Type One Confessional

Type 1 Diabetes is a monster.
By such monsters, faith is tested.
But God is there. He is listening. He is acting.

He can be trusted.

At its core, Type One Confessional explores in narrative form the struggle to reconcile God’s love in times of crisis. In particular, Reverend Thoma speaks directly to the unexpected and life-altering calamity of his seven-year-old daughter’s diagnosis with what is often an overwhelming disease—one that is both difficult to manage, and if left untreated, is more than deadly. Thoma does this in a semi-fictional way—that is, each of the events included in the volume is true, and yet, even though the back-and-forth engagements between the Creator and one of His pastors are fictionalized, the content within arises from the Word of God—the place where God’s voice is heard clearly and where He meets each human being with the promise of His love in the midst of the darkness of uncertainty.

What people are saying about Type One Confessional:

“Pastor Thoma welcomes us into the fray. He invites us, adeptly, into some pretty expressive dialogues with God, and as he does this, we are reminded that through faith in Jesus, nothing is ever too big. From upheaval to anger to acceptance, Thoma shows us that while God has unique plans for every individual, through the work of Christ, a wonderful plan has already unfolded that is universal in scope and beneficial for all. Also, as you receive all of this from these conversations, you may even discover—as I did—a special reassurance in knowing that even pastors get angry with God, but also that God understands the frustrations of His people, and regardless of the circumstances, He is working to keep us in the faith and not push us away.”
—Eric Hipple, Former Quarterback for the Detroit Lions and author of Real Men Do Cry

“If your path is uncertain and chocked full of sorrows, pick up this book and read it. You simply must meet this fretting father and his faithful God. You’ll discover that you are not alone. Thoma understands. More importantly, his Lord does, too.”
—Rev. Dr. Peter J. Scaer, Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana
and author of The Lukan Passion and the Praiseworthy Death

A Portion from the Introduction

"Everything that followed, that is, as each day unfolded and I continued to probe the darkness of Type 1 Diabetes through my writing, there always emerged from the white cathode glow of my computer screen a conversation with God—sometimes a full-throated clamoring of discontent for allowing the dastardly terror to stalk my little girl for the rest of her mortal life, and other times a careful back-and-forth between friends, each being an internal but expounded description of an actual event. In other words, when you read of me standing in the pantry in the dark with a clenched fist and seething with frustration—that happened. When you consider me listening beside my daughter’s bedroom door, it was as I describe. As I went to my computer to record it, the conversation emerged. And no matter the tenor of the exchange, as you will see, each one proved to be a therapeutic engagement that helped to bring a feeble man and father—who is also a pastor—to actually learn even more so to trust the Word of God as the source of God’s loving voice, to become more attuned to hearing my own sermons as the voice of Christ for me, and to recognize the same grace I am tasked with preaching and teaching to others each and every day.

"In the end, I hope this little book gives voice to the things you are thinking but can’t figure out how to say. I hope it helps to focus both the sadness and the anger that sometimes emerge in tragedy. I hope it helps you to take comfort in the sense that while others are beside you, there is only One in whom hope is truly located: Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the sins of the world—a divine death leading to an all-surpassing victory that makes all things new and assures us that this passing world and its terrors will not last forever. There is something more, something better, a perfect cure, and it gives eternal life—an existence in heaven completely void of diseases conceived by original sin that are capable of killing children."