my life. I couldnt have possibly grasped that day the extent to which others would control my life in the days to come.

It took the combined efforts of some of the finest medical professionals on the planet, thousands of prayer warriors, hundreds of church members, devoted family members, and dear friends to put this humpty dumpty back together again. However, the utter faithfulness of one woman was the most crucial to my recovery.

She is my wife of nearly forty years, Eva Pentecost Piper.

Three weeks before the accident, we had celebrated our fifteenth anniversary. In the following two years, a virtual lifetime of hard decisions and deep emotions befell us. The course of our lives changed. We still have the scars to show for our trials. Most of mine are visible; hers, not so much.

Eva had given birth to our three children, Nicole, Chris, and Joe. From the moment we brought them home from the hospital we nurtured, cherished, and guided them. As we parented our children, Im certain that Eva never contemplated having to care for an utterly helpless thirty-eight-year-old husband at the same time. She was a thirty-six-year-old daughter, the eldest of a retired Air Force chief master sergeant from Missouri, an elementary school teacher, a gifted pianist, and a devoted Christian mother and wife.

In some ways, nothing prepared her for the shocking news of my terrible accident. But as you will learn, in other ways, she had been prepared for my horrific accident.

I believe that because of her triumph over this ordeal in our lives you will be inspired to overcome too. You can learn from her successes and challenges. You can laugh at our foibles, weep at our most vulnerable moments, and cheer her enormous victories. In the end, youll be better prepared to conquer disaster and defeat helplessness and hopelessness.

Hundreds of thousands of people have heard me say in books Ive written, media appearances, and in person, Eva is the hero of my story. I survived the accident. She overcame it.

In A Walk in the Dark, youll find out how she did it. Eva, along with God and a cast of thousands, did it.