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Finding Normal: An Uninvited Change, An Unexpected Outcome
In May of 2012, Jeff Huxford M.D. was in a near-fatal car accident, escaping death but suffering a severe traumatic brain injury. This devastating event led Jeff on a journey to a new life and a true purpose.
After the brain injury took away his ability to practice medicine, Jeff learned a multitude of wonderful truths about God and he found his value and purpose rooted in Christ. In Finding Normal, Jeff tells of the truths that changed his heart and moved him away from his previous life of "lukewarm Christianity" towards an authentic faith and true relationship with Jesus.
Finding Normal not only helps readers understand the reality of a brain injury, but shows how God can make "beauty from ashes." It tells the inspirational story of a seemingly hopeless and pointless tragedy being transformed into something absolutely beautiful. It's sure to offer hope to anyone facing adversity.
- GenresMemoir
137 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 31, 2020
10 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 29, 2018
May 3, 2012. A Thursday.
Like me, you're probably trying to remember what you were doing that day. But you can't. Neither can Jeff Huxford, at least not after he left his father-in-law's hardware store. He doesn't remember leaving the store to drive home, or the red truck that T-boned his car, slamming his head into a concrete post and shearing his brain from its moorings. Finding Normal, Dr. Huxford's brief, powerful memoir, explores what it feels like to have been changed suddenly from the person he'd been to the person he is in the wake of Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI.
By any measure, Jeff Huxford was a good guy leading a charmed life before the accident. He was a respected, small town physician - the guy known as "Doc" in the community. He was a family man. He was a church-goer. But Huxford has this to say about himself and his faith before the accident, "I recall going to church on most Sundays and following all the rules needed to maintain the reputation of a "good" Christian, which I believe is very similar to most of American Christianity today. This rules-and-checklist mindset led to a self-centered faith, and because of that I never totally surrendered my life to God. I still counted on myself to do the bulk of the "work" and grossly overestimated my contribution to my salvation."
The memoir doesn't linger unnecessarily on how great the Huxfords' life was before TBI. It doesn't need to - you get the picture. Because Jeff has no memory of the accident or the days immediately following it, his wife, Jacqui, fills in the details: The Phone Call. The accident scene. Her first look at her husband. Jacqui's account is emotionally intense, but without self-pity.
Jeff picks up the story again at the point when he emerged from the trauma-induced amnesia. His assessment of himself post-accident is objective, yet moving, describing the weaknesses and challenges that are part of his story now. He refers several times to a quote by Pastor Craig Groeschel, "We might impress people with our strengths, but we connect with people through our weaknesses." Jeff has lost a lot, but he has gained some things too.
There aren't any clichés in Finding Normal. The details Huxford chose to leave out are as telling as those he put in. What he gives us is an unflinching, moving, and entirely relatable account of a metamorphosis. Of waking up to find you are someone else, someone you didn't want to become. Someone who is, perhaps, a better version of you.
I can picture myself in Huxford's place, but I'm not sure I can picture myself having his courage.
Like me, you're probably trying to remember what you were doing that day. But you can't. Neither can Jeff Huxford, at least not after he left his father-in-law's hardware store. He doesn't remember leaving the store to drive home, or the red truck that T-boned his car, slamming his head into a concrete post and shearing his brain from its moorings. Finding Normal, Dr. Huxford's brief, powerful memoir, explores what it feels like to have been changed suddenly from the person he'd been to the person he is in the wake of Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI.
By any measure, Jeff Huxford was a good guy leading a charmed life before the accident. He was a respected, small town physician - the guy known as "Doc" in the community. He was a family man. He was a church-goer. But Huxford has this to say about himself and his faith before the accident, "I recall going to church on most Sundays and following all the rules needed to maintain the reputation of a "good" Christian, which I believe is very similar to most of American Christianity today. This rules-and-checklist mindset led to a self-centered faith, and because of that I never totally surrendered my life to God. I still counted on myself to do the bulk of the "work" and grossly overestimated my contribution to my salvation."
The memoir doesn't linger unnecessarily on how great the Huxfords' life was before TBI. It doesn't need to - you get the picture. Because Jeff has no memory of the accident or the days immediately following it, his wife, Jacqui, fills in the details: The Phone Call. The accident scene. Her first look at her husband. Jacqui's account is emotionally intense, but without self-pity.
Jeff picks up the story again at the point when he emerged from the trauma-induced amnesia. His assessment of himself post-accident is objective, yet moving, describing the weaknesses and challenges that are part of his story now. He refers several times to a quote by Pastor Craig Groeschel, "We might impress people with our strengths, but we connect with people through our weaknesses." Jeff has lost a lot, but he has gained some things too.
There aren't any clichés in Finding Normal. The details Huxford chose to leave out are as telling as those he put in. What he gives us is an unflinching, moving, and entirely relatable account of a metamorphosis. Of waking up to find you are someone else, someone you didn't want to become. Someone who is, perhaps, a better version of you.
I can picture myself in Huxford's place, but I'm not sure I can picture myself having his courage.
October 13, 2018
May 3, 2012. A Thursday.
Like me, you're probably trying to remember what you were doing that day. But you can't. Neither can Jeff Huxford, at least not after he left his father-in-law's hardware store. He doesn't remember leaving the store to drive home, or the red truck that T-boned his car, slamming his head into a concrete post and shearing his brain from its moorings. Finding Normal, Dr. Huxford's brief, powerful memoir, explores what it feels like to have been changed suddenly from the person he'd been to the person he is in the wake of Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI.
