By Lillian Duncan
Life’s not easy when you have brain tumors! That’s a fact I live with every day. In 2012, I was diagnosed with bilateral brain tumors because of a rare genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2). The tumors are almost always benign, meaning non-cancerous, but benign as a second definition—harmless.
My tumors have not been harmless. In fact, they’ve wreaked havoc on my health and my life, but not just my life. My husband’s as well. I’m a very different person than the person he married.
He’s a godly man and I haven’t for one moment thought that he would desert me because of my health issues. But there’s a difference between duty and kindness. He’s never treated me as a duty. Not when I couldn’t walk. Not when I lost more and more of my hearing. Not when I was so weak I could barely make it from the chair to the bathroom.
Instead he’s been more than my caretaker, he’s been my hero, my champion and my cheerleader. He doesn’t just treat me with kindness but he continues to treat me as his princess—as the love of his life.
Our wedding song was Keeper of the Stars. It talks about God knowing what He was doing when he put the two of us together. Each day, my husband proves that over and over with his acts of kindness—small and large.
I consider my husband my partner in my writing because without his support, I would have given up long ago. Most of the books I write are suspense and mystery but when your life changes so does your writing. And Puzzle House is proof of that.
I call Puzzle House the book I never wanted to write! Why? The main character has bilateral brain tumors and NF2 so it would never have been written if I’d never developed bilateral brain tumors. It’s not been an easy journey, but God has a way of working all things out for the good of those who love him (Romans 8: 28).
I’m so excited to share the news that Puzzle House is a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award. The Carol Award recognizes excellence in Christian Fiction.
God really does work all things for the good of those who love him—even brain tumors!
PUZZLE HOUSE
Life isn’t a box of candy—it’s a puzzle!
Rachel Summers is all about Rachel Summers…until the day she crashes headlong into a semi-truck. As her life hangs in the balance, she has a visitor who asks a very simple question.
Does she want to be healed or to be a healer?
She makes her choice, but the journey doesn’t go quite the way she expected.
And so Rachel now runs Puzzle House. Every guest is different and yet the same. They all come to the Puzzle House for one reason and one reason only—to be healed, usually from a life-threatening illness.
Sometimes they receive their miracle, and sometimes they discover there’s more than one kind of healing.
Nia is a fifteen-year-old African-American girl who is dying. The doctors have told her there is nothing else to be done. No more treatments. No more hope. No more life. And she’s angry about that. Very angry. Against her wishes, Nia’s aunt brings her to The Puzzle House.
Together, Nia and Rachel will take a journey that will change both their lives.
Lillian Duncan…mysteries, miracles & wonder.
Lillian is a multi-published author who lives in the middle of Ohio Amish country with her husband and a menagerie of pets. She worked as a school speech pathologist for more than 34 years but retired in 2012 after being diagnosed with brain tumors as a result of Neurofibromatosis Type 2.
As an educator, a speech pathologist, and a writer, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word. To learn more about Lillian, you may visit her at www.lillianduncan.net or www.lillian-duncan.com. She also has a devotional blog at www.PowerUpWithGod.com.
