In Joy and in Sorrow

Life is good for the Claremontes.  Danielle is a talented teacher and Douglas an outstanding and successful pastor.  When their future appears the brightest, they are called to go through the fire of suffering.  Danielle is diagnosed to have cancer.  Joshua, a boy the Claremontes had taken into their home and heart has a fatal accident. Douglas is unjustly accused of enticing other men's wives.  At the same time, Jack, an old enemy, secretly surfaces and plans revenge for a past incident he believes Douglas is responsible.

In her suffering Danielle's faith remains strong. She is able to maintain the family's routines, but she struggles with the thoughts of having to leave her small children motherless.   His many prayers for Danielle's healing appear to be unanswered. The new trials heaped on to the bereavements he had experienced in his childhood and youth leave him vulnerable and shake his confidence.

Half a world away Lois, Danielle's sister, serves in a mission hospital in outback Zambia.  The great distance from home she hopes will help her deal with a secret she believes she must never reveal.  She is committed, talented and beautiful.  An acquaintance in the nearest city in Zambia is secretly infatuated with her and sends her anonymous, unwelcome notes.  Threatened by these notes she tries to discover who her tormenter is.  Before her final term at the hospital ends he pretends to assist her in finding the man who had sent the many threatening notes, but in reality he lures her to an isolated cabin where he attempt to seduce her.

Danielle's hopeless condition, Jack's revenge and his kidnapping of the couple's daughter, the accusations levelled against Douglas, Lois' trials and her return home from Zambia unite in a maelstrom and threaten to shipwreck even the strongest faith and heart.