7 ratings | 0 reviews | avg rating:5.00

Patrick Thyne’s Followers (4)

Patrick’s Bookshelves

to-read (2)
currently-reading (0)
read (7)
did-not-finish (0)
writings-that-define-me (6)

Patrick’s Friends (36)

Mary Caelsto

12 books | 115 friends

Marsha

116 books | 54 friends

Jeffrey Rosenberg

137 books | 355 friends

Sarah Thurman

0 books | 162 friends

Justine Kloss

162 books | 56 friends

Lisa Kirby

1 book | 38 friends

Pamela Holmgren

244 books | 42 friends

Jon Ward

32 books | 35 friends

More friends…

Patrick Thyne

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://whenlifegetsdifficult.wordpress.com/

Genre

Nonfiction, Self Help, Christian

Member Since

November 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/PatrickThyne

edit data

I’ve learned this:

Success demonstrates our strengths and skills. Failure tests our character. Success tells us what we’re good at. Failure teaches us who we are.

Though my given name is Patrick, I’ve been Rick since I was a boy. I’ve been married for more than fifty years to the woman I met when she was fifteen years old and I was seventeen. Our journey together has dipped and soared and swirled in circles, but here we are after all these decades, happy and lively and very aware of how lucky we are. Our daughter Shannon is married to Chris; they have two sons, Jesse and Joe. Our son Brendan and his partner, Diana, together have created the astonishing Iris.

Our younger son, Jesse, was twenty-four years old when he died in 2000 in a traffic ac I’ve learned this:

Success demonstrates our strengths and skills. Failure tests our character. Success tells us what we’re good at. Failure teaches us who we are.

Though my given name is Patrick, I’ve been Rick since I was a boy. I’ve been married for more than fifty years to the woman I met when she was fifteen years old and I was seventeen. Our journey together has dipped and soared and swirled in circles, but here we are after all these decades, happy and lively and very aware of how lucky we are. Our daughter Shannon is married to Chris; they have two sons, Jesse and Joe. Our son Brendan and his partner, Diana, together have created the astonishing Iris.

Our younger son, Jesse, was twenty-four years old when he died in 2000 in a traffic accident while serving in the Peace Corps in Guinea, West Africa. His death forced all of us to go deep, to find our what we’re made of, and to make up a life singed with tragedy without letting the tragedy define us. The story of Jesse’s death and our responses to it is told in THE AWFUL GRACE OF GOD: A Memoir of Faith, Death, and the Survival of Hope, which I wrote as a way to remember him and to figure out what his death did to us all.

I was a Presbyterian minister until I was forty years old, when I lost that career through indiscreet behavior. For over thirty years I’ve been a Marriage and Family Therapist in Pasadena, California. Having made our way as a family through several seriously difficult times, I now spend thirty-five hours a week engaged as deeply as I dare with clients who are making their own way. They’ve taught me how unique each person’s struggles are and how each person must find their own strategies to make their way through.

When Life Gets Difficult, will help you: when your marriage hits a speed bump; when one of your children is out of control; when work is a deadly bore; when your friend steps away from you; when your health fails; when death comes to a Beloved, or in any of the struggles life brings. There are strategies available; we’ll help you find them so that you, too, can make your way through. ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Patrick Thyne questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Patrick Thyne’s books

Average rating: 4.07 · 15 ratings · 3 reviews · 2 distinct works

	The Awful Grace of God: A Memoir of Faith, Death and the Survival of Hope 4.29 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Crack Where the Light Gets In did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

38 posts
Patrick Thyne's Blog

We’re Changing!

[image error]

We want to help you maximize the GOOD times in life as much as the bad – so we’re changing our name to THRIVE and focusing on helping you build a strong, positive, growth / success / abundance oriented mindset so that you can not only elegantly naviagate the difficulties in life but can fully enjoy, maximize and grow the GOOD.

Because we are not just here to survive…we are here to

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Crazy Challenge C...: DARE to DNF! Challenge	704	120	Oct 05, 2024 10:25AM
Crazy Challenge C...: 2018/2019 Reading Roulette	1278	267	Mar 31, 2026 05:55PM

Patrick’s Quotes

“There's a point where anecdotal evidence becomes truth”
― Temple Grandin, Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

tags: anecdotal-evidence, evidence, proof, science, truth

12 likes

recent posts
Patrick’s Groups

Inspirational Books — 548 members — last activity Mar 31, 2026 07:45AM
Suggest books you have read or have authored that are Christian in nature. Fiction, nonfiction, and ebooks are all fine.

Christian Books — 1271 members — last activity May 15, 2026 12:43PM
Recommend great Christian books to others. Daniel 12:3 "...and those who turn the many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever." ...more

Goodreads Librarians Group — 324560 members — last activity 16 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more

Christian Books — 1463 members — last activity Mar 28, 2026 07:32PM
This is a place where we discuss and share Christian books online. This group is hosted by Body and Soul Publishing but Christian authors and readers ...more

Jesus Freaks for Writers — 249 members — last activity Dec 03, 2025 06:59AM
If you're a writer, and a Christian, you have an amazing, God-given talent. Let's use it! What will happen if we all come together to write? With imag ...more

Christian Kindle News — 618 members — last activity Nov 23, 2025 01:42PM
Free Kindle eBooks, new releases, deals, and more!

Success @ Life By Reading — 1056 members — last activity May 17, 2026 11:00AM
I am an avid reader of success books. They range from Biographies of successful people, Motivational books by Self-Help authors, Business Management B ...more

Christian Author's Group — 191 members — last activity May 19, 2025 05:56PM
The John 316 Marketing Network helps Christian authors to launch their books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please visit http://john316mn.blogspot.co ...more

Spiritual and Self-Help Books Share Circle — 668 members — last activity May 16, 2026 01:31PM
A place for readers and authors to chat about our favorite spiritual books, seek feedback and enjoy sharing ideas

Free Ebooks | Giveaways — 523 members — last activity Sep 18, 2025 05:22AM
Book lovers.

More of Patrick’s groups…

Patrick’s Friend Comments

No comments have been added yet.

Patrick Thyne’s Followers (4)

Patrick Thyne

Goodreads Author

Popular Answered Questions

Topics Mentioning This Author