Finally the Bride--Free Kindle Download

Belle Du Jour

Belle Du Jour

Well-Known Member
I had just completed my devotional time when this I saw this book on Amazon for FREE. It received 5/5 stars and is an easy, funny read. I'm pretty sure God sent this my way :yep:

Here's a synopsis:
Why Would God Care About My Love Life?
From the woman behind the screenplay and novel, Never the Bride, comes a roller coaster of a love story with God. Cheryl McKay pulls no punches about what it's really like to be single, with your age creeping up, and no end in sight to the wait for love and marriage.

It seems that many years ago, God asked Cheryl to surrender the pen she was using to write her love story. All He wanted was carte blanche. No problem, right? Cheryl tentatively conceded--that is, until it became apparent that the Almighty had no intention of conforming to her writing schedule, much less the tick of her biological clock. In fact, He blew every deadline she ever attempted to set. As romance seemed to pass Cheryl by, she couldn't help but question: Could God really be trusted to bring her the love of her life?

Written during a long wait, this book opens up Cheryl's painfully honest, personal journals. She explores what it's like to enlist in God's Marriage Boot Camp, and how to survive singlehood year after solitary year. She wrestles with her Creator over multiple best friends that never see her "that way." Then there are those lists of what she wanted--you know, the ones she revised a billion times then laminated for safekeeping. She watches, bewildered, as much younger women find love that seems to elude her.

Through it all, she falls head over heels for a God who proves Himself to be as resistant to her controls as He is faithful beyond her wildest dreams.

Are you still waiting? Have you lost hope? Venture to victory with a woman who knows just how hard it is to wait for the day when you are Finally the Bride.


This book includes a collection of real-life God-written love stories by such authors as SQuire Rushnell & Louise DuArt (God Winks Series, Couples Who Pray), and Victorya Michaels Rogers (Finding a Man Worth Keeping).


Click here to download Finally the Bride: Finding Hope While Waiting by Cheryl McKay.
 
From the author's blog:

Ps 30:5b (niv) “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Everyone who knows me almost immediately thinks of the color purple. My purple feathered pen. The name of my production company, Purple PenWorks. My insistence on wearing purple practically every day of my life.

Outside my apartment is a rather stunning display of Morning Glory flowers. They’re deep purple and blue, and they look like trumpets, ready to herald good news.

When they are open, that is.

They seem to blossom in the morning and especially when it’s sunny. They can go into hiding by nightfall or on cloudy days. Sometimes, a few of them refuse to come out, even when the rest of the flowers around them are showing off their colors.

Have you ever had one of those days where you wanted to go into hiding? You didn’t want anyone to see your face because they’d be able to read the distress all over it?

There were seasons of my life where I felt like I had nothing to “trumpet,” nothing to shout from the rooftops or celebrate. Every day started the same and ended the same, with me closing up into myself—just like those flowers that hide their beauty.

I knew in God’s Word it said that while weeping may remain for the night, joy would come in the morning. I often wondered which morning and on what calendar God was referring to. I felt more like I was in mourning: mourning the loss of dreams, hopes, time frames, and progress in life. Where I wanted to be by that time in my life. Many mornings came with tears still on the brink. That lump still near my throat. Where was this joy I kept reading about?

This was a long season I call waiting.

It was a season of longing.

A season of trying to cling desperately to hope but finding it short in supply.

When I was in my early twenties, God made me a promise that one day I would get married. I thought that sounded awesome because it had been my desire since I was a young teen. I was happy to hear this was something God had for me.

What God failed to mention was that it would take 16 more years of waiting before His promise would even become a remote possibility, that I would be almost 40 years old when love would finally show up in my life and I could take that long-awaited walk down the aisle. God didn’t warn of the trials, the heartbreaks, the journey to come. While I felt ready to blossom much sooner, God would have me in the shade for over a decade and a half of waiting.

Yet still, God wanted me to hold onto hope.

