Finding Your Fairy Tale Ending

By Dechari Cole

Once upon a time ....

There was a girl named Dechari. She went through high school and college in search of happiness and love. Like all girls, she was God’s creation - a princess disguised as a normal kid - and the days of her youth led to lasting friendships, fleeting boyfriends (some frogs, some princes), fun memories, emotional drama, and a desire to find God’s best for her life.

Finding Your Fairy Tale Ending is her candid story - and a wonderful guide for yours as well. She takes you in like a new best friend on a journey to:
~ understand your identity in Jesus
~ discover God’s will for your life
~ stand firm in your faith
~ find a love that lasts forever

You will travel through chapters of her life where she shares some of the most important lessons God teaches her. This intriguing love story, with its twists and turns, ultimately leads you to embrace a royal invitation to a powerful destiny.

As Dechari learned:
Only when you are captivated by the unending love of Jesus Christ do you find the real fairy tale ending your heart desires.

Dechari Cole is the founder of Girls Living 4 God, an organization that is discipling the next generation of girls to be strengthened in the Holy Spirit, sharpened in God’s Word, and sent out as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. She lives with her husband (and Prince Charming) in Nashville, TN.
GirlsLiving4God.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dechari Cole
• Release date: Apr 22, 2021

Book preview

COPYRIGHT

Finding Your Fairy Tale Ending (Second Edition) copyright © 2021 by Dechari Cole. All rights reserved. First Edition copyright © 2013.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the Scripture quotations marked (HCSB) are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN Print: 978-1-7359110-0-7

ISBN eBOOK 978-1-73598110-1-4

Printed in the United States of America

Book Cover + Interior Book Design Layout by

Sarah O'Neal | eve custom artwork

For More Information and to purchase the book please visit GirlsLiving4God.com

DEDICATION & PRAYER

To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thank you for giving me something so much greater than the world could offer. Thank you for saving me and being everything my heart desired. Thank you for the opportunity to share part of my journey and how you were at work in my life during these critical years just as you are with the girls reading this book right now.

To my sweet husband, family, friends, and team who have supported me in many steps of faith - I couldn’t have done this without your love, encouragement and prayers. You have put wind in my sails and propelled the gospel forward. I am continuously grateful at every thought of you. 

To the girls reading this book - As you search for love, know that Jesus is already pursuing you. I pray you don’t settle for the version of love the world tries to sell you, but that you find your identity, purpose and love in the One who gave everything for you. Ok, I can’t wait. I want to pray for you now…

. . .

Dear Father in Heaven,

I come before Your throne and pray a blessing over this amazing lady You have created with purpose, with a plan (Ephesians 2:10), with great thought and detail, and with more love than she will experience in a lifetime (Psalm 139).

I pray You break any shame or doubt that has held her back (Hebrews 4:14-16).

I pray You unveil the lies the enemy has told her for years (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

I pray she sees she isn’t ordinary, but extraordinarily set apart for You (1 Peter 2:9).

I pray that the traps laid by the enemy will not snare her, but that she takes the way of escape into Your arms and trusts You for Your best (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Don’t let her settle, but I pray she grows in her knowledge of You and deepens her relationship with You, so that she is not swayed by the world (Ephesians 4). Let her see Your heavenly viewpoint as she navigates decisions in her life (Isaiah 55:8-9).

In the waiting, let her find joy, purpose, and greater strength (Isaiah 40:31).

In the hard things, let her find Jesus as the rock under her feet (Psalm 62).

In the impossible, let her faith grow as she is amazed by You (Ephesians 3:20).

Let her not discount the little things but start to see You are present with her every moment of every day (Zephaniah 3:17).

Let her discover the power of prayer and walk in the strength and wisdom of the Holy Spirit (Colossians 1:9-14).

Let her discover more of You during these years and in turn discover who You created her to be.

Let her identity be found as a daughter of the King, saved by her Prince with the inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven (Romans 8:15-17).

Let her be transformed by Your love to become a bright light and ambassador of hope that points others to Your love and salvation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

May people look on her and say she is a minister of the gospel, deeply rooted in Christ, building up the kingdom of God (Isaiah 61). God, let her be all You created her to be (Ephesians 4)!!!

In Jesus name, amen.

All the love, Dechari

preface

SEARCHING FOR YOUR FAIRY TALE ENDING

Fairy tales paint such wonderful pictures of love. While they always start with the search and struggle to find love, we take comfort in knowing that the ending will be amazing. We watch and read these stories of romance and happiness, and we so long for that to be us. When will my prince charming come? When will I find my happy ending? It’s true that we all search for love—in different ways, in different people, in different things. But somewhere along the way, we begin to think that fairy tales are only stories—stories too perfect to be true. But are they?

I’m going to go ahead and let you in on a little secret: the desires of your heart are not in vain! Actually, they were placed there by God. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalms 37:4. You can have joy and true love that surpasses even what you see in the movies . . . but maybe you are currently missing it because you allow the world be your guide in your search for love instead of God.

