Love is Out There: True Stories of Hope for Single Women Over 30

By Melissa Williams Pope

Are you a single woman who longs to be married to a good man, but feel like the clock is ticking and Mr. Right is nowhere in sight?

Well, get ready to be inspired and encouraged by this international collection of twenty true stories of real women from their 30's, all the way up to their 70's! Like you, they waited for years. And like you, they wondered if it would ever happen. Now their unique testimonies of ultimately finding love and marriage will give you a hope infusion to keep holding on and believing you, too, will have your heart’s desire for marriage fulfilled. Although written from a Christian perspective, this book will lift the spirits of single women of all faiths.

If you've given in to disappointment, anger or doubt, it's time to believe again. Love is out there!

Includes bonus 21-Day Heart Exploration Experience for private journaling or group discussion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melissa Williams Pope
• Release date: Apr 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9780473319786

Melissa Williams Pope

Melissa Williams Pope can't resist a good love story and seeing dreams come true! Originally from Los Angeles, Melissa holds advanced degrees in pastoral ministry and classical acting, and is a freelance writer, actor, singer and former church staffer. When not glued to her laptop or memorizing lines, she can also be found coaching or delivering creative dream fulfillment workshops. And even though she spent about a decade crisscrossing the globe from Europe to the South Pacific, Mr Right still miraculously found her! She currently gets to enjoy living the newlywed life with him in Auckland, New Zealand.

Book preview

Love is Out There

True Stories of Hope for Single Women Over 30

Melissa Williams Pope

Love is Out There

Copyright © 2015 Melissa Williams Pope

www.loveisoutthere.com

[e-mail]

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations for written reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

All stories used with permission. All internet addresses were provided by the contributors and were current at the time of publication. This book is designed to provide information and encouragement to our readers. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged to render any type of psychological, legal, or any other kind of professional advice. The content of each chapter is the sole expression and opinion of its author, and not necessarily that of the publisher. No warranties or guarantees are expressed or implied by the publisher’s choice to include any of the content in this volume. Neither the publisher nor the individual contributor(s) shall be liable for any physical, psychological, emotional, financial, or commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special, incidental, consequential or other damages due to errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from accident, negligence, or any other cause.

Published by Busy Quill Books

For more information please email: [e-mail]

ISBN 978-0-473-31978-6

Scriptures marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scriptures marked as NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

To my precious girlfriends, near and far, who are this close to giving up hope of ever finding love.

And to Shane, who proved that my hope was not in vain.

Acknowledgments

First, I would like to thank the ladies around the world who took the time to share their hearts and their love stories for this project. I believe God chose you to be a part of this and I look forward to many testimonies of hope from the readers!

Thank you to my family who instilled in me the belief that I could do anything I set my mind to, including publish books, which meant I was able to take my place on the starting block of this project without doubt.

To my precious girlfriends who’ve journeyed the single road with me, and I with them: thank you. Your love and encouragement through the years has been invaluable. And to the ones who are still single and waiting, it was your beautiful faces in my mind that kept me running the race to get this book out.

Thank you, Shane, for your love, help and unwavering support, especially when it felt like I was clawing my way across the finish line.

Finally, thank you, God. I’m incredibly humbled that You have entrusted me with this important and special project and I’m so grateful that You allowed me the opportunity to have a story of my own to include within its pages.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Why This Book

Katie's Story

Tami's Story

Sue's Story

Kelly's Story

Bobbie's Story

Rene's Story

Cathey's Story

Gillian's Story

Jill's Story

Nella's Story

Karen's Story

Jude's Story

Lorinda's Story

Irene's Story

Alisa's Story

Deborah's Story

Lori's Story

Theresa's Story

Francine's Story

Melissa's Story

Share Your Story

What's Next

About Melissa

Introduction

"Once you choose hope, anything is possible."

- Christopher Reeve

The Beauty of Testimony

And they overcame . . . by the word of their testimony, (Revelation 12:11 NKJV).

Testimonies are powerful! They build our hunger for miraculous possibilities. Whatever the breakthrough; be it healing, debt cancellation or salvation, hearing the stories of others gives us faith to claim the same things for ourselves and our loved ones. If God did it for them, He can surely do it for us!

