Endorsements
If you are struggling with what your life looks like right now, this book offers real help and tangible hope. Niki writes with empathy, humor, and gut-level honesty. Youll find a friend within these pages.
Sheila Walsh , cohost of Life Today and author of Its Okay Not to Be Okay and Holding On When You Want to Let Go
Where is God in the midst of your pain? What happens when youre too tired and exhausted to pray? Whatever youre going through (the death of a loved one, an illness, a divorce, etc.), its comforting to know that youre not alone. Niki Hardy has been through the valley of the shadow of death and eloquently unfolds her powerful story with raw, vulnerable honesty that cuts to the heart of the human condition. I would recommend this book to anyone going through a health crisis and to anyone struggling with the issue of real, active faith in the midst of a silent, raging tempest.
JD Chandler , national media personality, K-LOVE Radio Network
Filled with life-giving hope, practical help, and the perfect blend of real-life humor we need when life falls apart! This book holds the truth we need and the companionship of the friend we want to walk through days that leave us gasping for air and seasons that make us wonder how well ever survive. Through the death of loved ones, her own battle with cancer, and one hard thing after another, Niki asked God tough questions and fought to find the answers we all need. I highly recommend Break Free from Survival Mode ! Im getting a copy to keep and a few to give away, and you should too!
Renee Swope , bestselling author of A Confident Heart and former radio cohost, Proverbs 31 Ministries
Niki Hardy is the voice you need to hear when life goes the opposite of what you imagined. Im buying Break Free from Survival Mode in bulk to stock our arsenal of books that we keep around to give away to friends and family. This book is a gift.
Myquillyn Smith , Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Cozy Minimalist Home
This is a gem of a bookjust as its author is a gem of a person. Niki is vulnerable and real about pain and suffering, whether her own or others, but she doesnt leave us there. She points us back to God and gives us spiritual encouragement and some down-to-earth practices that we can engage in if we want to thrive and not just survive the tough times. A must-read for anyone who feels they are in a pit of any kind right nowor anyone who ever has been or will be, which just about covers us all, I think.
John Peters , rector of St. Marys, Bryanston Square, London, England
My friend Niki knows firsthand what its like to feel like everything is falling apart, and somehow, in the midst of it all, draw closer to God. Niki leads us on a journey that will take each one of us straight to the feet of Jesus. And she does it with stunning vulnerability, biblical truth, and even humor. (Reading along, I couldnt help but laugh as I imagined her, with her British accent, talking about her bum, the loo, and rubbish.) I would recommend this beautiful book to anyone who doesnt simply want to survive but to rise up and thrive.
Jennifer Dukes Lee , author of Its All Under Control and The Happiness Dare
Half Title Page
Half Title Page
Copyright Page
2019 by Niki Hardy
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Spire edition published 2022
ISBN 978-0-8007-4116-7
eISBN 978-1-4934-3589-0
Previously published in 2019 under the title Breathe Again
Ebook edition created 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016
Scripture quotations labeled MSG are from THE MESSAGE, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations labeled TLB are from The Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The author is represented by MacGregor & Luedeke Literary
Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.
Dedication
To Mum and Jo
You led the way.
You showed me how.
I miss you.
Every day.
To Al
My best friend, my hubby, my partner in crime, my HB.
No matter what life chucks our way,
youre the man I want to live it with.
Thank you for believing in me.
I love you.
To my beansJames, Sophie, and Emma
Remember these three things, always:
God loves you desperately.
So do I.
And wherever life takes you,
the flapjack tin will always be waiting, full.
I love you... more.
Epigraph
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 ESV
Contents
Endorsements
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Im Sorry Youre Here... No Wait, I Take That Back
PART Finding Solid Ground
1. Rubbish We Believe When the Poop Hits the Fan
Its all my fault, Gods angry, and now hes vanished
2. The Truth We Need When Our World Is Rocked
Life doesnt have to be pain-free to be full
3. Practice Makes Better, Not Perfect
PART Learning to Breathe Again
4. Choose Brave
It doesnt have to be big
5. Trust God
Hes got impeccable credentials
6. Find Community
Thriving is a team sport
Stiff upper lips need ChapStick
8. Embrace the Journey
Even the detours, diversions, and dead ends
9. Practice Gratitude
For the rubble, not just the rubies
10. Reach Out
It might just save you
PART 3 Keep Calm and Breathe On
11. Now What?
Have tools, will travel
The Thrivers Manifesto
Gifts
From me to you, with love
Resources
Where can I find help with... ?
Acknowledgments
Because I cant fit a hundred names on the cover
Notes
Who said what, where
About the Author
Nikis sensible(ish) bio
Back Ads
Back Cover
Im Sorry Youre Here... No Wait, I Take That Back
In this world you will have trouble.
John 16:33
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10
I d been home less than twenty-four hours when I got the call from my sister, Claire. It was time. Id hardly been back home in Oxford, England, long enough to throw anything in the wash or put my suitcase back in the attic, but it was time. Time to head back to Vancouver, Canada, to my mums house, where shed lived since marrying my stepfather nearly twenty years earlier. Shed been battling aggressive small-cell lung cancer for the last year, and Id just spent two precious weeks visiting her. How could it be time? Had things deteriorated that fast?