Something Beautiful: Why Settle When Life Can Be Beautiful?

By Jackie Tinkler and Amber Edwards

Do you ever feel like there’s more to life than what you are currently experiencing?

From an early age, society would have women believe that our worth is found in outer appearance. We are made to think that being pretty and popular will make us happy. But what happens when we don’t feel pretty? When we never seem to be quite enough? When we’re rejected or made to feel inadequate or even invisible? There is so much more to you than what the world would have you see or believe.

Join authors Jackie Tinkler and Amber Edwards as they share biblical encouragement weaved together with personal stories of how God changed them in the midst of disappointments, insecurities, and rejections. You will be encouraged as you see how He used the tattered and torn threads of these women’s lives to create an amazing life tapestry and gave them Something Beautiful to enjoy and celebrate. It’s time to redefine our beauty and worth according to God’s Word.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973678649

Jackie Tinkler

Jackie Tinkler has been in women’s ministry for over twenty years as a ministry director, biblical counselor, conference producer, and writer. Amber Edwards is a gifted encourager and writer who has been honored to serve over the past fifteen years in various leadership roles ministering to women. Jackie and Amber are the ministry co-founders of Something More in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Copyright © 2020 Jackie Tinkler   Amber Edwards.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Headshot Image Credits:

Heather D. Whidden, Photographer and Owner Reflections of Photography for Amber Edwards

Nadia Wilder Photography for Jackie Tinkler

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7863-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7865-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7864-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019917593

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/06/2020

Scripture quotations marked BSB are taken from The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible, BSB. Copyright ©2016 by Bible Hub. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. http://bereanbible.com/

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked ISV are taken from The Holy Bible: International Standard Version. Release 2.0, Build 2015.02.09. Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.

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

Scripture quotations marked GW are taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken 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.

Scripture quotations marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition). Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Just a Note

Introduction

PART I   THE REALIZATION

Chapter 1   I Had It All Wrong

Chapter 2   I Had to Let It Go

Chapter 3   I’m Not Going Back

PART II   THE DISCOVERY

Chapter 4   I’m Not What I Used to Be

Chapter 5   I’m Finding the Real Me

Chapter 6   I Have a Happy Place

PART III   THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE

Chapter 7   I Expect More

Chapter 8   I’m Ready to Dream Big

About the Authors

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank, first and foremost, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for it is only through him that we are overcomers. Because of his constant work in our lives, we are both in a place where we can share our life stories with others.

We would also like to thank all the amazing people the Lord has placed in our lives throughout this journey. There have been so many precious friends, way too many to list or even count, who have lifted us up in prayer, stood with us, fought for our breakthroughs, mentored us, offered sound advice, supported our dreams, and spoken words of encouragement; most importantly, they have loved us through this journey and throughout our lives.

Thank you to our church family and the leadership teams at the Grants Mill and Greystone campuses of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama, especially Pastor Charles Kelley, for speaking life into us and encouraging us throughout this journey. To our senior pastor, Chris Hodges, whose wisdom and love of God’s Word, which he shares with such ease of understanding, has helped us grow in our walks and encouraged us to keep taking our next step.

Special Thanks from Jackie

Thank you to my husband, Jim, and daughter, Lauren, for traveling this long road with me, listening to my crazy dreams and schemes, supporting and loving me always. I love you to the moon. Special thanks to my parents, Bill and Donna, for nurturing the love for God, friends, and family and also for all the fun. To my Lulu for being the best grandmother, who listened to my stories and served me coffee and Italian toast at her kitchen table every Saturday morning. And to Aunt Maryann for being a great spiritual mentor.

Special Thanks from Amber

Thank you to my mother, who instilled strong moral values in me and made sure I was raised in church and knew the truth of God’s Word. To my Mamaw, who was one of the most loving and godly women I will ever know this side of heaven. Mamaw, so much of who I am today is because of you. To my precious husband, Michael, for always, always, always believing in me and being my biggest cheerleader. Your love and support are what keep me going, even on the toughest of days. On the days when I’m just sad, you’re my happy. To my daughter Shelby, who made me a mom and truly is my mini me: I love hanging out with you and am so thankful that the Lord gave me a daughter and lifelong bestie, all rolled into one amazing gift from above. To my son Zac, you were (and are) God’s answer to my prayer that I would have an amazing little boy to love. Each and every day, I am proud of the man of character you are becoming, and I can’t wait to see all that the Lord has in store for you.

Michael, Shelby, and Zac, thank you all for putting up with me and for being so understanding when I’ve had to sacrifice time away from home to build my ministry and write