book is an event that proves beyond any shadow of a doubt for me that God is indeed alive and well and living within each of us. Every day, we are given a choice, before our feet hit the floor in the morning, to plug into our awareness of God's Spirit and goodness. I think we all have days when we lose sight of that gift of Spirit by the pressing elements that life throws at us. When you enter or are pulled into His realm of love and grace, the impossible happens--unconditional love. In the worst circumstances of my life, being the loss of my husband and Carlye's father, Kim, followed by our daughter's illness and death, God sent in people from every walk of life to assist us. Those walks included family, friends, loved ones, and people we did not know. That group consisted of every religion you could think of, every skin color, atheists, gays, and lesbians, just to name a few. Their compassion and love became so infectious like the cancer we were battling.

In the end, that infection spread so rapidly it overcame Carlye's disease with faith, hope, and love. For me, it would have been impossible to survive life without those three gifts from God. In what Kim, Carlye, and I sometimes considered our "hell on earth," we got a marvelous glimpse of what heaven on earth is like when all people set aside their differences, put down their stones, and come together to offer unconditional love and assistance in any way they can. Not once did anyone ever say, "Before I offer my assistance, I need to know what religion you are or what political party you support." There were a few times when we were clueless about who those people were, but we always knew by their acts of love, they were sent by God. I will always be forever thankful.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7-10).