About the Book

I Promised God is a true, human-interest story.  It deals with a family's anguished unyielding fight to save a son from the worst that life can deal us. Yet it is also a story of survival. My hope, as the author and mother of a courageous son, whose life was lost for two decades, is that in sharing our family's story with others, they might find strength in it for their own lives.

The story covers the complex environment of my oldest son's early years, his developing character of kindness and positive influence, strikingly evident until he reaches adolescence, when his promising young life is suddenly dead-ended by circumstances beyond his understanding or control. The reason for writing this story is to fulfill a promise I made to God at a dark, seemingly hopeless moment. It is my desire that by revealing an intimate chronicle of our lives, I might reach someone who is suffering and in need of the means that helped me maintain the emotional, intellectual and physical energy to cope with prolonged disaster.

And through the story, I hope to send the reader a personal message. Even if you are often alone, desperately trying to help your loved one, find and indulge in activities that sooth you and give you peace. You will regenerate strength to persevere for your loved one and help other family members meet their needs as well. I believe that God gave us each other, so that no one need ever walk or cry alone.

About the Author

Dinny Lawrance is a published author, previously writing historical surveys. A graduate of Northwestern University, Lawrance continued her education with graduate studies at the University of Houston. She spent 41 years working in the education departments of art and history museums and in program development with an historic preservation organization. Before retiring, Lawrance spent 12 years applying her teaching creed---Education With Pleasure - to the development of Florida's first spoken history museum. Lawrance now lives in Virginia with her husband.

Reviews

Deon Jaccard, founder of the Amelia Island Museum of History, has recently completed a book, I Promised God. Few, if any, knew that under that cheerful, dynamic veneer Jaccard bore a heartbreaking family secret. The raison d'etre for writing this book was to connect with and encourage those facing seemingly hopeless and isolating problems within a family, by sharing one family's experience and the author's discovery of faith.

Now living in Virginia and writing under the pen name of Dinny Lawrence, her maiden name, she reveals the parallel life she lived while immersed in the task of museum building.

The book balances its serious message with lighthearted stories of the active family's adventures and humorous incidents while rearing three sons. But the title of the book, I Promised God, reveals the reason she has written this candid account.

"I don't know when anything I have read has touched me so deeply as your book, I Promised God. I am overwhelmed by your courage, perseverance and patience---triggered by your deep mother's love and your new-found faith in God."

- Alice Walsh, Staff Reporter, The News-Leader