At some point in our lives, we all experience unexpected news. It’s how we respond to that news that truly matters. The Deepest Valley shares Dan’s authentic struggle with a cancer diagnosis yet provides practical ways, along with Biblical wisdom and insight, on how to respond to any of life’s unexpected news. As someone who has walked through dark days, I found this devotional encouraging and uplifting.
-Donnie Grigg, Vertical Community Church
I'll never forget meeting Dan at our first visit. He had such an advanced, aggressive prostate cancer, yet he exuded such a calm confidence. I came to learn it was due to his strong faith. Dan used this strong faith in the Lord to guide him through this difficult challenge, and he has never looked back. He is an inspiration to us all.
-Stephan B. Rosenfeld, MD, Highlands Oncology
Dan has blessed me over the years with his heartfelt devotionals, encouraging me with exactly what I needed to hear at the moments I most needed to hear those words. Dan and I have both battled life-threatening health challenges concurrently. His texts were divinely appointed to strengthen me at the times I was sickest and help me lean on God’s strength during my times of weakness. We are called to bear one another’s burdens and encourage one another to love and good deeds. That is the essence of who Dan is and the purpose of this book.
-Jenise Huffman
The mind has a way of taking us down some very dark alleys when we are in the middle of a life-and-possibly-death battle with cancer, but there is another way. Dan pours out his heart and feelings onto these pages to inspire true hope and perseverance to those even at the very bottom when it seems there is no way forward. He points with his life and experience to the power of prayer, to close family and devoted friends we can lean on, and a loving Savior who ultimately wants the best for us. This journal can have a tremendously uplifting impact on anyone willing to dive into it, and I encourage everyone to do so!
-Lance Eads, Arkansas State Senator, and colon cancer survivor
Here is an intimate look inside Dan’s journey as he learned of his Stage-4 cancer diagnosis and the battles that followed. Without his absolute dependence on God’s plan and his faith in Jesus, Dan might not be with us today. I encourage anyone currently navigating through a valley to use this collection of his devotions and thoughts as words of encouragement in your own journey.
-Sheila Lewis
Cancer and Faith! Join Dan Kallesen on his journey with both. See how it strengthened his faith and his fight with cancer. Gain insight that will bolster your own journey—with either or both.
-Lou Howell
The Deepest Valley provides great inspiration for anyone experiencing life changing events. Great job, Dan!
-Mark Phelps, recovering alcoholic and retired entrepreneur
Travel with Dan from the Deepest Valley of FEAR to the Highest Mountain of FAITH!
-Chris Bond
"You have cancer."
Whether you are diagnosed with Stage I or Stage IV cancer, the fear has the same dramatic impact. "I am not going to survive this!"
Once the initial shock settles, plans begin to take shape. Faith begins to take over, and strength and peace can start to take their rightful place through the power of God. I was diagnosed with Stage I DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma in Situ). The journey was fearful and quick. My faith was tested. I had a husband and two young children who needed me. I was in the deepest valley of my life!
Dan's book will give hope and encouragement to all who read it. Whether it’s cancer, depression, loss of a loved one, or any of life’s suffering, Dan’s words of ultimate faith and trust through his struggles will bring new light to the power of prayer and complete trust in our Almighty Father.
He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:34)
-Karen Hayden, Cancer Survivor
I’ll never forget the day Dan called and told me he had been diagnosed with Stage IV prostate cancer and the physician had told him to get his affairs in order. The fear of this unimaginable news in the voice of one of my dearest and closest friends, a friend who had always been my rock of faith and positive role model, brought me to my knees.
I repeated the overused line: "Whatever I can do to help, please let me know." Dan immediately said, "I need your prayers, brother." From that day on, my prayer life took on a whole new meaning. Dan immediately circled the wagons with his faith, family, and friends and prepared for the battle of his life.
Over the past four years, his never-ending drive to beat this cancer as Satan tried to bring him down has made Dan stronger, but in true fashion, Dan has also found a way to share with everyone around him the hope and strength that he has gained. Speaking for everyone who has received his weekly messages over the last four years, and for all the lives he has touched, we say, "Thank you, and we love you, brother." My prayer was always asking the Lord to give this front-line soldier more time on earth because I have never met a man who does more good for those around him.
Thank you, Lord, for answering my prayers and allowing Dan to publish this book, which will spread your word even further.
-Martin McDowell, Brother in Christ
After a difficult lay-off years earlier from a job he loved, Dan's life was on an upswing. He was enjoying his family and their new home. Having sold his business, he'd gotten more involved in their church and even joined a Men’s Group. He and his wife were on the go with their children attending football, baseball, and volleyball games and camps. He loved it all. Life was good!
But having lost her mother to colon cancer, Dan's daughter, Dani, had one birthday wish for her father: a routine physical. Something her father hadn’t done in many years. After much procrastination, Dan scheduled and had the physical. Suddenly, his world was shaken. "You have cancer." In great despair, Dan and his family turned to their faith. Dan was forced to dive deeper into his faith, asking and receiving prayers from many family and friends who supported him and continue to carry him through his darkest hours.
This is a true story that starts with three devastating words from a doctor. However, from the highest mountain to the deepest valley, Dan finds the real meaning of the three most powerful words from our Lord: faith, hope, and love.
This is truly an inspirational story, full of personal highs and lows, of the journey that Dan has taken and continues to take every day. He invites you to join him on that journey, as he encourages each of us to praise God, read the Word, and allow the Lord into our hearts--to never give up hope, have faith, and love always. No matter what you are going through and what you are up against, it will change you.
-Jill Patrick
I initially made contact with Dan through a rather providential set of circumstances related to a very very brief LinkedIn marketing campaign I ran (and quickly canceled due to life circumstances). Dan was interested in finding someone who could help turn his journal into a publishable manuscript, and somehow the automated system on LinkedIn connected us.
One of the recurring themes of the book is the importance of staying connected to brothers and sisters in Christ during times of suffering, and when I first met with Dan, he talked about the importance of his men’s prayer group during his battle with cancer. As it turned out, I was right in the middle of some of the worst circumstances of my life, and I had recently been invited to a men’s prayer group. I did not feel like being around people (I tend to isolate in difficult times) so I fully intended to turn down the invitation. However, during my meeting with Dan, he strongly encouraged me to go. Indeed, he practically made it a condition of agreeing to work with me. So even though I really didn’t feel like going, I went to the men’s prayer meeting that night.
It turned out to be incredibly important. In fact, one of the men at the prayer meeting felt led to offer help with a specific financial problem I was dealing with at the time. Suffice it to say, it was exactly the help I needed at exactly the time I needed it, and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gone to the prayer meeting. And I wouldn’t have gone to the prayer meeting if Dan hadn’t insisted. And he wouldn’t have insisted if the Lord hadn’t already taught him the importance of faith and friends in the midst of his own suffering.
That’s how divine purpose works though, isn’t it? A chain of events that we cannot foresee whereby God leads us on exactly the path we are meant to take and provides exactly what we need when we need it. So I have already seen how God is working through the testimony and insight offered in The Deepest Valley, and I’m sure there is a lot more He intends to do. It has been my privilege to help Dan prepare this book, and I look forward to whatever God has in store.
-Jeffrey Miller, Freelance Writer/Editor
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