My own struggles in searching for love started in high school. As a girl, I wanted someone who would make me feel special, loved, and cared for. That desire led to several dating relationships . . . and lots of valuable lessons! But as I searched for happiness in dating, I found happiness in other things, as well. For me, high school was a time to grow, experience life, learn more about who God is, and create friendships that would last a lifetime. God was writing my story—and high school was a big part of it.

Through God’s blessing, I am going to share with you my story of love, friendship, and finding true fulfillment. So join me as I relive my high school and college years—both the good and the bad—in my search for love and my fairy tale ending. As I give you glimpses into my life, I’ll let you know what I learned from my experiences and give you time to reflect on your own life. Along the way, I hope to encourage you to seek whole-heartedly after God, that your faith is strengthened in the truth of God’s Word and that you become salt and light to the world around you (Matt. 5). My prayer is that you will invite Jesus into your heart and discover the love story God has written for you - and that His perfect plan is well worth the wait!

AND THE STORY BEGINS. . .

All of my family was there—brothers, sister, nieces, nephews, mom, dad, in-laws, and in-laws-to-be, along with our closest friends. They had all arrived to witness this most special of days.

Everything was ready. Candelabras were draped with ivy and cascading white roses. Bouquets of more white roses were laid out for my attendants. An archway glittered with lights for our guests to pass through as they entered, mirroring the one on the stage where this new beginning would take place. The guest book was open, and white wicker baskets held programs that read, Once upon a time . . .

In the dressing room, my three best friends and my sister were already clothed in lovely, deep lilac dresses that flowed to the floor. When it was time to put on my own dress, I raised my arms as they lifted the gown above my head. They laced me up with a satin ribbon and fluffed the dress which spilled out in rich folds of white, dancing with silver and rhinestone accents and filling almost half the room. From underneath my hair, a satin-edged veil of white flowed down my back. On my head, I wore a small tiara—the perfect accent for my dress. When I slipped on my shoes with their twinkling rhinestones, I truly felt like a princess.

But even though everything and everyone looked so lovely, and so many details and so much work had been done, none of that really mattered. What truly mattered was that on this day I would marry my best friend—the man I have grown to care for more than any other on this earth, the one I have so much fun with, the one who can always make me smile, the one with whom I can truly be myself, and the one who was given to me (and I to him) as a great blessing from God and a reflection of Christ’s love for his bride, the church (Eph. 5). This was the day I would walk down the aisle and marry my prince charming.

I know it sounds as if I am giving away the fairy tale ending without giving you the rest of the story. And, believe me, it was a journey—there were lots of frogs before finding my prince! Every girl dreams of finding her own prince charming, but how do you find him, and how do you really know that he is the one? Well, God works in mysterious ways, and He brings people and things into our lives that we would sometimes never expect. Over time, He has opened my eyes to see how my path not only brought me closer to finding the right one, but also to becoming the right one. As I go back and tell you my story leading up to this fairy tale day, I hope you learn to trust that God will lead you to a great ending, too—as long as you let Him be your guide all along the way.

A man’s heart plans his way,

but the Lord determines his steps.

PROVERBS 16:9

chapter 1

THE FOUNDATION: IT ALL STARTS HERE

Every story has it's beginning, and this is mine.

Everyone has a story to tell. Some are happy, exciting, joyful, and funny. Others are sad, scary, terrifying, and serious. But most of the time, I find that true stories include all of these elements. That’s because a story isn’t just about a moment; it’s about a journey. And a journey is typically a search for something—even though the character may not realize at first what she is actually searching for.

Now, my most favorite stories always begin with Once upon a time. . . .

Wait a minute! you might say. Your story doesn’t actually have a prince, a princess, a king, a castle, frogs, an evil force, true love, and a fairy tale ending, does it?

Well, yes, actually it does. Okay, maybe not the castle, but definitely all the rest. My journey, like many others, started with a search for love. And like all the best stories, it had lots of ups and downs, twists and turns, and—best of all—a surprise ending.

At the time, though, I didn’t know that my life’s story was being written or even that anything spectacular or worth talking about would come from it. You see, I was just the girl next door. I didn’t have super talents, super parents, or come from a super place. I was just . . . well . . . ordinary. So before we dive into the journey to my fairy tale ending, let me tell you about where it all began—the foundation of the story, you might say.

My story starts in a tiny town in North Carolina, on twenty-three acres of land that sat pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I had two older brothers and a younger sister. We had goats, rabbits, horses, a pit bull, and a garden. It wasn’t quite a farm, but it was pretty close. Our town consisted of one elementary school, one gas station that doubled as a grocery, one community swimming pool, and the Dairy Shack, where we got the best banana splits around. No, there wasn’t even one single stoplight! I spent my days picking cherries, climbing trees, and riding my bike. Yep, a pretty normal little country girl.

Our family didn’t have much money, so we didn’t go or do a lot. But we did take one special trip each summer—and that was to the beach. On one of those trips, when I was six, I decided to go out to the big waves with my older brothers (who were seven and thirteen years older than me, I should point out). Now, I’m not sure what kind of beach you’re used to, but Carolina waves can be quite large at times and the undercurrents are pretty strong.

One of my brothers thought it would be safe to pull me out in his new inflatable boat. Unfortunately, the waves were so rough that the boat flipped completely over and I went