Tag: #abrokenkindofbeautiful

Would You Rather with Katie and the Cast!

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch
@KatieGanshert
FACEBOOK 
WEBSITE 
Hey everyone! Last night our book club had the chance to chat with Katie
via Skype, making it our 3rd time since the ladies love her books so
much that we’ve read each and every one! It was a lot of fun, as always. Our
group review will be up on Friday, so come back for that!
Today, I’ve asked Katie, her hero, Davis and her heroine, Ivy to answer a
few Would You Rather questions. Here are their fun answers!
Would You Rather…
…have $100,000 cash or $100,000 Amazon gift cards?
Me: $100,000! I would move my family to the Congo so we could live with
our daughter until the Congo government lifts their suspension.
Ivy: $100,000. Amazon is trying to take over the world.
Davis: $100,000 so I could open the art program for my sister without
having to pick up my camera again.
…go left where nothing is right or go right where nothing is
left?
Me: Go right where nothing is left, because I’ve discovered that in those
places, God meets me most profoundly.
Ivy: Go left where nothing is right. I guess I’d rather be wrong than
empty. I’m tired of being empty.
Davis: I feel like I’ve done the first and since the repercussions of
those choices still haunt me, I guess I’d opt for the second option.
…be half your height or double your weight?
Me: Oh my goodness, those are both horrible! I guess I’d go with half my
height. I’d slap on some pointy ears and figure out how to grow some hair on my
feet and move to the Shire.
Ivy: Either one would put my career in the grave once and for all. Do I
really have to pick one?
Davis: Double my weight.
Great answers, although, Ivy, I think not answering is
unfair! And Katie, the shire? Bahahahaha!!! Thanks for joining us today.
Answer
one or more of the questions in the comments.
Here are my answers:

I’d go with $100,000. Amazon can’t sell everything…can it? I
agree with Katie. I’d go right where nothing is left. When nothing’s left it
make room for God to sweep in and make everything right! And that really is a terrible question. I’m going with weight b/c I can always lose it right? And I’m already only 5 feet tall so…
Buy the book! 
Sometimes everything you ever learned about yourself is wrong
 
Fashion is a fickle industry, a frightening fact for twenty-four year old model Ivy Clark. Ten years in and she’s learned a sacred truth—appearance is everything. Nobody cares about her broken past as long as she looks beautiful for the camera. This is the only life Ivy knows—so when it starts to unravel, she’ll do anything to hold on. Even if that means moving to the quaint island town of Greenbrier, South Carolina, to be the new face of her stepmother’s bridal wear line—an irony too rich for words, since Ivy is far from the pure bride in white.

If only her tenuous future didn’t rest in the hands of Davis Knight, her mysterious new photographer. Not only did he walk away from the kind of success Ivy longs for to work maintenance at a local church, he treats her differently than any man ever has. Somehow, Davis sees through the façade she works so hard to maintain. He, along with a cast of other characters, challenges everything Ivy has come to believe about beauty and worth. Is it possible that God sees her—a woman stained and broken by the world—yet wants her still?

For Freedom with Katie Ganshert

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch
@KatieGanshert
FACEBOOK
WEBSITE 
So glad to have Katie Ganshert with us today! Katie’s newest novel, A Broken Kind of Beautiful, recently released. It’s one of the most touching and yes, beautiful, books I’ve read. Today, she’s sharing a devotion that relates to a spiritual theme in her novel. Thank you, Katie, for being here today.
Also, Katie will be with us on Wednesday for a fun game of Would You Rather? Not only will she answer questions but her hero and heroine will also answer! Friday is our Faith Readers book club review of her novel. Take it, Katie!

It is
for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let
yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1
If you’ve been in
church world for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard the story of the
prodigal son.
He rebelled against
his father and squandered his inheritance and hit rock bottom before realizing
that his father’s servants were living better lives than he. And so he returned,
hoping to work as one of those servants, knowing he was no longer worthy to be
called a son. Imagine his surprise, the overwhelming gratitude he must have
felt, when his father ran to him and gave him the best clothes and ordered the
servants to prepare a feast. Because this son of his that was once lost, was
now found.
It’s a story the
exemplifies God’s lavish, amazing grace.
But what happens if
we change the ending?
Let’s imagine for a
moment, this same story with a twist.
The father runs out to
greet his son. He offers him his best clothes and a celebration feast. He
offers him sonship. But the son refuses the gift. He declares himself unworthy
and works in the pigsties alongside his father’s servants instead.
It’s ludicrous,
right?
And yet, how often is
this us?
How often do we wear the
shackles of shame and regret, even though those shackles are no longer locked
in place? God offers us forgiveness. He wipes away our sin, as far as the east
is from the west. Are we embracing this gift? Or do we add a yoke to our necks
that He’s no longer asking us to carry?
Jesus came so we
could walk in freedom.
Are you?


Lord Jesus, thank you for the stories
you told when you walked this earth. Thank you for the truth they speak into
our lives. Help us to be children who embrace your grace and forgiveness. Help
us to walk in your freedom, so that we can help others walk in your freedom,
too. 

Buy the book!
Sometimes everything you ever learned about yourself is wrong
 
Fashion is a fickle industry, a frightening fact for twenty-four year old model Ivy Clark. Ten years in and she’s learned a sacred truth—appearance is everything. Nobody cares about her broken past as long as she looks beautiful for the camera. This is the only life Ivy knows—so when it starts to unravel, she’ll do anything to hold on. Even if that means moving to the quaint island town of Greenbrier, South Carolina, to be the new face of her stepmother’s bridal wear line—an irony too rich for words, since Ivy is far from the pure bride in white.

If only her tenuous future didn’t rest in the hands of Davis Knight, her mysterious new photographer. Not only did he walk away from the kind of success Ivy longs for to work maintenance at a local church, he treats her differently than any man ever has. Somehow, Davis sees through the façade she works so hard to maintain. He, along with a cast of other characters, challenges everything Ivy has come to believe about beauty and worth. Is it possible that God sees her—a woman stained and broken by the world—yet wants her still?