Climbing Home

From Valleys of Despair to Mountains of Hope

The journey of life is nothing short of a mountain climb. “The heavenly places” is a theme of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This phrase does not refer to places in heaven, but to life on this earth which is lived in the reality of God’s heavenly gifts. We begin in the valley, asking questions and attempting to meet our basic human needs for safety, hope, trust, love, and purpose. Our valleys often include faulty answers—addictions, materialism—which fail to meet our needs and can destroy life. If we’re willing to leave the valleys of failed answers, we can travel forward on paths that point to heavenly places, describing what it looks like to enjoy life in Christ, through practices such as prayer, exercise, communion, play, meditation, and rest.

Dr. E. Madoc Thomas and those he has served have walked from death to life through Jesus Christ. Climbing Home is a story of reality, where Jesus travels alongside His followers, from alcoholism to hope, from cancer to courage, from marital discord to delight, from anxiety to peace, from abandonment to belonging, and from suicidal thoughts to a reason for living. It’s a word of hope that God is bringing us into the folds of his love, even when the shape of his presence is only dimly discerned. The pages unfold from thirty-five years of Dr. Thomas’s counseling and teaching ministry, and from a lifetime of journeying out of his own dark valleys toward the heavenly fullness of God’s light. Chapters include thought-provoking questions designed to help readers experience their own journey of Climbing Home.

Reviews

“All of us are interested in getting home one way or another, but the journey is often confusing and difficult. In Climbing Home, Madoc Thomas is just the right mix of truth-telling realist, visionary prophet, and gentle-but-firm trail guide. In these pages, you will find the answers of how to negotiate the steep grades of virtues and the stark cliffs of your spiritual questions while engaging in the essential companionship of One who is climbing with us. Read slowly and carefully, but start climbing.” –Terry Hargrave, PhD, bestselling author; professor of marriage and family therapy, Fuller Theological Seminary

“In Climbing Home, Madoc Thomas delicately blends the wisdom of a psychotherapist with the authenticity of a believer who has found his way home. This book will challenge you to look at the valleys in your life as simply stops along the path to becoming healthy, whole, and complete in Christ. No matter what stage you may be on your journey of life, you too can find your way home.”  –Debra Fileta, MA, licensed professional counselor; author of True Love Dates

“Climbing Home represents a lifetime’s search for wisdom, enriched by personal and counseling experience. The result is an eminently readable book supported by careful theological underpinnings—truly a remarkable achievement that will enrich Christian readers’ understanding of pain in the valley or joy on the mountain of life’s faith journey. Read it with highlighter in hand; you likely will want to revisit this one frequently.” –Beth Pratt, former religion editor for twenty-five years with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Madoc Thomas has written this significant book for all of us who live in this broken world and thus are fighting a variety of battles. Thomas writes from the midst of the fray, having fought many of his own battles. But the chief point of the book is not about wounds and combat, but about grace—the reality that because grace became flesh in Jesus Christ, you and I need never fight any battle alone. That’s Good News. Take up and read . . . and be blessed.” –Rev. Ron Scates, former senior pastor, Highland Park Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX

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Author Bio

E. Madoc Thomas earned a PhD from Texas Tech University, and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. He spent the past several decades in ministry, teaching, and founding Shiloh Counseling Services. But Jesus Christ has taught Madoc that life goes beyond degrees, walking with him from death to life as a recovering alcoholic, cancer survivor, and other challenges of human life. He is a retired United Methodist minister and his practice now continues under new ownership, but he still loves to serve folks like his five sons, ten grandchildren, and the readers of this book. He and his wife, Calder, live in Lubbock, Texas with their two dogs, and they can be found walking on trails through the woods, sand on the beach—in the joy of God’s presence.

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