Brown - How to fix a broken record: thoughts on vinyl records, awkward relationships, and learning to be myself

Contents

1. PART ONE:
   Love and Be Yourself
2. PART TWO:
   Dating
3. PART THREE:
   Marriage
4. PART FOUR:
   Lessons in Adulting
5. PART FIVE:
   Ctrl+Alt+Surrender
6. PART SIX:
   Home
7. PART SEVEN:
   Searching for the Groove

Praise for How to Fix a Broken Record

This entertaining and inspiring book is loaded with stories that lead you to the one true source that helps fix and heal the broken records in your life.

DJ Icy Ice, World Famous Beat Junkies and Power 106 Los Angeles

As a deejay, I have many broken records in need of being fixed. As a person, I have many broken records in need of being fixed. As Amenas husband, Im honored to walk this journey with her. She dug deep into her own story and put together words for us all. Everybody has a record. Everybody needs to read this book.

Matt DJ Opdiggy Owen, deejay and music producer

Amena Brown has a way with words. Whether spoken or written in a book, she speaks to the soul with a knowing. She knows the humor in our humanity, but she also knows our hurts. And she always points us to a Healer. How to Fix a Broken Record is no exception. With characteristic wit and wisdom, Amena invites us into the highs and lows of her own story to help us reflect on our own. Most of all, she reminds us that the soundtrack of our lives can always include a redemption song. Grace has a groove to it, and this book will get you dancing once again. For Joy.

Jo Saxton, speaker, author, cohost of Lead Stories Podcast, and board chair for 3Dmovements

Through being a fan of Amena Brown Ive learned that whenever she offers soliloquies on how to make our journey of life better, its always worth my listen/read. How to Fix a Broken Record sure delivers!

Speech, founder of hip-hop group Arrested Development

Amena Brown has a charming way of punching you in the gut while making you feel incredibly loved. Its my favorite kind of human because none of us want to get apathetic, but how fun to be challenged by someone who loves us. Amena is a leader and a friend and a personal inspiration to my life. Enjoy this journey with her.

Jennie Allen, founder of IF: Gathering and author of Nothing to Prove

Amena Brown is a brilliant woman who understanding the human condition. As a pastor, I appreciate how she captures the complexities of our humanity. As an artist, I am captured by her imagination and humor. This book is like a counseling session that is part fresh air, part whooping.

Rev. Sandra Maria Van Opstal, executive pastor of Grace and Peace Community and author of The Next Worship

Storiesthe sweat and blood and joy of lifeare what bring us to the table with each other. Amena Brown lives this reality and invites us to remember our own stories, our own songs, in this beautiful life-soundtrack of a book. Read it, and through the raw and honest stories of Amena Browns life, youll begin to sing the songs of God over your own life, over your own story, over your own journey.

Kaitlin B. Curtice, Native American author, speaker, worship leader, and author of Glory Happening

Amena Brown has been a good friend of mine for years. She is a voice in my life I trust because she means what she says and says what she means. Her words are laced with kindness and truth, honest reflection and humor. Youre going to find a lot of the things Jesus talked in this book, and youll want to do more than just agree with them; youll want to do something about them.

Bob Goff, Chief Balloon Inflator, Love Does

How to Fix a Broken Record reads like the liner notes of a favorite album, chapters replacing tracks, with favorites you will return to and rediscover.

Kathy Khang, author and speaker

Amena Brown is the Issa Rae of the Christian market. This is a clever, honest, witty book that I am glad to share with my mentees.

Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, author of Mentor for Life

Ive spent years speaking with Amena Brown at events across the country. Im always left with the thought that more people need to hear more of her ideas. With this book, they finally can in a fresh new way. The journey is never easy, but Amena never pulls punches and delivers with laughs, tears and honesty.

Jon Acuff, New York Times bestselling author of Finish

Amena Brown has a creative way of taking readers on a nostalgia journey through life and lessons learned. How to Fix a Broken Record is an ingenious and fresh approach to womanhood and growing up in a complex world. This book will make you laugh and reflect simultaneously. By the end, you will invite all your girlfriends over for a reading and slumber party.

Tasha Morrison, Be the Bridge founder and president

This is an incredibly moving book. Amenas honesty inspires us to be more honest with ourselves, and to find a new groove of our own in the process.

Mike McHargue, author of Finding God in the Waves and cohost of The Liturgists Podcast

Quick-witted, beautifully original, and refreshingly honest, Amena Brown has given this generation an inspiring and timely gift. How to Fix a Broken Record is a must-read for anyone looking to feel less alone, be free of lies holding them back, and find confidence in who God uniquely made them to be.

Hosanna Poetry, spoken word artist and author of I Have a New Name

As only she can, Amena Brown shares witty, creative, and transparent stories that remind us of our need to fully embrace our own humanity. This book will take you on a hilarious journey toward the growth of deeper relationships, greater self-awareness, and genuine soul healing.

Rev. Jonathan E.L. Brooks, senior pastor of Canaan Community Church, Chicago

Amena Browns book reads like an unhurried conversation over coffee. She shares vulnerably and offers insight and wisdom on crucial elements in life: relationships, navigating the terrain of becoming an adult without losing your soul, womanhood, ethnicity, identity, and voice. Her book dedication alone is worth the price of the entire book. Journey with her through the pages, and come out on the other side with principles to apply to all aspects of life and relationships.

Vivian Mabuni, speaker and author of Warrior in Pink

How to Fix a Broken Record is authentic and soul-baring. Amena Brown is brilliant in how she takes us on a journey of her life. Her readers will relate and engage. She is Beyonc, and this book is Lemonade.

Jovanie Smith, young adult & mission deployment coordinator for The Salvation Army

How to Fix a Broken Record has become a go-to read for me. Ive found so much encouragement in the ways that Amena Brown honestly talks about the joys and challenges of moving through this world and finding healing and new perspectives for areas of life where weve lost hope.

Audrey Velez, creative producer at Willow Creek Community Church and conference manager at The Justice Conference

ZONDERVAN

How to Fix a Broken Record

Copyright 2017 by Amena Brown Owen

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Epub Edition September 2017 ISBN 9780310349341