Roy Fisher will always be Pastor Roy to me. He was there for us when Randy and I went through a very difficult time in our lives.
We had one baby and I was expecting our second child. At home alone with my infant son I began having pains at five months into my pregnancy. I picked up my little boy and trudged over to the neighborās house to use their phone since we had none. I called Randy at the church where he was interim youth pastor, the same church in Florida where he had been born again a few years earlier.
Pastor Roy drove Randy to our house, picked me up and took us to the local hospital where he sat and waited with Randy. It was a difficult four hours for us. I had a miscarriage. Pastor Roy was there to simply be with Randy, comfort us, pray with us and see that our needs were met.
Pastor Roy, who is still active in ministry in his āretirementā years (he and his wife recently returned from a six month stint as interim pastor in his home country of England), graciously read and wrote a review of my book, Brokenness to Beauty. He then shared my book with a friend of his.Ā His friend is reading Brokenness to Beauty and wrote an email to him, which he shared with me:
Dear Pastor Roy: What a wonderful gift this book is. I already have many areas of my life experiences with suffering and illness that I can relate to the author. Not only that, she reveals a heart that seeks after God and finds answers in His Word. I don’t think I’ve done this nearly enough–I’ve sought oftentimes answers from people or even my doctors, but truly, my answer must come from Him alone. She described the Lord as her rock in one chapter. I love that. I need to make sure I’m making Him my rock and fortress. Feeling so grateful for her testimony so far–I’m in Chapter 4. Will check in again with you soon.
This is just one of many such comments I am hearing from those who have read my book. I thank God when I hear positive reports that Brokenness to Beauty is helping and encouraging others! The reason for writing this book is being fulfilled every time someone is strengthened or challenged by it.
I am grateful for friends like Pastor Roy who share Brokenness to Beauty with their friends. He is still building up others as he is prompted byĀ his pastor’s heart, even in sharingĀ a book with a friend. I hope you too will read Ā Brokenness to Beauty,Ā be encouraged by it and share it with your friends!
āLet us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers.āĀ Charles Spurgeon
During my cancer treatment, many timesādailyāI cried out to God. Pain especially makes me vulnerable to tears. Fear has a similar effect. My default response is to pray, talking and often crying with tears to God. To this day, I work hard at holding it together emotionally in public, but in private, just me and God, I hold back nothing from him. I know I can unload my fears, my uncertainties, my anxieties, my tears on him, and he will understand. He can take it. We are always accepted by him, never rejected. We can be vulnerable and open with the Lord, for no one who comes to him in that way is ever rejected. ā¦There is only One who can bear, and has borne, our sorrows, our pains: Jesus. (Taken from Brokenness to Beauty, Chapter 13, Prayer as Our Lifeline.)
In chapter 13 of my book I give you a peek at some of my areas of weakness: pain, fear and anxieties, the unknown. I never said I was strong, but I do know the One who isĀ and I have learned to go to him, where I can unreservedly dump all my cares on him. As fellow blogger, Susanne Maynes, says in her recent blog post titled āWhy your faith doesnāt always need to feel victorious,ā sometimes we simply need to climb into Abbaās lap and let the tears flow. I think I shouldĀ be an expert at that!
Picture by Helen Hooker
Take a moment, click on the link and read what Susanne has to say about crying inĀ the Lord’s lap. You may find it to be just what you need. I know I did.
Survival skills are important for everyone to know in case of emergencies. I need to nail down some myself. But beyond that there are four essential things we need to put into place to be able to thrive, not just survive, in every area of life.
Iām talking about four essentials we need to know, practice and develop to successfully get through the dark valley of struggles and suffering, because we all go through trials at some point in life.
Iād never given thought to how I navigate the tough times in life until I knew I needed to write about my own journey through trials. Trials like cancer. When I blogged during cancer treatment I wrote about my responses to what I encountered, tears and fears and all, and what I did with those tears and fears.
I prayed, through tears. I dumped my fears on God and he traded them for his peace. I found strength and hope to keep on for one more day as I read Godās Word. I was comforted and helped in every way imaginable by the people around me, family and friends both near and far away.
