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    Fifty Shades of Loved
    Fifty Shades of Loved
    Fifty Shades of Loved
    Ebook46 pages31 minutes

    Fifty Shades of Loved

    By Rachel Starr Thomson, Mercy Hope, Shea Wood and

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    About this ebook

    In 2012 the hottest book of the year (in more ways than one) was an erotic novel called Fifty Shades of Grey.

     

    This book is not about that one.

     

    It is about many things Fifty Shades of Grey has women and girls thinking about. What is love? And who are we, as women, and what sort of love are we worthy of?

    The essays, quotes, and poetry in this little book were written by women who share a central vision of who we are, of what it means to be female and what it means to be loved, that is rooted in faith in God. It is rooted in the belief that we were personally fashioned as image bearers of the divine being who is Love itself.

     

    Fifty Shades of Loved includes poetry and essays from Rachel Starr Thomson, Mercy Hope, Shea Wood, Susan Milligan, Kit Tosello, Katie Rees, and Laura Leigh-Anne Busick.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLittle Dozen Press
    Release dateDec 11, 2015
    ISBN9781927658000
    Fifty Shades of Loved
    Author

    Rachel Starr Thomson

    Rachel Starr Thomson is in love with Jesus and convinced the gospel will change the world. Rachel is a woman of many talents and even more interests: she’s a writer, editor, indie publisher, singer, speaker, Bible study teacher, and world traveler. The author of the Seventh World Trilogy, The Oneness Cycle, and many other books, she also tours North America and other parts of the world as a speaker and spoken-word artist with 1:11 Ministries. Adventures in the Kingdom launched in 2015 as a way to bring together Rachel’s explorations, in fiction and nonfiction, of what it means to live all of life in the kingdom of God. Rachel lives in the beautiful Niagara Region of southern Ontario, just down the river from the Falls. She drinks far too much coffee and tea, daydreams of visiting Florida all winter, and hikes the Bruce Trail when she gets a few minutes. A homeschool graduate from a highly creative and entrepreneurial family, she believes we’d all be much better off if we pitched our television sets out the nearest window. LIFE AND WORK (BRIEFLY) Rachel began writing on scrap paper sometime around grade 1. Her stories revolved around jungle animals and sometimes pirates (they were actual rats . . . she doesn’t remember if the pun was intended). Back then she also illustrated her own work, a habit she left behind with the scrap paper. Rachel’s first novel, a humorous romp called Theodore Pharris Saves the Universe, was written when she was 13, followed within a year by the more serious adventure story Reap the Whirlwind. Around that time, she had a life-changing encounter with God. The next several years were spent getting to know God, developing a new love for the Scriptures, and discovering a passion for ministry through working with a local ministry with international reach, Sommer Haven Ranch International. Although Rachel was raised in a strong Christian home, where discipleship was as much a part of homeschooling as academics, these years were pivotal in making her faith her own. At age 17, Rachel started writing again, this time penning the essays that became Letters to a Samuel Generation and Heart to Heart: Meeting With God in the Lord’s Prayer. In 2001, Rachel returned to fiction, writing what would become her bestselling novel and then a bestselling series–Worlds Unseen, book 1 of The Seventh World Trilogy. A classic fantasy adventure marked by Rachel’s lyrical style, Worlds Unseen encapsulates much of what makes Rachel’s writing unique: fantasy settings with one foot in the real world; adventure stories that explore depths of spiritual truth; and a knack for opening readers’ eyes anew to the beauty of their own world–and of themselves. In 2003, Rachel began freelance editing, a side job that soon blossomed into a full-time career. Four years later, in 2007, she co-founded Soli Deo Gloria Ballet with Carolyn Currey, an arts ministry that in 2015 would be renamed as 1:11 Ministries. To a team of dancers and singers, Rachel brought the power of words, writing and delivering original narrations, spoken-word poetry, and songs for over a dozen productions. The team has ministered coast-to-coast in Canada as well as in the United States and internationally. Rachel began publishing her own work under the auspices of Little Dozen Press in 2007, but it was in 2011, with the e-book revolution in full swing, that writing became a true priority again. Since that time Rachel has published many of her older never-published titles and written two new fiction series, The Oneness Cycle and The Prophet Trilogy. Over 30 of Rachel’s novels, short stories, and nonfiction works are now available in digital editions. Many are available in paperback as well, with more released regularly. The God she fell in love with as a teenager has remained the focus of Rachel’s life, work, and speaking.

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      Book preview

      Fifty Shades of Loved - Rachel Starr Thomson

      Introduction

      IN 2012 THE HOTTEST book of the year (in more ways than one) was an erotic novel called Fifty Shades of Grey.

      This book is not about that one.

      It is about many things Fifty Shades of Grey has women and girls thinking over. That book, after all, presents us with a vision of men and women, and the way their lives intersect, and calls it love. But what is love? And sex—we know what that is from a physical standpoint, but somehow we also know that sex isn’t just physical, that it’s defining in some way and has the power to change us and maybe even break us. And ourselves—as women, as feminine. Who are we, really, and what sort of love are we worthy of?

      Our culture calls a lot of things love: desire, lust, marriage, romantic flings, even behaviours we would normally call abuse. But we aren’t all buying it. If those things are love, why do we still possess hearts that cry out for something more? Why do so many of those things we call love break us instead of molding us into the women we want to be?

      The essays, quotes, and poetry in this little book were written by women: some quite young, some older; some married, some still single. We, like you, wrestle with what it means to be who and what we are. And though that wrestling continues, and we don’t all have the same answers, we do share a central vision of who we are, of what it means to be female and what it means to be loved, that is rooted in our faith in God. It is rooted in our belief that we, like you, were personally fashioned as image bearers of the divine Being who is Love itself. Whatever vision you hold of yourself, of who you are at core, we hope you’ll let the words of this book speak to that vision. Perhaps to affirm it—perhaps to deepen it—perhaps to change it.

      If something in you recoils from many of the things our society calls love, if something in you cries out False! at the way our culture tries to define you, welcome. We hope you’ll find something of a refuge here.

      - Rachel Starr Thomson

      Loves Me Like a Hurricane

      Kit Tosello

      ON MARCH 2, 2012, AN Indiana couple, ignoring severe weather advisories, chose to film an approaching tornado rather than seek shelter. By the time they comprehended that the twister was heading straight at them—and fast—they were out of options. Their home had no basement. Brutal winds of up to two hundred

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