Dear reader,
The day Jeanne was diagnosed with cancer, one of her first thoughts was to finish this book.  She had worked on this project with Howard for years.  It grew right out of their life experiences, both the trials in her and her husband's life, and their observations of friends and family members who have struggled with the vicissitudes of life.  Mostly, it grew out of their love for and knowledge of God's Word, the Bible.

Jeanne had most of the book written and typed up in manuscript form, with just three chapters to go, and was seeking a publisher when the disastrous news struck about her cancer and brain tumors.  But that did not dissuade her from her purpose.  She struggled to complete the final chapters as she grew weaker.  Finally, from a hospital bed in mid-May of this year 2000, she asked us to write the final chapter and epilogue, including the story of these latest, most severe trials of her life.

She also asked us to pray that she would be faithful during her illness.  The lessons she had learned from previous trials, contained in this book, gave her the fortitude to face almost certain death in perfect peace without complaint, certainly better than we were handling the devastating news.  Jeanne cared not so much for healing, but that she would endure the trial in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord, if need be, to the end.

Jeanne made it clear that she wanted us to tell about heaven, and share God's plan of salvation.  Those themes, not Jeanne's own comfort or healing, were foremost in her mind.  One thing we know, Jeanne went “All the way” to death's door on June 1, 2000, with courage and peace, faithful to the end:

All the way, all the way, all the way,
Went the Savior to Calvary for me.
So the least that I can do is give my all and follow Him,
All the way, all the way, all the way.
(from a song written by her father, James F. Coppedge)

Knowing this background, we trust that you will find Hope For Those Who Hurt not just a collection of platitudes from some professional author living comfortably with armchair strategies, but a true life drama of two “ordinary people” like the rest of us, who became modern-day heroes of faith, trusting God in the cauldron of trial and finding His promises true and trustworthy.  May God bless you as you read.

Sincerely,
Judy and David, Jeanne's sister and brother.