And when I felt like giving up, on those dark days when I didnāt feel like getting up, I remembered my reason for being. And I got up. And kept going. For one more day.
When I analyzed these realities of my life, how I navigated the storms that cameĀ my way, I found names for them, and a way to share these powerful truths so that others could be strengthened. For one more day.
And I wrote Brokenness to Beauty.Ā I found a way to share how to transform your brokenness into a beautiful life. How to thrive through the trials of life.
Yes! Now you can order Brokenness to Beauty from me and save on the cost per book. Ā And I will personally sign your copy of Brokenness to Beauty!
To order Brokenness to Beauty directly from me, click hereĀ to go to my facebook Author page, and message me to open the conversation. Or leave a comment and we’ll talk. Help me get word out about how to thrive in life, not just survive.
When I first started blogging on my first blog, jacquesjourney.blogspot.com, I had just begunĀ breast cancer treatment. I posted about my ups and downs week after week, simply sharing my feelings and experiences, fears, insights from the Word, and how I got through the difficult times. I didnāt know any blogging etiquette, I just wrote what came to me, from my heart.
It was from that blog that the book,Ā Brokenness to Beauty: Transforming Your Brokenness into a Beautiful Life, was born. I never dreamed of writing a book, but I kept hearing from friends and readers of my blog that what I wrote was encouragingĀ and that I should write for a broader audience. They began asking me when I was going to write a book, that I should tell my story.
After a few years of hearing these comments from near and far, family and friends, like a slow sunrise it began to dawn on me that maybe God was trying to tell me something through all these people.
He does that, you know. God uses others to speak into our lives. I already knew that, I believed that, but I still had the āWho, me write a book?ā mindset.
Yes, me write a book. I became slowly convinced it was God trying to get through to me to write to encourage others in their life journey. So, okay, I got serious about writing a book that dealt with going through trials andĀ stillĀ live in joy, withĀ peaceĀ and purpose.
I had a lot to learn about writing in general, and about writing and publishing a book, specifically.
You know those graphs that show a steep upward curve? Well, Iāve been on that learning curve for some time and it never ceases to continue upward, to infinity!Ā First it was learning about writing a book, then about publishing it, and now the learning curve is about marketing that book.
What good is writing a book if no one knows it is there to read? The point of writing a book is so others can read and benefit from it.
So the word has to get out, and get passed on from person to person.
Join the Tribe!
So the reality is, if you are one of those friends or family members who encouraged me to write a book, or if you were encouraged by something I wrote on my blog since I began it in 2008, or if you ever told a friend about one of my blog posts, or told them to follow my blog …Ā take one step forward!
You have been duly recruited to my Tribe to promote Brokenness to Beauty among your friends and family and spheres of influence!
If you have already bought a book, thank you! PleaseĀ write a review on Amazon and other sites! And tell your friends about the book.
If you havenāt already bought a copy, you can buy Brokenness to Beauty online, byĀ clicking on the store name, toĀ order onĀ Amazon,Ā Barnes & NobleĀ orĀ from the publisher, WestBow Press. The Kindle, Nook and e-book, as they are respectively known, are available at these distributors. Reviews may be left at all these sites. Please do leave a review!
Pass the word!
Buy the book, read it, be sure to leave a (honest) review on Amazon and other book review sites, and tell a friend!
That is one of the most important things you, Tribe member, can do: tell a friend–or many friends–about Brokenness to Beauty. It has been saidĀ that the best form of advertising (aka marketing) is “word of mouth.” From one friend to another. They are waiting to hear!
By JPPI on Morguefile
Consider buying several copies to share with friends, give as gifts, promote at your church, small group or Bible study group.Ā
If Brokenness to Beauty was worth the effort to write, it is worth promoting so others can find out about it, read it and gain encouragementĀ from what God has taught me about going through the hard times in life and coming out better for it.
Have you joined my Tribe? Thanks to those who alreadyĀ have! If you are joining up now, leave me a comment to let me know!
