Trials of Patience

Patience Kelly grows up in a devout Christian family in small-town Indiana, surrounded by love but haunted by a secret she doesn't even know she's keeping. Beneath her ordinary childhood lies a buried trauma—years of abuse by her grandfather, memories so devastating that her mind locks them away to protect her.

When she leaves for college, Patience believes she's finally free. But a controlling boyfriend, a devastating assault, and a pastor who blames her instead of believing her send her spiraling into addiction, self-destruction, and a suicide attempt that nearly ends her life.

In the aftermath, Patience must confront not only the traumas she remembers but the ones she's forgotten. With the help of dedicated therapists, a family that refuses to give up on her, and a patient man who loves her exactly as she is, she begins the slow, painful work of putting herself back together.

Patience is a story about survival—not the triumphant, made-for-TV kind, but the messy, difficult, one-day-at-a-time kind. It's about the ways trauma shapes us and the courage it takes to heal. It's about faith lost and found again in unexpected forms. And it's about the radical, transformative power of being truly seen and loved.

For anyone who has ever felt broken beyond repair, this novel offers a reminder: your trials are not your ending. They are the beginning of something extraordinary.