Notes from the Valley: A Spiritual Travelogue Through Cancer

At 2:58 PM on July 14, 2009, Andy McQuitty entered the valley of the shadow of death. “Andy,” his doctor said, “you have a massive tumor that has broken through the wall of your colon. It’s cancer. It’s serious. Get in here now.”

Hearing you have cancer does more than warn you of death. It displaces you emotionally and spiritually, as it did for Andy and the roughly 1.7 million cancer patients diagnosed in America annually. Notes from the Valley gives you a window into their experience.

In the persona of a travel writer sending notes back from the desert, Andy recounts his journey through stage IV cancer, in which he discovered what King David did in his own valley: that in suffering, God’s presence isn’t diminished, but magnified.

Written with humor and sensitivity, Notes from the Valley is for anyone on this journey or traveling alongside a loved one who is. It provides words of wisdom, comfort as it addresses questions like:

• "Why did I get cancer?"
• "Does God still love me?"
• "Can I tell Him how I really feel?"
• "Is it possible to suffer well?"
• "Can any good come of this?"

DR. MCQUITTY spent his high school years in Paris, Texas where his father served as Senior Minister of a Presbyterian church. Andy is husband to Alice and father to Julie, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Jonathan and Jeffrey. And most recently, grandpa to Drew and Madeline.Andy is an avid reader, tennis court rat, golfer, and writer; but his favorite pastime is spent with his family.He is a graduate of Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois and of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Andy earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1997, receiving the C. Sumner Wemp Award in personal evangelism as well as the John G. Mitchell Award for outstanding scholarship and effectiveness in ministry.Andy has served as a youth pastor in Washington State, and as Associate Pastor of a Bible Church in Garland, Texas. He has faithfully served as Sr. Pastor to Irving Bible Church since 1987.