This is why I’ve compiled stories of real women around the world who have walked the path you’re walking now. Not all of them would consider themselves great writers, but they each share a passionate desire to encourage you by recounting their journeys. I like to see these as letters from a mixture of favourite aunts and close girlfriends, sharing their hearts.

They, like you, have waited. At times trudging through disappointment, anger and unbelief, and at times, blanketed in hope, trust and peace. Some lived in remote country towns (where men were scarce), or were lost in the big city. Some believed they did everything right, (so where’s my man?) and still others felt they had made messes of their lives. But each of them uniquely experienced God’s faithfulness as they saw the fulfillment of their long held desire for marriage.

You won’t find smug marrieds giving pat answers that annoy you, but rather women who’ve cried out to God for a perfect-for-them husband, and whose testimonies will give you a hope infusion to keep holding on and believing that God will give you your heart’s desire, too.

How to Use This Book on Your Journey

I know that some of you may never have actually prayed, either for yourself regarding this topic, or for your future husband. In the What's Next chapter at the end of this book, I've included two sample prayers to get you started.

I've also included a 21-Day Heart Exploration Experience with questions that are perfect for your private journaling and prayer times.

You might also consider creating your own Love is Out There Heart Exploration group to go through this book and the 21-Day Experience with your friends. You'll be amazed at the difference surrounding yourself with supportive girls on the same journey can make!

Why This Book?

While bouncing between countries a couple of years ago, the idea came to me.

A friend had just married and I was SO happy for her! SO happy because I knew she had waited for a looooooong time for God to bring her new husband to her. And I remembered years ago, when she was in her mid 30’s, how she talked about making peace with her singleness and going through a raw, painful journey of trusting God with it. At the time, mid 30’s was ages away for me and I admired this serenity and wisdom she had about everything.

One night at a party, I did some subtle fishing with a guy one of my friends really liked only to make a sad discovery. He wasn't interested in her. There were tears in my eyes for her on the way home. And I prayed. But I was also a bit annoyed. She was an awesome girl! So many friends longed for that special someone. WHERE. Was. He?!

A new mission was born. I started to pray with and for my girlfriends regarding our future husbands. And declare that they were on their way, dang it; in Jesus' name, these guys were on their way!

Back to a couple of years ago when that one friend got married. It was like a spark of hope had ignited. If it can happen for her, then it can happen for others. And if it can happen for others then . . . it can happen for me.

After all, I’m in my 30s now. And it's become my story, too.

And so I thought that I would create this inspirational book and compile a nice big handful of these hope-sparking stories. I was so excited about this idea, I hardly slept for a couple of days. Yet I didn't feel any peace to move forward. Argh. Don’t you hate when it's clear that the Holy Spirit is putting something on hold when you're just chomping at the bit!

So I guess I just sort of forgot about it.

Until a year later, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, quite unexpectedly, this book project came to mind again. And I knew it was the right time to start my search for stories.

But what I didn’t know was that I was about to meet my future husband that very week and end up with a story of my own!

So, beautiful one, if you feel like you’ve waited until you can’t wait any longer, if despondency and doubt are setting in like a mist on the moors, let these stories be a rope to hoist you out of that swamp of despair.

Believing with you,

Melissa

"Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

(She) who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing (her) sheaves with (her)."

Psalm 146:5-6 NKJV

Katie’s Story

"Family and friends were worried I would

remain in that ‘simply awful state’: Single."

Like every young girl created, I dreamed of the day my knight would come and rescue me from all my distresses and make my life perfect. He would be my hero, my defender, my protector, my provider, my lover and my friend. Just like out of a BBC period drama.

I’d only had one boyfriend by the time I met my first husband at a Christian camp. I was 18 and he was 20. He was artistic, sanguine, Tigger-ish and I know I followed him around with googly eyes, just enthralled with all the art and culture he introduced to me. A year later, we attended the same college and we were best of friends. When we graduated, he went his way into teaching and I went back home to be with my family after my father died. We wrote letters continuously, spent Christmases