Guest Post: Author Mary Alford

The Beauty of Broken

by Mary Alford

Have you ever felt so broken that you didn’t see any way of coming back from it? Brokenness can come either from the circumstances forced on us or the self-infliction caused by us, and I think at some point in our lives, we all feel a little less than perfect.

Maybe you’ve made so many mistakes in your life that you believe there’s no fixing them, not even for God. Well guess what, nothing is too big for God.

Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Just look in the Bible and you will find multiple examples of broken people finding redemption.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and yet He came up with a different plan for their lives.

David had his friend killed to be with his wife. Broken, David called out for forgiveness and God blessed him. 

Jonah ended up in the belly of a whale. I’d say he reached rock bottom. But God lifted him out of the whale and he fulfilled his mission in Nineveh.   

Paul had Christians put to death until God found him on the road to Damascus, and he became a great apostle.

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So you see, beauty can be found in brokenness and so can healing.

When I set out to write my February 17^th White Rose Press release, Grace And The Rancher, I wanted to show that kind of beauty and healing in my characters. 

As an author, I love writing about broken and flawed people because I think readers can relate to them the most. We don’t want to read about perfect people living perfect lives. Watching the hero and heroine go from broken to restored just makes for a great romance.

For my heroine, Grace Bradford, forgiving herself is the hardest thing to do. Grace suffered abuse at the hands of the man who was supposed to love her.

Grace was a rising star on the country music scene. Everyone thought her life was perfect, but in truth her marriage was falling apart. After an argument that ended in a car crash, Grace’s husband was killed and Grace’s career finished. Running away from her problems seemed like the only answer. But what Grace found when she moved to Delaney Mountain was not only restoration, but redemption. And forgiveness from herself.   

Kyle Delaney, the hero of the story, is an alcoholic, just like his father. Kyle’s family life is dysfunctional at best. When Kyle almost killed his brother when he drove his vehicle while drinking, Kyle realized he had to get away from his poisoned home life to ever have a chance of changing. He moved to Texas and became a success in his career, but still something was missing from his life. When his father reaches out to him asking for forgiveness, what Kyle finds when he comes back home to Delaney Mountain is the home he’d always dreamed of, and the love that is missing from his life.

So, wherever you are in your life, no matter how dark your world may seem, there’s mending for the shattered. Restoration for the crushed. And hope for the hopeless. It can all be found in God. You just have to look up. 

www.maryalford.net      

About Grace and the Rancher:

Grace Bradford is living a lie. To the world she has the perfect life: A promising country music career and a husband who adores her. But her husband isn't the man everyone believes him to be. When a car accident widows her and ends her career, Grace escapes to Delaney Mountain. But moving to the remote town doesn't wipe away the ugly secret of her marriage. Kyle Delaney never intended to return to Delaney Mountain, but he promises his dying father that he'll turn their land into a working cattle ranch. He uproots his life in Austin, sells his flourishing business as a music agent, and returns to the Colorado town of his childhood. Can a runaway singer and a makeshift rancher, thrust together by circumstance and held together by the common thread of loss and a love of music, find hope and a happily-ever-after under the stars of Delaney Mountain?

Purchase the book:

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About the author: 

Mary grew up in a small Texas town famous for, well not much of anything really. Being the baby of the family and quite a bit younger than her two brothers and her sister, Mary had plenty of time to entertain herself. Making up stories seemed to come natural to her.

As a teen, Mary discovered Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt and knew instinctively that was what she wanted to do with her over-active imagination.

She wrote her first novel as a teen, (it’s tucked away somewhere never to see the light of day), but never really pursued her writing career seriously until a few years later, when she wrote her first inspirational romantic suspense and was hooked.

Today, Mary still lives in Texas, and still creates people facing dangerous situations. In fact, she can’t think of anything else she’d rather do.

Learn more about Mary at www.MaryAlford.net, or send her an email at maryjalfordauthor@gmail.com.