Pain to Praise is not a traditional guide or textbook, but your personal invitation to walk beside me as I navigate my own turbulent journey of personal pain and forgiveness.

After experiencing deep hurt, I became enveloped by my suffering-it shaped my identity and controlled my life. This book, however, focuses on a path of recovery and renewal, guided gently by the Holy Spirit.

Through heartfelt storytelling and open sharing, I offer this book as a companion for anyone confronting their own pain. It's an exploration of how forgiveness can profoundly change our lives by transforming bitterness into a deeper understanding of ourselves and our connections with others.

Here's what you can expect to gain from our journey together:

• Insight into the process of forgiving, learning to let go, and moving forward.
• Strategies to reclaim your identity beyond your past hurts.
• Encouragement from shared experiences, promoting healing through community and faith.
• Clarity and guidance, focusing on the role of the Holy Spirit in the healing process.

Embark with me on this less-traveled road-a path toward forgiving others and, perhaps most crucially, ourselves. As we travel this path together, let this book be a source of comfort and inspiration, reminding you that you are not alone and that true healing is within reach.
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W. Austin Gardner has dedicated over fifty years to serving as a pastor, missionary, mentor, and counselor. His journey of resilience includes overcoming battles with cancer and COVID, experiences he has shared across more than 50 countries to inspire faith and determination. Alongside his wife Betty of over fifty years, Austin is a loving father to four children and a doting granddad to twenty grandchildren and a great-granddad.Austin's professional roles as an international keynote speaker, author, coach, and mentor are complemented by his leadership as the founder and president of Alignment Ministries. He actively participates in the Society of Mentors and Sociedad de Mentores online, sharing his extensive experience to inspire and empower ministry leaders worldwide.

His unwavering commitment to faith and family, coupled with his global influence, showcases a life rich with purpose and a legacy of inspired faith and leadership.

"Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." Paul says, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own."

- Philippians 3:12-13