My book, Brokenness to Beauty: Transforming Your Brokenness into a Beautiful Life, is now live on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, West Bow Press Bookstore and other outlets!
My book is live!
This book was written becauseĀ I believe I have a messageĀ of encouragement for others going through difficult times in life. And we all go through them at some point. No one escapes.
Trials in life can be the building blocks of character development, the Scriptures say as much in Romans 5:1-5 (NIV). “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, weĀ have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And weĀ boast in the hope of the glory of God.Ā Not only so, but weĀ also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;perseverance, character; and character, hope.Ā And hope does not put us to shame, because Godās love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Knowing how to make that happen in our dark times is another story.Ā Brokenness to BeautyĀ shines a light on the pathway through the valley of suffering. It will encourage, strengthen and empower you on the way to wholeness, joy and peace in the midst of trials.
To make it easy for you to find my book, click onĀ the Amazon siteĀ or the publisher’s, WestBow Press BookstoreĀ (then click on the search button), andĀ order the book, either soft or hard cover! ItĀ is also available onĀ Barnes & NobleĀ . On the B&N site, click on the book for more versions.
About three days ago, as I was reading in Isaiah, I came to this verse, āLord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for usā (Isaiah 26:12, NIV).
I had to stop and ponder it. In light of my current whirl of anxious thoughts and activity, I bowed my head and thanked God for what he has done in this one area of my life this past year: my book Brokenness to Beauty: Transforming Your Brokenness into a Beautiful Life, was completed and edited; the cover designed; all reviewed for any errors and changes; and just before the end of 2015, sent off by the publisher to the printer! Brokenness to Beauty will be ready for purchase very soon!
Happy days, right? Well, yes and no.
How to market my book has consumed my thoughts and activities online for several weeks. Hand-wringing new territory. Again. Another whole field of endeavor to master! Will my learning curve never level off?
For weeks Iāve been reading theories about and strategies for how best to market a book, especially as a new, unknown author. Which way to turn? What advice to follow? How do I maximizeĀ my littleĀ budget?
All this time, lots of prayer to God for him to lead me. I donāt know the āhow,ā but he does.
The other day, after weeks of this, I realized I was withdrawing in my spirit, pulling back from the conflict in my soul. All the unknowns, the āwhich way to turnā as I view before me so many paths in my āyellow woodā of book marketing. Instead of joyful anticipation of the release of my book, Brokenness to Beauty, I wanted to run away from it!
So I took myself by the scruff of the neck, figuratively speaking, of course, and turning my head upward to my Father IĀ said, āLord, I donāt want to be this way, it is crazy after all youāve done! I choose now to hitch up my britches and plow ahead into the fray, to take on a positive rather than fearful and negative attitude. I will move ahead.ā
I know God led me to write Brokenness to Beauty; it wasnāt my idea. I believe he wants me to get this book out there because the message I have is for others, to strengthen them in their times of struggles and trials in life. So he is helping me market it, I just canāt see it yet.
I know God has been with me and taught me all along the way as I wrote this book, which was doneĀ over the course of several years. Iāve learned so much through this experience of writing a book!
And I know that what God starts, he finishes, as my good friend, Claudia Cooley (http://claudiacooley.com/), herself a published author, reminded me yesterday as we talked on the phone. She was there in the early days whenĀ I was only talking about writing this book!
And above all, I know God is with me in all these pursuits. He is going to answer my prayers. He is the one working within all my efforts to accomplish his work, as Isaiah said.
And he is the one who gives me peace in the midst of it all.
Photo by Maryhere from Morguefile
I am moving ahead!
If youād like to be part of my marketing scheme for Brokenness to Beauty, if you have an idea of what you could do to promote Brokenness to Beauty among peopleĀ you know, or if you have successfully marketed a book and so have experience youĀ couldĀ share with me, leave me a comment and letās talk!
It’s only January 3rd in this New Year of 2016, but I’m beginning to look forward to January 3, 2017, to look back over the year and say, “all that we have accomplished you, Oh God, have done for us”!
