Interview with Margaret Brownley

Margaret Brownley

Margaret Brownley is a N.Y. Times Bestselling Author and the author of Waiting for Morning (Brides of Last Chance Ranch series) She also published a non-fiction book title Grieving God’s Way; the Lasting Path to Hope and Healing (Thomas Nelson 2012), written after the death of her son following a long illness. She has published 28 books, mostly historical romance.

Margaret, welcome to Overcoming With God.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers. 

Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help? T

hank you for letting me share.  As previously stated, my son died and I can’t begin to tell you what a painful, trying time that was for our family.  He was only twenty and just reaching the prime of life.

Six months after his death, I bumped into someone at the supermarket I hadn’t seen in awhile (actually I hadn’t seen anyone since the funeral).  She took one look at me and asked, “Aren’t you over it yet?”

I was stunned.  My first thought was that there was something wrong with me. But then I wondered what kind of person could get over the loss of a loved one so quickly?  More importantly, did I even want to be that person? 

I rushed home and started doing research on grief, starting with the Bible. What followed is hard to explain; for some reason I was driven. I read every grief book I could get my hands on, but that wasn’t all. I also attended grief groups and talked to dozens of people who had experienced a similar loss. My research paid off.   I gradually came to realize that grief was a miraculous healing tool from God designed to protect, heal, help us grow and become more like Him.  (How this healing tool works is explained in my book (www.grievinggodsway.com).

I firmly believe that God heals through our gifts and in my case that was my love of words and writing. I thought I was jotting down notes for my own benefit.  It never occurred to me that I was writing a book until a couple of hundred pages later. It’s a book I never wanted to write—and one I wish readers never had to read.  But we don’t always get to choose the direction of our lives and we just have to trust that God is leading the way.

Waiting for Morning

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print?

I’m happy to say that Waiting for Morning along with most of my books are available in large print and have audio capacity.  Grieving God’s Way is also available as an Audio book and CD.

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?

In Waiting for Morning, the heroine’s brother is wheelchair-bound.  Molly blames herself for his condition and is determined to put his needs first, even if it means giving up her own happiness.  Blinded by grief and guilt, she fails to realize that her brother is not helpless and is quite capable of doing for himself.  He accuses her of seeing only the wheelchair and not the person.  It’s not until she learns to look at him through God’s eyes that healing begins and they are finally able to face the future with hope and courage.

 

CFP: Thank you Margaret for agreeing to answer these questions.  We at OWG want to express our sorrow that you have lost a precious son. I’ve heard one never gets over the loss of a child—you simply learn to live with the pain.

Dawn Comes Early

GIVEAWAYS: Margaret is generously giving away a copy of “Grieving God’s Way.”  Thank you, Margaret—we have a number of OWG Followers who have suffered a loss. Margaret is also giving away a copy of  “Waiting for Morning.” We are also giving away the choice of any of Margaret’s books this week, choice of format, to one of our commenters.