Gwen Smith - Broken into Beautiful: How God Restores the Wounded Heart

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org.)

Verses marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Verses marked MSG are from The Message, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

This book contains some stories in which the author has changed peoples names and some details of their situations in order to protect their privacy.

Published in association with William K. Jensen Literary Agency, 119 Bampton Court, Eugene, Oregon 97404.

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

BROKEN INTO BEAUTIFUL

Copyright 2008 by Gwen Smith

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smith, Gwen, 1970-

Broken into beautiful / Gwen Smith.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-2317-0

ISBN-10: 0-7369-2317-9

1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. Spiritual healing. I. Title.

BV4527.S627 2008

248.8'43dc22

2008012053

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 / VP-SK / 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First, to my husband, Brad: You are my best friend, lifetime love, and all-around favorite person on the planet. Thanks for encouraging me to chase Gods heart with my life and for modeling what that looks like each day.

To my fabulously fun children: You challenge me to laugh, love, and live with great adventure! Thanks for giving me hugs, kisses, and grace whenever I need it. I love you guys more than I could possibly express.

Preston, my competitive, all-sports boy, Ill always love you the longest. You make daddy and me so proud. You are a gentle, honest, and responsible leader.

Hunter, my cuddly bubba, thanks for making meal times fun with your wacky faces and silly grin, for being tenderhearted, and for showing the world that white boys really can have rhythm. You are a brave, bright, and bubbly boy.

Kennedy, my sweet mini-me, thank you for helping me see the world through your fresh, vibrant, artistic eyes. I love your creativity and sense of style. You are my precious, loved, and beautiful princess.

To Bill Jensen: You believed in this book before it was written and in me before you knew I could write. Thanks for always being available, for your guidance, for your fish stories, and for your pep talks. You are more than just my agent; you are my friend.

To my girlfriends: What would I do without you? Tara, Susan, Kathy, Maria, Micca, Kristina, Elise, Amy, Lauren, Haven, Cindi, Kristal, Peg, Carol, Michelle, Erin, Ellen, Lisa, Chris, Jacki, Suzanne, Melinda, Rachel, Marian, Daphne, Sally, Lysa, Renee, Genia, Heather, Jen, Sarah, Kerry, Jenny, Tammy, Betsy, and to my Girlfriends in God, Sharon and MaryI love you, I love you, I love you! Im so glad we do life together.

To MaryLou and Jerry Eisaman: I love you, Mom and Dad! To have praying, God-fearing parents is a special gift. You are true blessings in my life. Thank you for loving me, no matter what.

To Grandma Adams: You are sunshine in my heart. Thank you for being a godly example to me and to our entire family.

To Rod Morris: Thanks for making what I write better. You are a man of great detail and skill. It has been a delight to work with you from the very start.

To the entire Harvest House staff: Thank you for believing in the message of this book and for the work you do on a daily basis to make the fame of Jesus known.

Special thanks to: Allyson Werner, Tara Dye, Melody Hogan, Suzanne Boyd, Denise Hammond, Melissa George, Rosetta Woods, Lysa TerKeurst, Renee Swope, Brad and Jamie Bailey, Debbie Bagwell, and Danita Hiles. Thank you for allowing your stories to be used for Gods glory.

To Sue Smith and Chad Cates: Thank you for linking arms with me to bring lyric and melody to Broken into Beautiful. God is on the move with this messageand it all started with our song.

To Dave Clark and the Sunday Best Music team: I love working with you guys! Thanks for dreaming with me, for trusting my instincts, and for supporting me every step of the way. You are like family, and I love you all.

To my Life Fellowship family: Pastor Bobby, Pastor Roland, Brad, and Ryanthanks for your prayers, for allowing me to take over the back room, and for all the free cups of coffee. Worship team and Life groupyall rock! Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Finally, to my grace-filled Savior, Jesus Christ: You have changed my worthless into precious, my guilty to forgiven, my hungry into satisfied, and my empty into full. Thank You for restoring the broken places of my life and transforming them into a display of Your beauty and splendor.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

P SALM 34:5

I should begin with a confession: Ive spent most of my life hiding behind a smile. You know that saying, My life is an open book? Well, it never really applied to me. My life has been more of a partially opened book. While Ive shared satisfying successes, tear-filled trials, and entertaining experiences over the years, Ive kept most of the shadier happenings of my life under wraps in a prideful attempt to save face.

Nice admission for a woman in ministry, huh?

Ive always considered my past just that: my past. Im pragmatic that way. Ive experienced shame, pain, and brokenness as much as the next person. I just havent been in the habit of sharing the particulars with people who could possibly judge me for it. God has graciously rescued me from the pits that Ive fallen inand Im thankful that He hasbut Ive never wanted to chat with people about the darker details. Im a smiler by nature. I have a positive, upbeat personality. Its my stuff. People dont need to know my stuff, right? Right.

So why the book?

The simple answer is this: God has called me to a higher level of transparency in ministry. While you may never have to share your stuff with masses of women, I must if I am to obey Him. God has written His restoring, unconditional love into every broken paragraph of every broken chapter of who I am. Ive spent my entire adult life fearfully flipping past pages that tell of the failures and struggles Ive been through.

Not anymore.

Its time for my life to become an open book.

Time to get real.

I grew up in Mayberry. Well, the town was actually called Irwin, but comparatively it was Mayberry.