In one of her most personal books, Elisabeth Elliot shares her own perceptions on the meanings of the events in her turbulent life, including the death of her first husband at the hands of the Auca Indians of South America and the cancer that widowed her for the second time. Undeterred by grief and hardship, Elliot lived a productive life as a mother, missionary, author, and Christian intellectual.

The themes of this collection touch on her both her life experiences and the overarching Christian values of overcoming difficulties, taking responsibility, exercising discipline, and the redeeming grace of God which, in spite of trouble, gives us our life, calls us to labor, and grants us our salvation.