By any measure, Jeff Huxford was a good guy leading a charmed life before the accident. He was a respected, small town physician - the guy known as "Doc" in the community. He was a family man. He was a church-goer. But Huxford has this to say about himself and his faith before the accident, "I recall going to church on most Sundays and following all the rules needed to maintain the reputation of a "good" Christian, which I believe is very similar to most of American Christianity today. This rules-and-checklist mindset led to a self-centered faith, and because of that I never totally surrendered my life to God. I still counted on myself to do the bulk of the "work" and grossly overestimated my contribution to my salvation."
The memoir doesn't linger unnecessarily on how great the Huxfords' life was before TBI. It doesn't need to - you get the picture. Because Jeff has no memory of the accident or the days immediately following it, his wife, Jacqui, fills in the details: The Phone Call. The accident scene. Her first look at her husband. Jacqui's account is emotionally intense, but without self-pity.
Jeff picks up the story again at the point when he emerged from the trauma-induced amnesia. His assessment of himself post-accident is objective, yet moving, describing the weaknesses and challenges that are part of his story now. He refers several times to a quote by Pastor Craig Groeschel, "We might impress people with our strengths, but we connect with people through our weaknesses." Jeff has lost a lot, but he has gained some things too.
There aren't any clichés in Finding Normal. The details Huxford chose to leave out are as telling as those he put in. What he gives us is an unflinching, moving, and entirely relatable account of a metamorphosis. Of waking up to find you are someone else, someone you didn't want to become. Someone who is, perhaps, a better version of you.
I can picture myself in Huxford's place, but I'm not sure I can picture myself having his courage.
Like me, you're probably trying to remember what you were doing that day. But you can't. Neither can Jeff Huxford, at least not after he left his father-in-law's hardware store. He doesn't remember leaving the store to drive home, or the red truck that T-boned his car, slamming his head into a concrete post and shearing his brain from its moorings. Finding Normal, Dr. Huxford's brief, powerful memoir, explores what it feels like to have been changed suddenly from the person he'd been to the person he is in the wake of Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI.
By any measure, Jeff Huxford was a good guy leading a charmed life before the accident. He was a respected, small town physician - the guy known as "Doc" in the community. He was a family man. He was a church-goer. But Huxford has this to say about himself and his faith before the accident, "I recall going to church on most Sundays and following all the rules needed to maintain the reputation of a "good" Christian, which I believe is very similar to most of American Christianity today. This rules-and-checklist mindset led to a self-centered faith, and because of that I never totally surrendered my life to God. I still counted on myself to do the bulk of the "work" and grossly overestimated my contribution to my salvation."
The memoir doesn't linger unnecessarily on how great the Huxfords' life was before TBI. It doesn't need to - you get the picture. Because Jeff has no memory of the accident or the days immediately following it, his wife, Jacqui, fills in the details: The Phone Call. The accident scene. Her first look at her husband. Jacqui's account is emotionally intense, but without self-pity.
Jeff picks up the story again at the point when he emerged from the trauma-induced amnesia. His assessment of himself post-accident is objective, yet moving, describing the weaknesses and challenges that are part of his story now. He refers several times to a quote by Pastor Craig Groeschel, "We might impress people with our strengths, but we connect with people through our weaknesses." Jeff has lost a lot, but he has gained some things too.
There aren't any clichés in Finding Normal. The details Huxford chose to leave out are as telling as those he put in. What he gives us is an unflinching, moving, and entirely relatable account of a metamorphosis. Of waking up to find you are someone else, someone you didn't want to become. Someone who is, perhaps, a better version of you.
I can picture myself in Huxford's place, but I'm not sure I can picture myself having his courage.
July 20, 2023
The personal experiences shared are real and tangible and very similar to what so many of us have experienced - both as survivor or as spouse, family, friend or caretaker. I will probably have my young kids read this someday so they can grasp a bit more what that time was like for us. Unlike Jeff, my husband’s recovery was slow. But like Jeff, my TBI is changed, trying to identify what his “new normal” almost daily. And it’s a struggle for all of us. I liked the religious aspects of the book and found so much of it ring true in my heart, but like others have said, this book is a fair bit more about his full turn to Christ than it is about his TBI. I do particularly like the parts where he writes directly to his TBI; my husband and I have talked about how it’s like bringing home an extra life of its own… and I wonder if writing *to* that alter ego would help others accept the newness of themselves.
November 20, 2018
What a story!!
Life throws us tragedies, But God! You never know what is around the corner and this story reminds us to value the moments because you never know when your “normal” might change. Thanks to the author for sharing his story.
Life throws us tragedies, But God! You never know what is around the corner and this story reminds us to value the moments because you never know when your “normal” might change. Thanks to the author for sharing his story.
August 9, 2020
Talks too much about God, it's more a religious book than a book about the struggles of a brain injury survivor... as a brain injury survivor myself, I was hoping to read more about the injury and struggles vs. successes than about God.
April 23, 2018
I am thankful Jeff wrote this book. I love to see how God works in each of our lives. I am thankful God uses the hard things of his life to reveal himself more to Jeff.
February 4, 2021
This felt almost like a devotional to me! If you want to be encouraged in your faith, read this book! Such a unique story of a man who lived after a severe vehicle accident.
October 27, 2019
I did not want to put this book down. I was so blown away by how real Jeff was with his struggles, what he went through and his faith. This book will encourage anyone who is trying to find a new normal for whatever the reason. It was challenging on where is my strength and power coming from? I love how he said, "I want to be 'uncomfortable with being comfortable,' because if I'm comfortable for too long, that means I've stopped growing." I love how he turned tragedy into triumph and is being bold sharing his faith in Jesus. I loved everything about this very quick read. You will be inspired, encouraged, challenged and grateful.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews