"I have learned from this that you only can only do so much. You're just human," the author of the new book "Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior" tells.
Kathie Lee Gifford is recuperating after her recent hip replacement surgery.
As she readies to launch her historical nonfiction book "Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior", Gifford reveals that she has also been focused on healing following hip replacement surgery.
Although the former "Today" co-host, 70, hoped the procedure would be “easy,” Gifford shares that her recovery has been “one of the most painful experiences of my entire life.”
Confessing that she "jumped off that gurney after my surgery," Gifford quickly realized she needed to slow down — something she's not used to.
“I walked, I climbed, I walked, and my doctor said, ‘Kathie, no. You have got to realize that this is serious,’” she recalls. “And I was off my walker in two days. I was off all my medications in three days, and then I did too much. I just did too much because that's who I am.”
“I started carrying books around and signing them, preparing for the release, and my grandchildren came to visit,” she continues. “And you can't. I have learned from this that you only can only do so much. You're just human. You're just human. And I'm so grateful.”
The television personality explains that the surgery was necessary because her “hips [were] down to the nubs.”
Gifford also mentions her doctor said she would “never, ever, ever be” in this situation if not for her active lifestyle. She recalls the surgeon telling her, “You climbed mountains, you made movies, you got on stages. You never took off your high heels, and you kept going, and that's why you're experiencing this.”
Despite the tough recovery, Gifford has no regrets about her busy life.
“[I ask myself] would I change that? No, I was doing what God put me on this earth to do. Every year of it, I was doing what He called me to do,” she says.
One of Gifford’s callings is authoring her new book, "Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior".
The historical nonfiction book, out Tuesday, July 16, offers “deep insight into how Herod rose to power, how corruption and ancient evil threatened a nation’s stability, and how a teenage Mary navigated these challenges to bring the Savior, Jesus, our living hope, into the world,” according to an official description.
Gifford says the inspiration for the book came during a rabbinical trip to Israel a few years ago.
“I came home from this trip completely immersed in the story of Herod, and I told my son about it,” she shares. "I said, 'Cody, do you know the history of Herod?’ And he goes, ‘No.’ I ordered 10 books on him and read whatever books came in. I think there were five that were actually available. And I was blown away by the story of him. If Jesus is the greatest story ever told, Herod is the greatest story never told. I was blown away by everything about him.”
She noted that Cody, 34, “convinced” her that “these are stories that need to be told because people need hope. That's the whole point of this.”
"I don't know how much time the Lord has me still on this earth, but for whatever time it is, I pray that I would be useful... that I would be kind and helpful, and loving to people," she adds. "I am a strong woman, but I'm a woman who for 60 years has been trying to do godly work, trying to do the right thing, trying to love people, [and] trying to represent the kingdom of God."
"Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior" is available for purchase wherever books are sold.
The Quran - Chapter Al-Hashr: 14
Even united, they would not ˹dare˺ fight against you except ˹from˺ within fortified strongholds or from behind walls. Their malice for each other is intense: you think they are united, yet their hearts are divided. That is because they are a people with no ˹real˺ understanding.
