Ray Lopez
From the author of Hard Knocks: Memoir of a Small Moment and Hard Love: A California Memoir, Hard Faith is Lopez’s third memoir and picks up where Hard Love leaves his readers. Hard Faith describes Lopez’s struggles and growing maturity as a Christian, husband, father, and probation officer. It tells of the difficulties in the church and trying to hear God’s voice in declaring the plans he has for us. Lopez leaves the Baptist church after fifteen years and starts serving in an independent, nondenominational church that is pursuing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially prophecy. It covers the Lopezes’ lives as double-income, professional parents and the challenging experiences while raising their children. Hard Faith explores the impact of 9/11. It takes the reader on some incredible journeys, like when Lopez and his wife, Paula, traveled to Peru to be with their daughter who was in a coma after being hit by a tourist bus. They experienced many miracles in Peru, most significantly, their daughter’s survival and healing. Hard Faith covers his mother’s stroke and the deaths of both of his parents, focusing on how God uses all things for our good (Rom 8:28) and brings us closer together. The book travels through Lopez’s retirement as a federal law enforcement officer and his struggles with depression, and ends with the death of his sister-in-law from ALS at the age of fifty-four.