Yellow wood is a reference to Robert Frostās poem, āThe Road Not Taken.ā
How do you handle traumatic news? How do you move through each day when it feels like your old familiar world is crumbling around you? Is it possible, and if so how, to live joyfully and confidently while assailed by pain, fear, or devastating loss?
As I contemplated and prayed about what I would say in a book about going through sufferingāand getting through it whole and better than when one started the journeyāit became clear to me that several principles are of vital importance, both for those who are going through trials and for those who walk alongside them. These principles became the framework upon which I sculpted the body of this book.
So begins the Introduction to Brokenness to Beauty: Transforming Your Brokenness into a Beautiful Life. The book that came out of the blog Jacqueās Journey (www.jacquesjourney.blogspot.com), is now only weeks away from going public. I feel I should type an exclamation mark behind that sentence!
Whereas, I once was beginning this journey of writing–
Photo by Sgarton
Now I am in the “Almost” there phase. I can see the Finish line–
Photo from Bakersfield SIS Advocacy Group 5K Run 2015
My book going public: This is exciting and scary news all at the same time! For me anyway. Are you ready for this book? Am I ready for this book?
For years I heard and read comments from my blog readers that I needed to write a book, that I should tell my story. Maybe this is the book you expected, maybe not. But this is the book that grewĀ out of writing it, praying as I wrote.
Brokenness to Beauty is a five Part, twenty-three chapter book designed with you in mind because, as the end of the Introduction states: Most of our days are filled with activities that pull us in many directions at once; therefore, this book is structured so that it may be read in short sections, easily adapted to a busy lifestyle. It is my hope that I have written these few chapters simply and clearly enough so that those who read it may, as with the vision given to Habakkuk, āread it fluently,ā or with understanding, so that they may go on in their life journey stronger for it and in turn share it with others (Habakkuk 2:2).Ā
Photo by Gaborfromhungary
Are we there yet? Almost! Stay tunedāor keep following this blogāto be among the first to know when Brokenness to Beauty hits the stores!
(And yes, there will be an e-book version as well!)
The last fewĀ pieces I posted here dealt with ālions and bearsā and āGoliath.ā AsĀ I read the passage (1 Samuel 17) for our womenās Bible study, I saw a metaphor for realities in our own lives.
I likened lions and bears to enemies that attack us personally: illness, disease, losses of all kinds–from jobs to death of loved ones–and more. Whatever can come into our lives and turn them upside down and inside out, I consider a lion or bear type of enemy.
We are all subject to lions and bears. In my book, Brokenness to Beauty[1], I deal with these enemies and share how we can successfully fight them, becoming stronger and better for having gone through the attack. Like David, we can learn to wield our weaponsāprayer and praise and the Word of Godāgaining spiritual strength, growing in faith and in the knowledge of God. We can bring glory to the Lord by our lives as we go through our personal struggles.
But who or what is Goliath? The more I read the 1 Samuel 17 passage, the more clear it became to me that Goliath is anything that directly attacks and defies the Living God on a larger scale, not just a personal one. I imagined the evils in this world as Goliath, evils that challenge us, Godās people, to stand and fight in and for his Name.
Fighting Goliath definitely will take us out of our comfort zone. It certainly challenged Saul and his entire army. Goliathās challenge scared them spitless. So they didnāt answer it. They didnāt stand up to Goliath; they quaked in their sandals and ran backwards.
There are Goliathās in our world to fight and based on Jesus’ words, heĀ expects us to fight them (John 14:12-17).
A small group of women here in Bakersfield are taking up the challenge. They are one example of standing up to Goliath in the name of the Lord of Hosts. Since I am part of that group, Iāll speak of them as āwe.ā
We have taken up a big challenge to fight against poverty, abuse and neglect of Ā girls and women, ignorance, slavery of all kinds including sex slavery, illiteracy, and oppression. We are doing this on behalf of women in India whom we have not met, yet because other believers are on the front lines of this war, and we have heard the challenge, we have declared we would join the fight. The Bakersfield SIS Advocacy GroupĀ are the supply troops, if you will.
