‘A Million Pieces’: Sharing Hope and Purpose After Tragedy

Tiffany Smiley nearly lost her husband to a suicide bomber. Now the two tell others how God pulled them through the most difficult time in their lives.

On May 21, 2018, LIFE Today will host Scotty and Tiffany Smiley to discuss his book Hope Unseen and their ministry by the same name. Hope Unseen details the devastating injury that Scotty suffered in the military when a suicide bomber killed himself in front of Scotty. It left Scotty temporarily paralyzed and permanently blind. The Stream’s Nancy Flory recently sat down with the couple to talk about how they made it through their most difficult time and what God is doing in their lives now.

‘A Million Pieces’

“The day I found out that Scotty was never going to see again, my world blew up into a million pieces too.” Tiffany Smiley recounted the first moments after a suicide bomber had blown himself up in front of Scotty during his deployment to Iraq. Scotty’s injuries left him temporarily paralyzed and permanently blind. “I really kind of wrestled with God, like ‘What are you doing? What does this mean? I don’t like this. This isn’t the plan I had,'” Tiffany recalled. The couple had recently celebrated their first anniversary and were looking forward to a bright future together. In an instant, that all changed.

God told Tiffany He had a plan for Scotty. It was the first time in her life that the words in the Bible became real to her. She held onto Psalm 23 and the book of Job. She chose to trust God. “I had to actually take God for his word. And it was all I had, so I did it.”

God’s Vision

Every day she went to the hospital. She talked to God all the way there and all the way back. “I would come in and would fill [Scotty] with life and fill him with truth and fill him with hope every single day.” She told him he’d be a speaker and teacher and even write a book. “You’re crazy,” he told her. “I can’t even get out of bed right now!” “But it was awesome to take God for His word and to live it every day,” Tiffany said. When military personnel asked her to sign paperwork to retire Scotty, she said no. “I had the conviction that this was not the end, that God was going to use him.” She said she had a bigger vision — God’s plan — they couldn’t see.

Scotty’s health improved. The couple had three children. Scotty went on to write a book called Hope Unseen. He continued rising in the military ranks and won numerous awards. He even competed in an Ironman competition. One day as Tiffany was driving him to work with their three little boys in the back seat, she realized she had never grieved. It was the grace of God, she said, that she and Scotty didn’t grieve at the same time. Still, she was mad at God.

‘A Vision for Me’

She was angry and wondered what God was doing. She felt she couldn’t keep it together. “I really had to go through this grieving process. I had lost something as well. I had lost a future that I thought I was going to have. Now my husband was blind and he would never see his kids. I had to deal with that in real ways.” She realized that Scotty would never push a stroller down the street, play with the kids at the park or see her face again.

“It was a struggle,” she added. “It was so hard. I wondered if God knew. I felt pathetic. I felt like a loser. I felt like, ‘I’m a horrible wife. I’m a horrible mother.’ And when people on the outside don’t understand what you’re going through it makes it even harder. So, I really had to dig deep in my personal relationship with God and realize He also had a vision for me … and that He could heal me fully and restore me and help me get through my grief.”

Anything is Possible With God

She gets her strength from the Lord, she explained. “With Him anything is possible. I often say faith is not this huge leap that you have to take, it’s the everyday step. It’s the little step. It’s the steps of feeling like ‘am I taking a few steps backward?’ That’s faith. That’s the grittiness of faith. And that’s what we hold onto every single day.”

Hope Unseen

Now the two work to help others through their ministry Hope Unseen. Hope Unseen’s mission is to encourage others and spread the message of hope. They want others to know that with hope and courage, there’s nothing that can’t be overcome. Tiffany also puts together conferences called Story by Faith where she speaks to women about overcoming challenges and believing in God’s purpose for their lives. They share their message with audiences nationwide.

“I tell people now I wouldn’t trade it, our life, for anything because what God has shown me,” said Tiffany. “God … didn’t have to show me what He can do in this broken life and what He does when you believe [the] vision that He gives you. But He showed me that and I’m forever grateful for it.”

For more information, see tiffanysmiley.com and hopeunseen.com.