Book Review: Tragedy to Triumph

Reuel Nygaard's book, Tragedy to Triumph, was nestled on my downstairs bookshelf amid the other Christian titles. Seeking a new addition to my morning devotional time, I pulled it out and decided while it might be a difficult read, it might also be exactly what I need. Nygaard's 23-year-old son, Kelly, took his own life. We are not sure if our son, Trevor, acted with intention. He had been texting his dad, just a few hours before his time of death, telling him when he needed to be picked up from work. Perhaps he felt if he just took a little of the drugs, it would help him get through his shift. We cannot know for certain, but the devastation is the same, regardless of intent.

Like Trevor, Kelly Nygaard was a promising young man with a troubled heart. His parents experienced all the standard questions, like "what if we had noticed the signs?" and "what if we had intervened in time?" Kelly was driven by depression. Our son's anxiety drove him to addiction, which led to his death. This was difficult to read, yes. But, it was also affirming. I marked one passage where Nygaard tells of their certainty that Christ's blood forgives sin--past, present, and future. Their son had accepted Christ's forgiveness and grace. He declared, "Kelly died of an illness... God... would [not] turn away his own child who had suffered and died a painful death."

I looked the author up. He is deceased now, and with his son in heaven. God got this family through the tragic demise of their child; He can certainly get us through, as well. We intend to cling to Him just as firmly as Trevor clung to the Lord amid his trials.