Book Title: Through a Broken Heart: Finding Hope and Healing After a Breakup
Author: Colleen Meissner
Category: Adult Non-Fiction, 144 pages
Genre: Christian non-fiction, self-help, devotional
Publisher: A Book’s Mind
Release date: April 19, 2018

Synopsis

Dear Broken Heart ~

You must be hurting deeply. Perhaps you’re also feeling overwhelmed and completely alone in this place of emptiness and grief. I’ve been where you are and my heart aches with yours. I want you to know there is someone who sees and someone who cares. His name is Jesus. The journey right now is dark and painful, but if you will travel with me using God’s word as our guide, it will eventually lead to a place of hope and restoration. A destination where God’s love ushers you into wholeness. Where His healing hand won’t just repair your shattered soul, but will establish you in the truth that you are deeply loved and understood. In contrast to your current sorrow, this may seem too good to be true. I get that, I’ve been there. At this point, I’m only asking you to trust that He is able. I invite you to spend these next six weeks at the feet of Jesus and allow Him to enter into your wounded heart through this very place of brokenness. Will you give Him permission to transform you in a way that far exceeds your own expectations?

~ Colleen Meissner Married for the first time at 42. Colleen knows firsthand the pain of heartbreak, being single longer than expected, and the battle against fear and insecurity. She holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology and has spent over 10 years sharing her own experience and knowledge as a coach and mentor. She now has a vision to share the wisdom she’s been given with you.

Interview

Today we welcome Colleen to StoreyBook Reviews.  She was gracious enough to answer some questions for us about herself.

Favorite travel spot?

I honestly don’t travel too often, my work and an elderly dog limit me a bit these days, but when I do travel I want to be at a beach, lake or river. I always say, “give me a sandy beach and a fruity cocktail over history and architecture.” I know how shallow that may sound, but it’s more about the fact that the beach, specifically the ocean is one of the few places where I am able to fully exhale and relax.

Favorite dessert?

My favorite dessert will always be ice cream. Some of my best memories of my dad and I are when we were laughing and being “indulgent” eating two (!) bowls of ice cream. He and I didn’t’ agree on much when I was younger – but we could always come together over a bowl (or two!) of Neapolitan ice cream – he loved the chocolate and me the strawberry; the vanilla was divided between us equally; it was a perfect balance. I lost my father this year, so these memories are especially sweet (pun intended! ☺).

If you were stuck on a deserted island, which 3 books would you want with you?

My Bible of course, that’s a no brainer. Bob Goff’s “Love Does” would be the second one – even if I’m alone, I’d want to remember to be kind and loving to myself, plus the book just makes me laugh –  that man cracks me up and his life is an amazing testimony of what it’s like to live and love fearlessly.

I’m not sure which I would bring for my third one, but for certain some type of reference book. I am a book hoarder, I still have books from college that I won’t give up just in case I may need to reference them at some point.

What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?

This is an easy answer – this (publishing Through a Broken Heart) is the most courageous thing I’ve ever done, without a doubt. I am really shy and have a slight social phobia – so to step out of the shadows and to share my heart and lessons learned are really scary to me and way outside of my comfort zone.

But… I would rather do this and fail (or be criticized) then not do it at all. Perhaps that’s even scarier – getting to the end of life and wishing I had taken more risks. I’m at a point now where I’d rather go for it and fail then not take the risk at all.

Name a quirky thing you like to do.

The quirkiest thing I do isn’t actually quirky to me at all, but apparently it is to others. I can’t eat ice cream (the normal kind, not soft serve) without smashing it up in my bowl until the consistency becomes like a frosty. My favorite ice cream to do this with is plain old Neapolitan ice cream, with mostly strawberry and vanilla. I can tell if there’s too much chocolate if the “mush” is browner then pink. Is that really that weird?

As for hobbies, my passion work (mentoring, coaching and writing) take most of my free time, but love just hanging out with my husband, brothers and my girlfriends, put us all on the beach together and you have perfection, at least to me. The last time (and maybe the first) this happened was my wedding day in 2013, we married at the beach and only invited our closest family and friends – it was perfection.

About the Author

I earned a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Azusa Pacific University in 2010 and have been mentoring women for over a decade. The most common area of counsel I provide is to single women not ashamed to admit they want to be married and have someone to share their life with. These women often without realizing it, are battling soul wounds (emotional and heart wounds) from their past that are preventing them from fulfilling this deeply held desire of marriage and family.

I consider there to be no greater privilege than to have women trust me with their deepest struggles and fears and to travel along side of them on their journey from a place of being held in bondage by lies (“I am fat, ugly, a loser, unlovable…”) to a place of freedom and victory. I know this journey well, I have traveled it; it is hard and it is long, and you cannot do it alone. There are seemingly impossible hills to climb, valleys to crawl out of and side-roads leading to nowhere. Perhaps more than a mentor, I am a tour-guide, leading you as you navigate your way to healing and overcoming those things that have kept you from embracing the fullness of life that the Lord came to give you (John 10:10).

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Giveaway

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(ends July 21, 2018)

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