"A love letter to life"
"Intimate, poignant, joyful"
"A beautiful read I won’t forget"
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Maureen Rose Morley
Maureen Rose Morley embraced her journey to faith with an open heart and a searching mind. Having become a Christian just a few years before beginning graduate studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was drawn to theological study and a deeper understanding of her beliefs. It was there that she met her husband, Steve Morley, and discovered a calling to help others find their way to Christ. When Maureen was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer not long after starting her studies, she faced it with grace, courage, and an unshakable trust in God. Her greatest wish was to serve Christ and help others, a calling that lives on in her words.
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A tender, faith-filled farewell to life—told with honesty, humor, and heart.
The Storms As They Roll In is a posthumous collection of essays, reflections, and prayers written by Maureen Rose Morley after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer in her mid-thirties. But this is not a book about dying. It is a book about living fully, with deep love, unwavering faith, and courageous vulnerability in the face of the unknown. Her writing is raw and real, sometimes devastating, often funny, and always rooted in the deep love she had for her husband, her family, her friends, her church, and Jesus. Her words have the intimacy of a journal, the grace of a prayer, and the sharp, clear insight of someone who knew her time was limited and chose to spend it reflecting, connecting, and giving.
 EXCERPT
"Last winter I lay down to rest one afternoon during a retreat to a peaceful house on a quiet island, surrounded by an aura of meditative holiness that both soothed and quickened me. I had been lost in Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life since I'd arrived the previous evening and plucked it off the living room shelf. I dreamed: A wise little woman with long hair wound in a loose bun delivered the message that I was soon to become pregnant. I awoke and wondered, could this be? I would be remarried in a month. But I took medication that lowered my estrogen and kicked me into a menopausal state, sweating and sleepless. I looked at the book sitting next to me. Finally, it clicked: 'Write.'
The summer came, and, with it, chemotherapy. Autumn. Winter. Along with the cancer, my desire to write has continued to grow. I wonder, are these birth pangs I feel? I wonder, is it now or never? More and more I hear it. 'Write,' it simply says, as if it were an offhand remark from an acquaintance at a party, or during a lecture at college, or when the ladies laugh and growl during our Life group. I hear the words of T.S. Eliot, long loved and rediscovered: 'We shall not cease from exploration…'
So I write."
What readers are saying...
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"...reading The Storms As They Roll In felt like an old friend just looped her arm through mine and suggested we go for a walk. She talked about her Christian faith openly and honestly. She admitted that having faith didn't eliminate her anxiety, but gave her the comfort and guidance to find her way to commit to a life partner and bravely face an early death from cancer."
-Lynn H.
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"This book touched me deeply. Maureen shares her journey with breast cancer at a young age in such an honest, raw, and funny way. It truly feels like reading her final love letters to life. She writes about her deep love for her husband, family, friends, church, and Jesus with such warmth and vulnerability. Even in the hardest moments, her faith shines through in a way that feels real and deep. It made me laugh, cry, and reflect on what matters. A beautiful read I won’t forget."
-William I.
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Maureen's honest and beautiful wording help bring understanding to the mingling of grief and joy that those who suffer cancer carry. Grateful for her words and the effort taken to share her story.
-Anna S.