Often, He reminded me of that precious promise from many years ago. Sometimes, the reminders hurt. When I managed to keep my heart in a place of contentment, any reminder of that missing promise-to-come would kick up that desire like wildfire; contentment would be out the window. I would assume if God were bringing up the topic that the time was imminent. Oh, how many times I would be wrong!

And yet, God still asked for my faith; He still asked for my hope.

It was through the fire of waiting that God refined me, built my trust in Him, prepared me for marriage, taught me to love unconditionally, and showed off His extraordinary sense of impeccable timing.

What God wanted from me was absolute surrender. A surrender of my purple pen. (The pen I would use to write in my journals from a very young age about how I thought my love life should go. I made that purple pen a character in Never the Bride. I used that purple pen to write Finally the Bride: Finding Hope While Waiting. And waiting. And waiting.)

God didn’t want me stealing back the pen once I gave it up to Him, during all those times I didn’t like what He was writing. He was definitely not taking any of my suggestions—for timelines, for specific guys I prayed about, for the changes I ached for.

Instead, God surprised me by writing something completely different. Almost seventeen years after God first promised me that one day I’d get married, He reintroduced me to a friend from long ago, Chris Price. I’d met Chris just barely a year or so after God first made me that promise of marriage. We lost touch after a few years of being causal friends, then reconnected over a decade later in 2010.

Chris knew right away there was something to this connection. (Though wise man that he is, he kept that tidbit to himself and waited for God to talk to me about the future of us.)

With Chris, instead of me trying to convince God like many times past to “give this guy to me,” God was trying to convince me to say “yes” to this man. So, what did I do?

I said no.

For six months, I said no.

I had my ideas about what I wanted, and this idea of God’s didn’t fit my plan. But God wanted me on His plan. Slowly, He worked on my heart. He revealed to me what His best was.

Once I was willing to walk through the door and give Chris a chance, everything moved rather swiftly. Once I started cooperating with God’s plan and stopped fighting it, I stepped into the best, most loving relationship I’ve ever experienced. (Well, outside of my Heavenly Father, that is.) For the first time in my life, I fell in love with someone who actually loved me in return. Completely and unconditionally. That had never happened to me before, in almost forty years of life.

I could have continued to say no.

I could have missed out on God’s best.

What’s funny, in hindsight, I see so clearly why God chose this amazing man for me. In the beginning, I may not have been able to see it. But now, having just hit my one-year wedding anniversary, I see the extraordinary gem I could have missed out on, had I continued to say “no” to God’s perfect plan.

Do you ever get impatient in the waiting seasons? Do you get distressed? I had no idea, during the wait, why God had me “on hold” for so long (also known as “the holy pause” button). But as sappy as it may sound, my husband was worth the wait. He was worth the pain and anguish those years of waiting brought into my life. When I think back on the people I wished God would have given me, I have no doubt now why God said no to me every time.

When God says, “It’s not time yet,” trust that He knows what He’s talking about. He knows what He’s saving you from.

Whenever I get impatient for God to move in other areas of life, I try to remember how He had my best interests in mind with the timing of my marriage. He can still be trusted with the timing of the rest of my life.

If you are in a waiting season—no matter what you are waiting for—try not to give up hope. Hope can only make your heart sick when it’s a hope we have given up on. Trust, that if what you are waiting for isn’t here, it’s either not for your best or it’s not the right time. I can attest that though weeping may remain for a night (or even many nights), joy will come in the morning.

In the meantime, do not hide or shrink away, like those flowers that refuse to show off their colors. The world needs your beauty, that unique contribution that only you can make.

Even while waiting, you can still shine.
 
Thanks for sharing! Downloaded and red first chapter. Its a good read.

Wait, be positive, keep believing, and all will surely be yours. Sent from my iPhone using LHCF
 
tinkat said:
Thanks for sharing! Downloaded and red first chapter. Its a good read.

Wait, be positive, keep believing, and all will surely be yours. Sent from my iPhone using LHCF
Click to expand...

She is a mess LOL. I'm at the part where she's looking for a lawyer to "sue" God. :lachen: I'm sure some people would be horrified but I know God appreciates our realness.