So we prayed about our next plan. And we had a yard sale.
SIS Yard SaleSIS yard Sale
The mighty weapon of a yard sale!
Well, no. Our weapon is prayer. And hard work. The yard sale is a strategy.
And God blessed it.
We in turn blessed 11 women in India to become part of a Transformation Group where they will learn skills, work as a group, gain confidence and the ability to become self-sufficient, be given a voice to stand up for themselvesā¦ and learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now thatās life transforming.
We only have 151 more women to bless at $10 a month for one year.[2] Ten dollars a month. Two cups of Starbucks coffee. For one year. Imagine that.
We few, we band of sisters in the Bakersfield She Is Safe Advocacy Group,[3] are learning to stand and fight Goliath–with prayer, hard work, and yard sales and bring glory to the Name of the Lord of Hosts.
Do you hear the challenge? Want to join us?
[1]Brokenness to Beauty: Transforming Your Brokenness into a Beautiful Life is almost out! Expect it early next year! More on that later.
[2] Want to join us? Contact me at jacquelinegwallace@gmail for info on how to bless one or more Indian women ā¦ for life and eternity.
[3] Learn more about She Is Safe and their opportunity to fight Goliath through an Advocacy Group at SheIsSafe.org
A friend emailed me these scriptures and they got me thinking:
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: āThus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish itāthe Lord is his name: āCall to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.āā(Jeremiah 33:1-3, ESV)[1]
The euphemistic sounding ācourt of the guardā was not a nice courtyard. It was a jail. Jeremiah was āshut upā in it. Dungeoned away.
Photo by kconnors DSC_0471.JPG
God had called Jeremiah, the son of a priest, to a prophetic ministry early in life. Jeremiahās perceived inability and youthfulness did not keep God from ordaining him to be his āprophet to the nations,ā regardless of how inadequate Jeremiah felt. It would be a difficult and dangerous calling but God pledged himself to ābe with you to deliver you,ā therefore Jeremiah was not to be afraid of his enemies (Jeremiah 1:6-8).
As I read the first quoted verses about God showing Jeremiah great and mighty things he knew nothing about when he called on God in prayer, I thought of Pastor Saeed Abedini, and many other men and women similarly persecuted and imprisoned for their faith in Jesus.
They are not Jeremiah, but like Jeremiah, God has called them to a hard task: faithfully speaking forth the truth of Godās Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a resistant, even hostile audience. But God has also promised to be with them wherever they go, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:18-20).
We must not consider persecution and imprisonment for Jesusās sake an anomaly. Suffering for Christ is not a strange phenomenon. It is part of being a follower of the true God and his son Jesus Christ. So it is not just the pastor Abedinis who are called to suffer: it is you and me. As a western Christian I have been trying to get my mind around that reality.
This lack of understanding about persecution forĀ our faith being a part of the Christian life, is similar to my experience growing up in church and for the first 20 years of my life not recalling hearing about and nor giving thought to Godās care of and concern for the poor. Until I met someone who plainly understood it and could point it out to me in Scripture. It was everywhere in Godās Word! How had I missed it?!
When was the last time you heard a sermon or lesson on standing firm and fearless in the midst of persecution, as applied to ourselves and not a Bible character who lived thousands of years ago? Or even expecting persecutionĀ to come? In fact, when was the last time you were persecuted for your faith in Jesus?
Iāve asked myself these questions so donāt be offended at my asking you the same things. Iāll bet weāve all made commentsĀ about it and had fears as to the coming persecution. I have. In Scripture, however, it is taken for granted that persecution will be part of our lives whenĀ we “live godly in Christ Jesus,” and we are told straight up not to fear.Ā Jesus’s words to go into all the world and make disciples is for all his followers, not a select few.
I pray for deliverance for my brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and imprisoned for their faith.
