Jessica Ronne - Sunlight Burning at Midnight

PRAISE FOR SUNLIGHT BURNING AT MIDNIGHT

In her moving memoir, Jessica Ronne reminds us that life circumstances, whatever they may be, are simply narratives of a much larger story. One which encompasses the ebb and flow of faith, grace, redemption, and restoration.

DOUGLAS MANN,
ARTIST AND AUTHOR OF
THE ART OF HELPING OTHERS

Jessicas heartbreaking yet inspiring story reminds me that if we hold on to God and his promises, he indeed redeems everything we dare to place in his hands. I highly recommend Jessicas book as it encourages us to believe for the best, no matter what the circumstances.

NANCIE CARMICHAEL,
MULTI-PUBLISHED AUTHOR OF
SURVIVING ONE BAD YEAR: SPIRITUAL
STRATEGIES TO LEAD YOU TO A NEW BEGINNING

Some stories lead us to the opening of empty tombs and paint the unexpected sunrise of Gods love in the darkness. Jessica Ronnes remarkable book, Sunlight Burning at Midnight, is just such a story. Readers will weep, laugh, and wonder at Gods way of shaping a beautiful life out of death, disappointment, and despair in a young mothers life. Get this book for yourself, for anyone who suffers in Gods presence, for anyone who has lost love, and anyone who needs a word of hope. The authors words invite us into her story: Ultimately, it is a story of the sun rising in the midst of the darkest of nights, the midnight hour at times, to display Gods glorious plan and wisdom so beautifully. At the deepest levels this is a story of redemption; redemption from pain, loneliness, despair, and ultimately, redemption from control.

MADOC THOMAS,
RETIRED MINISTER AND COUNSELOR;
AUTHOR OF CLIMBING HOME:
FROM VALLEYS OF DESPAIR TO MOUNTAINS OF HOPE

This book is a call to full consciousness, to stop slumbering through life and see the present moment as a gift. This book is about living with contentment in the face of unspeakable tragedy. But this book is, above all, about hope. Jess shows us that hope isnt a doctrine. Its a person, Jesus. And we dont need to demand a perfect life because we have a perfect Hope. Dont we all need that reminder? I know I do.

FRANK POWELL,
FREELANCE WRITER; BLOGGER AT WWW.FRANKPOWELL.ME

Sunlight Burning at Midnight

Copyright 2016 Jessica E. Ronne

All rights reserved

Published by

Deep River Books

Sisters, Oregon

www.deepriverbooks.com

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, Life Application Bible, New International Version, Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, IL. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 9781940269986

Library of Congress: 2016952947

Printed in the USA

Cover design by Connie Gabbert

DEDICATION

To those who mourn:

Lift up thine eyes.

To my son, Lucas, bringer of light:

May your story always shine brightest in the darkest moments.

To Ryan:

Till were old and gray.

God willing.

To Him be the glory.

I am the Lord who heals you.

Exodus 15:26

T he day was beautifulthat summer morning in 2008, the sun streaming through the large bay window as Martha, my son Lucass caseworker, and I reviewed his medical coverage for the upcoming year. We talked about Lucas, how he was doing with his therapies, and whether or not he had any specific needs for adaptive equipment. As our conversation progressed, the heartaches and struggles of two separate lives began to unfold.

Four years prior, Lucas had been terminally diagnosed before his life had even begun. I now had secondhand experience with numerous brain surgeries involving Lucas and my husband, along with the burden of near financial ruin as we struggled to keep our heads above water through many tough economic and personal hardships. The past four tumultuous years had brought worry, fear, mounting medical bills, and stress on our marriage and our lives.

As Marthas and my connection deepened, she shared her personal tragedies, including the death of her husband and her daughters current battle with cancer.

In the midst of our conversation I quietly mentioned that I had kept a journal during my pregnancy with Lucas. Looking up, compassionate tears welling in her eyes, she said, You need to have that published so people know there is hope. People always need to know miracles can occur and they can never, ever lose hope.

So here it is, Martha, finally, eight years after our meeting. This book grew to include not only those initial journal entries with Lucas but also reflections and thoughts that occurred later as I stood beside my husband Jason as he battled cancer. I begged the Almighty for a physical healing, and yet ultimately watched him succumb to a different kind of healing, just as Lucas had been healed far differently than my human comprehension could have ever grasped in those moments.

Perhaps you too carry burdens. Perhaps you need to know that you do not ever, ever have to lose hope, and you must not. Perhaps you grapple with answers and healings that are different from what you desired. This story is for you. A story that defies everything that seems to make sense according to a human perspective. A story that displays something as miraculous as sunlight burning at midnight.

Over time, my story has unfolded to include three distinctly different healings revealed one by one, all of which defy many of our traditional Christian theologies and thoughts surrounding what healing should look like. These healings are not the neatly packaged versions so often prayed for; instead they are gloriously messy versions seeping with redemption, achieved painfully with layer upon layer of faith and grace at the core.

My story represents hope in the raging storms of life, and hope after the storm subsidesthe calm that brings a peaceful, gray ache. Ultimately, it is a story of the sun rising in the midst of the darkest of nights, at the midnight hour at times, to beautifully display Gods glorious plan and wisdom.

The first part of this story, my beginnings, I tell you so you can understand where I come from and how I found myself on this journey. Later, I share journal entries from 2004, written as I carried unborn Lucas through the final four, lonely months where I felt every kick, punch, and glimmer of life and yet knew that the child I carried safely within my womb had already been pronounced dead by the experts. The proclamations of numerous specialists still ring in my heart: You should consider abortion. These babies have a way of eliminating themselves. Try again. Vegetative state at best. Within this first journey I battled with faith, hope, and God Almighty, ultimately surrendering, although not very quickly or willingly, to his care for my tiny unborn child.

The second part of the story includes my late husbands battle with cancer and how I learned to rely on Gods grace and mercy in the midst of intense pain and questioning. This was a journey of three tumultuous years of caring for four young children while striving to maintain a shred of faith as my young husband succumbed to the disease eating away at his body. The story is raw, drenched with real feelings as I waged war once again with the Almighty, repeatedly asking Why? in the darkest hours of despair, weeping in brokenness at what God had asked of me in this life.