Although I know the ending ie she got married, while she was writing this, she was single :yep: I can't wait to see how she matures during her waiting season.
 
Belle Du Jour said:
She is a mess LOL. I'm at the part where she's looking for a lawyer to "sue" God. :lachen: I'm sure some people would be horrified but I know God appreciates our realness.

Although I know the ending ie she got married, while she was writing this, she was single :yep: I can't wait to see how she matures during her waiting season.
Click to expand...

I have been reading a little bit but I haven't gotten to that part. She does have a sense of humor!

Wait, be positive, keep believing, and all will surely be yours. Sent from my iPhone using LHCF
 
Black Ambrosia said:
I just clicked on the link and its priced at $9.99. Is there a promo code?
Click to expand...

Omg they sure did change the price! Does anybody know how to save kindle as a PDF file?

Wait, be positive, keep believing, and all will surely be yours. Sent from my iPhone using LHCF
 
I have been telling everyone I know about this book! I even linked to it in the relationship forum..I left a review and everything..This is a GREAT book.. She touched on so many aspects of being single and trying to remain prayerful at the same time...I read it everytime I need a little pick me up (which is often)
 
SuchMagnificance said:
I have been telling everyone I know about this book! I even linked to it in the relationship forum..I left a review and everything..This is a GREAT book.. She touched on so many aspects of being single and trying to remain prayerful at the same time...I read it everytime I need a little pick me up (which is often)
Click to expand...

Awesome! It's funny, I was thinking about buying the one of the Ludy's books but then I saw this one was free and got such positive reviews. God and I had just had a "talk" about relationships and things before I saw this book so I'm pretty sure He wanted me to read it :yep:
 
Belle Du Jour said:
I don't have prime so I guess it was only a short-lived special. I got a Michelle Mckinney Hammond book a few weeks ago for less than $3. I think Amazon does these random deals.
Click to expand...

I can never get her books on sale. I didn't even know they had sales on her books. Ill be looking for the sales now. When she comes to my church she still sells them full price although a discount would be nice considering how many she sells.
 
OK, I finished this book today. I could not put it down. I LOVED that her hubby wrote the final chapter and explained how God was leading him to pursue the author. She was initially resistant LOL.
 
I have been busy working but I finally had a chance to do some reading for the first time since Sunday. I love this book. I like how she keeps the theme of the right time not when we think it should happen.

My favorite part of the book so far is the boot camp principles. It gives me more insight why it is so impt that my relationship with god is important. My second favorite part is why god is a great husband to us. And my third is the hazards of singlehood. I had to stop in the middle of that and come in this thread bc some of those hazards really resonated especially the what makes a real date or relationship and the wrong relationships.

This book definitely makes me more patient. It's not a race but a marathon. What I am learning is that this is my time to have a better relationship with god and myself and to also serve my purpose. My husband will come at the right time.

Wait, be positive, keep believing, and all will surely be yours. Sent from my iPhone using LHCF
 
Finished reading the book and I loved it! This book hit every area that I had questions about as I read it. Thanks for sharing this book. I loved her husband's perspective and also the stories at the end.

Wait, be positive, keep believing, and all will surely be yours. Sent from my iPhone using LHCF
 
Hey guys! I merged my blogs and opened it back up to the public. I recieved a message from Cheryl Mckay on my blog!

The link to my blog is in my siggy if you want to see the actual comment. Its the latest entry.

Belle Du Jour ZebraPrintLover

1 comment:

1.
cherylmckayAugust 15, 2012 3:57 PM

Tinka,

I happened to see the blog posts you and your friends on longcarehair forum, but I'm not a member to post over there. Please tell everyone how much I appreciated all the feedback on my book Finally the Bride.

I loved hearing your progress as you were going through it. Please tell Bella thank you for posting and for her great review on Amazon. (I really appreciate it when people take time to post those)

I didn't have any way to reach her to tell her myself.

Meanwhile, do you guys have an email on the member "Zebra Print Lover?" I wanted to buy her a Kindle copy. But on her website there was no contact information.

Many blessings,

Cheryl
 
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