Walking with Your Loved One Through Chronic Pain and Illness
Nate Brooks
The title of Nate Brooks’ book, Disrupted Journey, Walking with Your Loved One Through Chronic Pain and Illness, describes the transparent conversation he had with hosts Sharon Betters and Heidi Nequist.
Caregivers are one of the most forgotten communities. They often find themselves in this position quite suddenly and must navigate a whole new way of life, often alone, as they quietly persevere in giving their lives for the good of another. Nate knows what this is like and brings wisdom and hope while at the same time admitting this pathway is hard, so hard.
The day he brought his wife home from the hospital, he was suddenly responsible for a whole new layer of living that included caring not only for his wife’s needs but taking care of three young children and all that means – piled on top of his already very busy life. Among other things, he talks about how he learned to take care of himself so he could function and keep all these balls of everyday life in the air. Nate talks about how hard it is to be godly and doesn’t shy away from admitting the moment he thought, “I didn’t sign up for this,” and how in the next moment he realized, “Yes, I did – on my wedding day.” Nate gives exhausted caregivers hope by being transparent about the hard and about how God meets us in those hard places. This conversation is for caregivers and those who love them.
Nate Brooks (PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is an associate professor of counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is also the director of Courage Christian Counseling, which provides virtual counseling for people working through trauma, abuse, grief, and loss. Nate is the author of Identifying Heart Transformation: Exploring Different Kinds of Human Change (Shepherd Press, 2022) and co-authored Help! Our Sex Life is Troubled by Past Abuse with Anna Mondal (Shepherd Press, 2020 and Disrupted Journey, Walking with Your Loved One Through Chronic Pain and Illness. Nate is married to Kate, a counselor specializing in chronic pain, and they have three children. You can download our Help & Hope App to listen to more stories to encourage you in your walk of faith.