Living Hope: Steps to Leaving Suffering Behind - Softcover

Cockrum-Murphy, Lynne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1627471472 ISBN 13: 9781627471473

Publisher: Lynne Cockrum-Murphy Books, 2015

Synopsis

A short but powerful true story of loss, starting with a house fire that killed Lynne Cockrum-Murphy's sisters and father and left her badly burned when she was just 30 months old, and follows the life that grew out of that tragedy. Instead of giving in to a family history of dysfunction she writes about dealing with loss, family alcoholism and chaos, an eating disorder and shows that there is a way to move beyond the events of the past. 
Interwoven in the story are actions, steps, tools and even a reading and movie list to help you move forward into a life filled with spirituality, meaning and purpose. The story is a model of hope, action and success.

About this title

From the Author:

After the fire, my mom couldn't be there for me; she was grieving and surviving. She drank more and more. I didn't get what I wanted from her (love and attention). The cuddling I wanted wasn't possible because the front of my body was badly burned. When I was in my early twenties, she said she liked that I always hugged her hello and goodbye; she didn't know where I learned it because she has never been like that. So, cuddling and hugs I craved, probably because I went without. 

Today I recognize a gift in the loneliness I developed in those experiences. My mom unknowingly, in her own pain, gifted me a desire - a deep yearning for more: more love, more comfort, more time and more attention. 

Always yearning for more drove me to seek: to seek something to help me. Originally, I thought it was in another person. I thought my mom had what I wanted and needed. Later, I'd want others to help me, even to fix me. I thought others had what I wanted. Eventually I realized my need for love and comfort were only marginally met by people so I transferred all that to a deep desire for God. That yearning must be why the song Breathe sung by Kathryn Scott spoke me when I heard it. I related to her hunger and desperation for that essence we call God. 

I believe on a karmic level it served me to be the burnt baby for all those months, when my pain was so great and the burns so deep, that people couldn't touch the front of me for a long while. I felt very lonely. The loneliness was also created by what felt like long periods sitting in my crib in the hospital, wondering where my family went and why they weren't there with me. I think my Grandmother visited me. I remember blue angels visiting, talking with me at night. I liked them. But mostly I remember sitting in a cold, empty place looking out the windows wondering what had happened.

From the Back Cover:

"What an important book to read for anyone who has suffered a traumatic life experience including at the hands of another. Lynne shares some deeply personal experiences and offers hope to others that will strengthen, encourage and provide a way to leave the suffering behind. Her book describes a profound journey of discovery and one that readers can relate to and take away a sense of personal growth not only in the author herself as she wrote the book but in themselves as well." - Adriane Hopkins  

About this edition

• Publisher: Lynne Cockrum-Murphy Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1627471472
• ISBN 13: 9781627471473
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 138