Jason Hague - Aching Joy: Following God Through the Land of Unanswered Prayer

The best memoirs tell a story that is specific and individual and yet somehow transcends particularity. Aching Joy tells a story of one mans pain and growth in the years following his sons diagnosis with autism, and at the same time, this book invites me into reflection about my own experience with pain, denial, hope, and healing. As this father begins to let go of fear and open his heart up to trust, I, too, am invited to explore all the ways I have shut myself off from the ache, and the joy, of full life.

AMY JULIA BECKER, author of White Picket Fences and A Good and Perfect Gift

Honest, wise, beautiful. After I lost a dear friend, Aching Joy was precisely what I needed to read. Jason Hagues honesty about his own failings, doubts, and questions about God in a painful season of his familys life made me feel like I wasnt alone. His insights, wisdom, and sensitivity to God gave me hope. I cried multiple times reading this book. Highly recommended.

MATT MIKALATOS, author of Good News for a Change and Sky Lantern

Sometimes we beg God for an answer to prayer and dont receive it. Then what? Hague writes with raw honesty about his sons autism diagnosis and the prayer requests denied. I dont know the source of your begging (mine was different from Hagues), but youll grow through the universal wisdom found in this book, which helps readers see that God is still in the story and that our circumstances dont get to decide our levels of joy. A new kind of joy an aching joy awaits.

SEPTEMBER VAUDREY, author of Colors of Goodbye

Jason accomplishes the extraordinary: He teaches and shares wisdom without condescension. He preaches without being preachy. With honesty and humility, he shares the unvarnished, unfiltered challenges that confront every special-needs parent and the wisdom that is earned through facing those challenges with honest personal and spiritual reflection. His love for his family drips from every page, and the wisdom he shares translates to anyone facing a critical life challenge. This is an important book and an important message. Im honored to call him my friend.

JERRY TURNING, JR. (MR. BACON), blogger at Bacon and Juice Boxes: Our Life with Autism

Jason Hague is a modern-day psalmist. His words ring with courage, honesty, transparency, and raw beauty. He shines a light in the darkness to remind us that every single emotion is safe before a sovereign God who is big enough to hold all the pieces.

TRICIA LOTT WILLIFORD, author of And Life Comes Back and You Can Do This

When followers of Jesus face devastating pain, unanswered prayer, and dashed hopes, Jason Hague says Western Christianity offers two options: a pious, naive, praise-the-Lord-anyway optimism or a realistic, resigned, Where are you, God? despair. Through the raw story of his relationship with his son Jack, who wrestles with autism, Hague offers another path: courageously walking alongside a relentlessly loving Father into a life of deep mystery the mystery of fully embracing both the hopeful, redemptive dreams of victory and the disappointment of unexplained, bleeding-out defeat. In other words, a mysterious, powerful life of... aching joy.

J. KEVIN BUTCHER, author of Choose and Choose Again

My familys story and Jasons familys story are very similar, but the themes of Aching Joy are universal. We all wonder what God is up to in times of hardship, especially when it seems to go on for years. Jasons transparency is a gift that shows us how to live with both joy and longing. His courage to share his experiences gives me courage to keep holding on to God as I raise my son, who has Level 3 autism. Following Jasons example, I can rejoice in my hopes, be patient in my trials, and persevere in my prayers, as the apostle Paul instructs us.

SANDRA PEOPLES, MDiv, author of Unexpected Blessings

Jason Hagues book, Aching Joy, is for anyone whose dreams have at one time turned to rubble in the Land of Unanswered Prayer, which is just east of Acceptance and west of Breakthrough. It is also for parents of children who have special needs (or their friends), or anyone who walks alongside families with a loved one on the autism spectrum. The struggles Hagues son experiences trying to express his inner world, as well as the turmoil Hague describes in his efforts to truly have a relationship with his son, ring with gritty honesty and give no easy answers. But there is beauty and redemption. As Hague moves through the graveyard of his hopes, while still believing or trying to believe in an almighty Father who can move mountains, he gains insights into incarnational parenting that are full of startling joy and hope for us all, whatever our journeys.

ELIZABETH BERG, MA, special education, and principal of James Irwin Charter Elementary School

NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators, an international Christian organization and leader in personal spiritual development. NavPress is committed to helping people grow spiritually and enjoy lives of meaning and hope through personal and group resources that are biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical.

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Aching Joy: Following God through the Land of Unanswered Prayer

Copyright 2018 by Jason Hague. All rights reserved.

A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

NavPress and the NavPress logo are registered trademarks of NavPress, The Navigators, Colorado Springs, CO. Tyndale is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Absence of in connection with marks of NavPress or other parties does not indicate an absence of registration of those marks.

The Team: Don Pape, Publisher; Caitlyn Carlson, Acquisitions Editor; Elizabeth Symm, Copy Editor; Daniel Farrell, Designer

Cover illustration of people silhouette copyright dovla982/Shutterstock; all rights reserved. Cover illustration of sunset by Daniel Farrell, copyright Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; all rights reserved.

Published in association with William K. Jensen Literary Agency, 119 Bampton Ct., Eugene, OR 97404

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