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Daniel Parkins

@brushfire_stories

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Books. Stories. Faith. The things that shape us.
Encouragement for the road ahead.
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Hope isn’t denial—it’s defiance.

Christ still holds when everything breaks.

Here’s the book: https://amzn.to/436fDMA

#christianencouragement #hopeinchrist #faithinsuffering #gospelhope #jesusisenough by @brushfire_stories

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a year ago

Before Your Eyes Close Forever

#faith #allthelightwecannotsee #bookstagram by @brushfire_stories

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5 days ago

Before you trust what I say about suffering, perhaps you should know something about the life I’ve lived.

I don’t believe suffering automatically makes someone wise. I’ve known people who suffered terribly and became bitter, and others whose suffering cultivated extraordinary compassion. Pain doesn’t necessarily make us better. But it does have a remarkable way of exposing what we truly believe.

Here are seven things about my life that have shaped the way I understand suffering, faith, and hope.

1. I received my first liver transplant at 17 years old. At an age when most teenagers were thinking about graduation, friendships, and the future, I was confronting the possibility that my future might never arrive.

2. I received my second liver transplant at 21. Just four years later, I found myself facing another extraordinary battle for my life. Survival, I was discovering, wasn’t necessarily the end of suffering.

3. My third liver transplant came at 28. Three transplants before my thirtieth birthday. Three occasions when the fragility of life became more than an abstract philosophical observation.

4. I suffered from serious disease in my large intestine, which ultimately had to be removed entirely. The consequences of that surgery have continued to shape my daily life. Sometimes the greatest battles aren’t the ones that nearly kill us, but the ones we must learn to live with afterward.

5. I’ve battled a terrible fungal infection in my lungs. Even now, I’m living with a cavity in my right lung and the destruction of approximately a third of that lung. There is something profoundly humbling about realizing that even the simple act of breathing cannot be taken for granted.

6. I’m currently facing the possibility of another disease. After everything I’ve already experienced, there are still questions without answers. I wish I could tell you that decades of suffering have made uncertainty easy. They haven’t.

7. I’ve spent much of my life navigating the long-term consequences of serious illness. There are physical limitations, exhausting days, medical appointments, and the constant reminder that my body doesn’t always cooperate with my a by @brushfire_stories

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6 days ago

Never Alone
#encouragement #faithinspo #christianlife by @brushfire_stories

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7 days ago

Perspectives by @brushfire_stories

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8 days ago

My sweet boy. #belgianmalinoisofinstagram #belgian #belgianmalinoismoments by @brushfire_stories

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18 days ago

Are you KIDDING me?!
#encouragement #christianity #godisgood by @brushfire_stories

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21 days ago

Books I’ve read in September so far. Do you have any suggestions? What are you reading? by @brushfire_stories

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24 days ago

Consider partnering with me on Substack by supporting the work I do:

https://substack.com/@brushfirestories

Leave a comment on the last thing the Lord “burned” on your retina that you want to remember

#encouragement #booktuber #bookreviews by @brushfire_stories

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a month ago

https://brushfirestories.substack.com/p/i-wasnt-strong-i-knew-where-to-run?r=b9q3o&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=split by @brushfire_stories

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a month ago

Departure is looming. Can’t wait to take a shower and get all these IV’s out of me. Lots to share. Thank you for walking with me in this journey! by @brushfire_stories

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a month ago

Update from the Hospital - Thank you for the support

#encouragement #faithinspo #support #godisgood by @brushfire_stories

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a month ago