Most people expect life to follow a patterned path: growing up, high school, starting on one’s own; maybe finding a partner and settling into community with friends.
Most do not expect career-ending pain, identity-altering surgery and faith-testing disruption.
In a newly published book, But Pain Crept In, Abbotsford resident Shelaine Strom shares her arduous journey with crumbling jaw joints and the community of support that helped her to the other side.
“My ‘jaw journey’ became one of ever-increasing challenge as I sought to live above my circumstances in midst of excruciating pain, with losses mounting on every front,” Strom says.
“But that isn’t the whole story. God gave hope in times of despair, strength when my body longed for relief, humour in dark days, and joy when it seemed ridiculous.”
Strom says her hope for the book is that, even in some small way, it touches those living with chronic pain – “whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual or relational.”
Strom tells her story between hurt and hope, from agony to worlds renewed.
She says that through tears and humour, her memoir signals gratitude and perseverance, and no simple answers to the problem of pain.
Strom’s blog, Togethering, appears weekly at shelainestrom.com.
But Pain Crept In can be purchased locally at House of James, where a book launch takes place Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m., or through the book page on her website.
