Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction
Prologue

1. London, Valentine's Day 2001
2. Fun and Family Life
3. Dark Days At Hammersmith
4. Treatment and Reprieve
5. Between a Rock and a Hard Place
6. Looking For a Miracle
7. Last Days
8. Will Our Anchor Hold?
9. Now What?
10. Time Out In America
11. Back Home
12. A New World Opens Up
13. Struggling to Have a Merry Christmas
14. Healing and Romance in Bogota
15. Changing the Guard
16. Double Weddings
17. Completing the Wedding Trilogy
18. Two Babies and a President
19. More Babies and a Global Family
20. Epilogue

Free at Last by Carol Richards
Hope and a Future For You
About KCI

‘Hope and a Future’ documents 10 years of a husbands journey from grief and sorrow, to hope and a future. Wes found peace within his storm and wants to show you the reality that God can turn extreme weakness into extreme strength.

Wes Richard, the pastor of King’s Church International in Thames Valley, experienced the greatest loss a loving husband could face, losing his wife Carol to cancer in June 2002. But even in great loss, God is still in control. Although the sorrow Wes and his family experienced was unbearable, the past 10 years has seen many transformations, challenges and great triumphs. God never leaves us, he never forsakes us, and he certainly never leaves us to drown in our sorrow but lifts us to new heights.

The family graciously accepted an offer to escape to South Africa to visit family friends. Since then his 3 children found happiness, love and marriage, gifting Wes with 7 grandchildren.

This book contains great tragedy, but doesn’t leave you in the dirt. Keep reading and you will be encouraged by a faithful husband continuing the hope-filled future God has for him despite losing his partner.

EXCERPTS FROM WES RICHARDS' SPEECH AT HIS BOOK LAUNCH: Kings Church International, 2nd September 2012

“At the end of the book, I spell out why I’ve written it. And just for a few minutes I want to talk about ‘Hope and a Future’ referencing the book and THE book – the Bible – that it comes from.”

“I don’t know what your circumstances are, what you’ve gone through or maybe what you’re going through maybe far more painful then what I’ve gone through. I know all too well that there are no quick fixes. I know that something’s in life will never be the same when you’ve been hit by traumatic winds of change.”

“But I want you to know that your life can turn around.”

“I want you to know that there can come peace in your storm and calm after your storm.”

“I want you to know you can recover from your pain.”

“I want you to know that joy can be restored to you.”

“Just because you are down doesn’t mean that you are out.”

“You may think that your life is finished, but the reality may well be that a life you only imagined is only just beginning.”

“You may of had a big setback, but you can make a big come back.”

“You may of had tough times, but better times are ahead.”

“You may feel vulnerable, but great strength can grow out of your great weakness.”

“Your great trouble can shape you up for great blessing.”

“For sure there is a time to life and a time to die, but you need to make sure that you don’t give up and die when you still have so much to live for.”

“You may think that you don’t have any bright prospects right now but you will never discover what goodness and mercy is ahead of you if you stop moving forward.”

“You might be much nearer to making it through then you know. You need to hang in there when it’s dark and hold on when everything is telling you to let go.”

“So often you can’t plan for what happens in your life, but I believe never-the-less that God has a plan for your life. I am all too well aware that there is so much we don’t know and can’t explain about suffering. I am old enough, have read enough, seen enough, and lived through enough not to pretend to have any smart answers. But something’s I do know.”

“I know that Job said in the long light of his suffering that my redeemer lives.”

“I know that God is for me, even when circumstances have been against me.”

“I know, and my family knows through shared experiences that what the psalmist said long ago is for real. God is close to the broken-hearted and he saves those that are crushed in spirit.”

“If I didn’t know that, I won’t have written this book.”