Note: In considering what to write for our book description, I deferred to Mike, who had researched this topic and self-published an amazing book of his own. I felt that the description didn’t matter much because God would lead women who needed this message to our book. However, in the days after the book was published, I realized that there is a valuable message in the book that has yet to be highlighted–a message of HOPE.
When I was single, I secretly harbored the belief that I did not deserve a wonderful Christian man. I never readily admitted this to myself, but my choices in life clearly reflected this sentiment. I frequently chose men who did not honor me, themselves, or God. I chose men who were emotionally or physically unavailable and had no desire for commitment or intimacy on any level. Then, after finding myself emotionally connected to one of these men, I would spend months in turmoil because he couldn’t be the man I needed him to be. Why couldn’t he commit? Why wasn’t he as invested in the relationship as I was? Why didn’t he want to talk about God? We would break up and make up and then break up again in a relentless cycle of drama and exhaustion that stole the peace God desired for me.
After YEARS of this tiring cycle, I found myself at “rock bottom.” I had inflicted so much pain on myself through my choices of men and my mistaken belief that this is what I deserved that I could no longer endure stepping onto the treadmill of doomed relationships. I resolved not to participate in relationships as I had in the past, and vowed to do things differently in the future. Differently? What did that mean? I did not know. In those early months, I clung to God and trusted that somehow, He would teach me what different was.
Then, I met Mike on the popular dating website, eHarmony. He was definitely different. At first, I felt intense resistance to dating Mike. During our first few dates, I felt pulled away from him and toward other men who were more worldly. But, I also felt God quietly and gently whispering to me that I had asked for different, and here it was. I am so thankful that God reasoned with me during that difficult time because Mike was different in an important way. What I found difficult in the beginning to embrace became exactly what I had been longing for. Mike always put me first. From that first date until now, four months into marriage and following a sleepless night, he never fails to love me sacrificially as Christ loved His precious church. And, this is what I want to convey to anyone considering reading this book. If you believe that because of your life or choices you are not worthy of this kind of love–love that would DIE for you–then you need to read this book. It offers a beautiful example of what is possible if you simply surrender and LISTEN to what God says about you.
“The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods…’ So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.” Hosea 3:1-2
If you can’t believe that YOU are just as worthy of love, then take heart. You are worthy of the most amazing and beautiful love right now, today. Jesus sees you exactly as you are, with all your mistakes and bad choices and loves you with every ounce of His being. He chose to give His life on the cross for YOU. And if that doesn’t convince you that you are worthy of sacrificial love in THIS world, then please read this book. It is my sincere hope that you will realize through reading this story that no matter who you are or what you have done, there is true love out there for you. This love comes first and foremost from the unmatched, uncompromising love of our one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. If you will let Him, He will love you like you have never been loved before. If you need help understanding HOW to let Jesus into your heart, I invite you to message me on our message board at https://teamawful.com/s-o-s-support-sisters-forums/ or email me at [email protected].
Mike and I wrote this book because when God blessed us with our relationship, we were so filled with gratitude that it poured out of us like a living well. Even today, we are in awe of how God could have created another human being so perfectly suited for each of us. We delight in one another daily, and grow more enamored of one another as God reveals both our strengths and our weaknesses through daily life. We have done nothing but sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), yet God saw fit to bless us with one another. And it is here that I see God pointing me to the gift He gave me in Mike and drawing my attention to the greater Gift He gave me in His Son. It was only through this relationship with Mike that I could see the magnitude of His love for me, and the sacrifice that was made for me, while I was still choosing to live a life steeped in sin and darkness (Romans 5:8).
Please read this story of a gift given to those who do not deserve it and who can never repay it and be blessed with HOPE–HOPE that YOU are worthy of such a gift as well.
Our book, Island in the Bubble can be purchased in paperback and kindle versions on Amazon.com.