But I alsoĀ pray for grace, and their daily strength to stand strong, and to forgive their enemies. I pray that Jesus will be more real to them, that they draw closer to him each day. And I pray that Jesus draw very close to them. I pray that they know his presence with them as surely as they know they inhale and exhale.
I also pray God use them powerfully in those neighborhoods and prisons to live out and speak the gospel to those who havenāt heard it. To those who are their mortal enemies. To those who are so very lost.
āCall to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.ā Many of us have claimed for ourselves Godās promise to Jeremiah, I know I have. I donāt see a problem with that.
As long as we are also willing to wear Jeremiahās mantle of suffering.
Or as Paul stated it: to fill up the sufferings of Christ.
Heās the same God today as he was then. And the way through dark times of persecution is the same as through any other difficulty in life: cling to and stand firm in the Word of God, live a life of prayer to the God of the Word, encourage and help one another, remembering our reason for being here: to honor, love and serve our King and Savior Jesus Christ, carrying his good news to the world.
God, help us to honor You.
Itās all there in the Book. Here are a few samples:
Driving home from anĀ appointment I heard a song on the radio that brought tears to my eyes–because I could have written it.
The song recalled to my memory my inner feelings after my right femur snapped, casting me to the ground where I waitedĀ for at least a half hour in the snow before Randy discovered me. Ā Emergency surgery followed to place a rod into my bone. The next April I had the same procedure done to my left femur, before it too broke and threw me to the ground to wait for someone to rescue me.
Though I had struggled with physical weakness from MG all my life; knew the pain of surgeries; and had gone through breast cancer treatments of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation; when I was recovering from broken bones, for the first time in my life I truly felt ābroken.ā
My body was broken.
I felt more helpless and vulnerable, crumpled, than ever before in my life. It almost felt like the final straw.
The only thing I knew for certain was that God was with me. In my brokenness. In the pain. In the inability to do for myself. In the wheelchair. In the physical therapy.
I did a lot of crying to God. In the midst of my physical, emotional and spiritual agony, he was the One I reached out to … and sang my broken hallelujahs to.
Photo by Oleander IMG_5787
(Click to read and hear the song “Broken Hallelujah” on You Tube at this link. Or read the words at the end of the blog post.)
In my soon to be published book, Brokenness to Beauty, I talk about my life with MG (the disease that causes my weakness) and about my fight with cancer but I donāt mention my broken bones. The way through that struggle was the same as for the other struggles in my life.
And in yours. Thatās what I share with youĀ in Brokenness to Beauty: Transforming Your Brokenness into a Beautiful Life: How you can get through those dark, broken times in your life and be able to say ālife is beautifulā and show it by your own beautiful life.
What are you struggling with today? Are you singing your broken hallelujahs to our God? Try it. He hears. He is with you. He will take your empty hands and lift you up. And make beauty out of your brokenness.
āFollowā this blog, leave a comment and send me your email to stay in touch to be among the first to get a copy of Brokenness to Beauty when itĀ comesĀ out, to encourage yourself and others.
Words to the song–
Broken Hallelujah
I can barely stand right now
Everything is crashing down
And I wonder where You are
I try to find the words to pray
I don’t always know what to say
But You’re the one who can hear my heart
Even though I don’t know what Your plan is
I know You make beauty from these ashes
I’ve seen joy and I’ve seen pain
And on my knees I call Your name
Here’s my broken Hallelujah
With nothing left to hold onto
I raise these empty hands to You
Here’s my broken
Here’s my broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You know the things that have brought me here
You know the story of every tear
‘Cause You’ve been here from the very start
Even though I don’t know what Your plan is
I know You make beauty from these ashes
I’ve seen joy and I’ve seen pain
And on my knees I call Your name
Here’s my broken Hallelujah
With nothing left to hold onto
I raise these empty hands to You
Here’s my broken
Here’s my broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
When all is taken away, don’t let my heart be changed
Let me always sing Hallelujah
When I feel afraid, don’t let my hope be erased
Let me always sing Hallelujah
Hallelujah (repeat)
(From the new album “Life is Beautiful” by the Afters.)
