Happily Ever After: Walking with Peace and Courage Through a Year of Divorce

by Kristin Armstrong

Overview

From the passages of Scripture that helped her cope with and survive her divorce from professional cyclist Lance Armstrong, Kristin Armstrong has crafted a year-long daily devotional designed to help women through one of life's most difficult times. In this intensely personal book, Armstrong urges readers on with disarming candor. Each entry contains a pertinent Scripture with inspirational and empowering reflections from the author on topics such as forgiveness, trusting God, confiding in God at every stage of grief, and maintaining an open heart through the pain. A vital travel companion on the road to recovery, this book encourages readers to choose a path of peace in the wake of a painful experience.

About the Author: Kristin Armstrong lives in Austin, Texas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446579896
Publisher:	FaithWords
Publication date:	01/03/2007
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,167,030
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Kristin Armstrong was married to cyclist Lance Armstrong for five years, raising their three children while living in France and Spain. She is the author of a children's book, Lance Armstrong: The Race of His Life, and a contributing editor for Runner's World magazine. Her work has also appeared in USA Today and Parentwise Austin and Glamour magazines. Kristin is passionate about her Christian faith, her family, her friends, and her career. She speaks French and Spanish, is a marathon runner, and enjoys cooking, reading, painting, and travel. Kristin now lives happily ever after in Austin, Texas, with her family—Luke and twins Grace and Isabelle.

Read an Excerpt

Happily Ever After

Walking With Peace and Courage Through a Year of Divorce

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By Kristin Armstrong

FAITHWORDS

Copyright © 2007 Kristin Armstrong
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-446-57989-0

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Chapter One

DAY 1

AN END MARKS A NEW BEGINNING

This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. EXODUS 12:2

This year will be epic for you-momentous in so many ways. You will see both ends of the spectrum of good days and bad days, and you will learn to treasure the simplicity and grace of middle ground.

As much as it may not feel like your year right now, maintain an open mind. The Lord is already at work behind the scenes, transforming your life and you. He is making you into the woman He had in mind when He created you. Prepare to continually be at a crossroad, as many choices are in front of you. Every day, many times a day, you will make decisions that determine the rest of your story. You can choose healing or resentment, freedom or unforgiveness, love or closure, joy or despair.

Each choice, made faithfully, leads to more choices. Eventually you will be surprised to find yourself healed, whole, and happily living your brand-new life. It's okay if you think that sounds crazy or impossible, because in 2003 I thought the same thing. God loves to laugh at the impossible, and soon enough, you'll be laughing too.

DAY 2

CHOOSING YOUR PATH

The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness andconfidence forever. ISAIAH 32:17

The poet Robert Frost describes in his well-known poem "The Road Not Taken" two roads diverging in the woods and the timeless dilemma of choosing which path to take.

You are at this juncture. You stand on the threshold of a decision with implications of eternal magnitude. The road splits here-choose the path of righteousness and live in the light, or choose the path of rationalization and remain in the dark. It is imperative that you recognize the significance of a clean and complete healing and choose your path accordingly.

This choice not only affects you, but it can also shape the legacy you leave for your children and grandchildren. The path of sour bitterness, crusty resentment, and cold regret breeds generations of despair. The path of righteousness grants generations of peace, quietness, and confidence. You won't find the right path by default; the choice is deliberate. Which path leads to the kind of life you desire for yourself and those you love? Choose wisely.

DAY 3

PERSEVERING WITH GOD

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-9

"That which does not kill you only makes you stronger." "God never gives you more than you can bear."

These are some worldly equivalents of the above Scripture from 2 Corinthians. When I first read those verses, I certainly felt pressed, perplexed, persecuted, abandoned, and struck down. I wanted to wallow in those feelings. I was angry at God. I had a very bad case of, "Why me?" Why not me?

Throughout history, the strongest faith journeys have had seasons of pain and adversity. With Christ as our pinnacle example, we can say with confidence that it is impossible to be of great faith and not endure suffering. Hard times are inescapable. Now, how we react to hard times is indeed another matter. We can look away from God in anger and unbelief, and if we choose to remain this way, be crushed, in despair, abandoned, and destroyed. Or we can look to God, and know beyond our understanding that He is at the core of our testing, and that Jesus alone lights a path to the other side.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Happily Ever After by Kristin Armstrong Copyright © 2007 by Kristin Armstrong. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Without her faith, Kristin Armstrong would have been devastated by her 2003 divorce from champion cyclist Lance Armstrong. As she healed, she pieced together a daily devotional that she hopes will share the strength of the Gospel passages that helped her most. Happily Ever After is designed specifically for the spiritual needs of people coping with the aftermath of a broken marriage.

Armstrong, divorced in 2003 from beloved and heroic cyclist Lance Armstrong, here makes her own contribution to the steady stream of daily devotionals. This book, she says, is her "thank-you note to God." Readers hoping for a glimpse into the dark secrets of the Armstrong marriage would do better looking at the archives of The Oprah Winfrey Show, but others will be well served by Armstrong's uncomplicated daily reflections on Scripture passages. For larger collections.

—Graham Christian

Library Journal