August 17, 2022
Your Beautiful Exchange:
How God Turns Your Brokenness Into Joy
Quay Ball
Aviva Publishing (2021)
ISBN: 978-1-63618-063-2
New Book Offers Guidance to Women Who Experience Tragedy and Disappointment
Quay Ball’s new book Your Beautiful Exchange: How God Turns Your Brokenness Into Joy is a powerful look at how even the most horrific situations have lessons to teach us and can bring us closer to God. Quay’s tremendous faith shows through on every page of this book, and after you read what she experienced, you will also feel hope that a better life is possible.
Quay’s story is one of two terrible tragedies, either of which could have made a person lose all hope. She and her husband were heavily involved in doing God’s work, providing various forms of ministry. Then she discovered that her husband was watching porn, frequenting strip clubs, and even hiring prostitutes, and running up their debt by doing so. Heartbroken, Quay immediately packed up her children and left. Not long after, she, her children, and grandfather were in a terrible car accident in which her two-year-old daughter was killed. Quay also sustained numerous injuries and had a long road to recovery—both physically and emotionally.
Thankfully, Quay had a strong faith in God. In these pages, she shares her story of how God turned her tears into joy. She walks readers step by step through her process of anger, grief, pain, and ultimately, acceptance, forgiveness, and self-transformation. Beyond that, her story is merely an example for the reader to have their own transformation. Quay meets the reader where they are with the pain they are experiencing right now. She explains that while the idea that God could create something beautiful from something so terrible is hard to accept, it can happen as her story testifies. She states: “I know from my own story, and from the promises in God’s Word, that God can be trusted. He is unlike any example we’ve had of a parent or lover.” She invites the reader to “Come with me as I tell you my story, which is really His story. Join me as I give you an intimate look at where God met me in my brokenness, how He healed me in His power, and how He transformed me for His glory. You’ll be encouraged to know He’s the same God who can meet you, heal you, and transform you, too.”
The book’s title refers to how God exchanged her crumbled marriage and grief over her daughter’s loss into an opportunity to help bring others into the loving arms of Jesus Christ. She shares how she came to understand God’s love for her on an entirely new level, and she reveals what God wants for people in their relationships with Him and with one another.
Throughout the book, Quay delves heavily into the Bible, quoting verses and explaining God’s Word. She discusses how we need to embrace our pain and surrender it to God before we can release it. Then she talks about how God helped her heart become ready to forgive her ex-husband. Most importantly, she simply spent as much time as possible with God so she could begin to understand His plan for her life.
Despite all her pain, in the end, Quay found that God did have a marvelous plan for her. She was drawn to the biblical Book of Ruth, as well as other parts of the Bible like the Song of Songs, so she could learn what a healthy relationship would look like according to God’s plan.
What happened next is marvelous beyond words. Quay found the kind of husband God wanted for her. She prayed that God would send her a husband who wanted the same kind of relationship she did, and eventually, she met him, even though he lived in another state. God had a plan to bring them together. Quay shares all the details of their wonderful courtship and how they put God at the center of it. Rather than focus on sex, physical attraction, or their own needs, they learned about each other and how to grow together in the way God would want. Quay describes this courtship as the most romantic relationship she has ever known.
You can read Quay’s story for yourself. What’s important here is that, as she says, her story is not unique. She states, “I am simply a woman who fully surrendered to God because there was nothing more I could do. He took my emptiness, brokenness, and pain and exchanged it for His fullness, completeness, and joy—both through knowing Him and experiencing love the way He intended it to be. He is the God who continues to come through for those who surrender to Him.”
Like Quay, I encourage you to “Surrender your love life to God and let Him be your matchmaker.” Reading Your Beautiful Exchange can be the first step in healing your brokenness and finding love like you’ve never known before.
For more information about Quay Ball and Your Beautiful Exchange, visit www.YourBeautifulExchange.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place
