Life is full of trials and tribulations and when we are stricken by them we are usually asking, “why me/why us?”  Moreover, many times there is no answer to that question.  Regardless, we have no choice but to deal with what is at hand because that is how life works.  However, we can know we are not alone during those times.  There is always someone who is/or has experienced the very same situation as we are often times even worse. Chicken Soup for the Soul’s new book – Devotional Stories for Tough Times might just be the answer for you or someone you know going through a tough time.

Although I am not into religion as some are I do have my beliefs and I do have spirituality about me.  I remember when my son was born and we were told he needed to have a shunt placed for hydrocephalus.  That diagnosis quickly turned into – there’s something in his brain…we have no idea what it is but it needs to come out now.  I was asking myself…why my baby?  Why me? I did everything right during my pregnancy – why is my baby sick?  Then it got worse for me.  My ex-husband left me to deal with the situation all alone – a hundred miles away from home.  I was at the hospital all alone not knowing what was going to happen next – not knowing if my baby would be coming home with me.  He had hemorrhaged in the brain so badly during the surgery they weren’t sure if he’d survive. Then this one day a nurse brought me a piece of mail addressed to me from a past co-worker.  Included with that letter was a pocket card with the ‘Foot Prints in the Sand’ poem on it.  It was then that I realized – as hard as it was for me at that time – everything would work out okay.