As Soon As I Fell: A Memoir
As Soon As I Fell: A Memoir book cover

As Soon As I Fell: A Memoir

Paperback – August 16, 2014

by
Price
$12.99
Format
Paperback
Pages
244
Publisher
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1500573973
Dimensions
5.51 x 0.56 x 8.5 inches
Weight
11.2 ounces

Description

"For dreamers and idealists and those who plan (or used to plan) on changing the world, for struggling marriages and lonely expatriates and those battling depression, for people curious about the nitty-gritty, not always pretty realities of life in an island village, and for anyone hungry for an honest story of healing and hope,xa0As Soon As I Fellxa0is a book to love." Rachel Pieh Jones at djiboutijones.com An amazingly honest book that offers insight into how easy it is to mix up God with a religious system - and hope for separating the two into clearer understandings of both. Ruth Van Reken--Author of "Letters Never Sent" and co-author of "Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds" Who should readxa0As Soon As I Fell? Everyone! If I had it in my power to make it required reading for every couple in my agency, I would. Anyone contemplating overseas service needs to read this. Everyone involved in the care of people serving in other cultures needs to read it. Kay's prose is vivid and lively, touched with humor and pathos in equal measures. The respect with which she presents the people of the Solomon Islands evidences a deep, genuine, and abiding love reflecting mature cultural intelligence. Bob Hay--Recruitment Coordinator and Life Coach at SIM USA As Soon As I Fell is a rare gem... I believe this book will be a healing book for those who have been brought up in perfectionism and idealism, for women and men who have been wedged into complementarianism, and for Christians who have been boxed into the notion that evangelism and Kingdom work comes at the cost of emotionally healthy families, loving relationships, and the grace of God. A must read. marylousreviews.blogspot.com As of May 20, 2015 a discussion guide has been added to both versions. xa0The guide is also available at kaybruner.com/my-books/. Kay Bruner was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Brazil, Nigeria, and the wilds of Kentucky. She and her husband have raised their four children in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and the great state of Texas. Kay divides her work days between counseling and writing. She blogs at kaybruner.com . Read more

Features & Highlights

  • What happens when being radical for God brings you to the edge of disaster?When Kay Bruner and her husband, Andy, took their young family to live on an island in the South Pacific, she found the purposeful, adventurous life she’d hoped for—along with isolated living, dangerous sea travel, tropical illnesses, and a floundering marriage. As they worked on a Bible translation project with a local language group, Kay sank into burnout and depression while Andy medicated his stress with a pornography addiction. Bringing life back from the brink required a radical reinvention of life, from a ministry and marriage built on high performance and spiritual heroism, to a nourishing daily walk of grace, freedom, and intimate connection.This is a story about going to extremes for spiritual acceptability and failing dismally, only to find that love and grace transcend failure. For anyone who’s ever asked, “When will I be good enough for love?” This book resoundingly answers: “Right now. You are loved, right this minute, in this mess.” While few of us will live on a tiny island in the South Pacific, many of us will find hope and healing in this story of a painful fall into the arms of love.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(289)
★★★★
25%
(120)
★★★
15%
(72)
★★
7%
(34)
★
-7%
(-34)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Great read!

As Soon as I Fell is a compellingly candid account of the journey of a woman, wife, mother, and missionary. Although the main setting of Kay’s story is a remote Pacific island in the developing world, the challenges she faced will resonate with many readers. Most of all, this is a refreshingly real account of God’s weaving the joys, disillusions, heartaches, and high points to bring about a deeper knowledge of Himself and his grace bringing healing and wholeness.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A book that heals us from "perfect Christianity"

Who would be interested in this book? Missionaries, Christian women, people who tend to be legalistic.

As Soon As I Fell is a rare gem because the author, Kay Bruner, is able to challenge our idealisms of the “perfect Christian” via her own story as a Wycliffe Bible Translator (the “perfect career”), and then present them to us with the understanding of a counselor. Kay thoughtfully takes us through her heart wrenching story of oppression, fear, loneliness, inadequacy, sickness, and depression. The title of the book, As Soon As I Fell, foreshadows what happens in the climax of the story titled, “Journals from the year of endings.” From there, Kay reveals to us the power of grace and vulnerability, and just how much we lose when we try to fix who God had made us to be for the sake of acceptance and Kingdom work.

I believe this book will be a healing book to those who have been brought up in perfectionism and idealism, to women and men who have been wedged into complementarianism, and to Christians who have been boxed into the notion that evangelism and Kingdom work comes at the cost of emotionally healthy families, loving relationships, and the grace of God. A must read.
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Everyone needs to read this book.

Let's be honest. I haven't actually finished a book since assigned reading in highschool.
Until now.
This book is so relatable for anyone, anywhere and at any point in life.
It may have exotic settings but the struggles and pain hit home.
A book about accepting and dealing with your pain instead of just moving past it is something that this world needs. And this book is just that.
So. Good.
4 people found this helpful
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Quietly raises disturbing questions about values and beliefs deeply embedded in evangelical missionary enterprise and culture

Kay Bruner has dared to tell her story with courage. Living the life she did certainly took a lot of courage! The frightening stories of ocean travel with little children in tow, medical emergencies, heat and humidity along with stunning beauty, housekeeping with an open fire for a stove - all the components of an exciting missionary story are there. I, too, was a missionary wife and mother living in an exotic location for many years who has a few stories in my repertoire. But those stories aren't why I couldn't put it down. I'd never before read a missionary memoir that dared to be so human. So very vulnerable. Vulnerable enough to fall - and not rise again into a better and more acceptable version of herself but to heal into deep acceptance as one deeply loved by God and embracing the slow work of transformation. But make no mistake. This story is not only about Kay and her husband and their particular struggles and failings. The discerning reader must face disturbing questions about the beliefs and values that are deeply embedded in the whole missionary enterprise and culture. And even more significantly, within the evangelical church as a whole. What does God require of us? Whom does he call? To what? And how? What does that call require? Read her story with an open heart and mind and see where it takes you. Draw deeply on your own courage to sit with the uncomfortable questions long enough to perhaps even begin a journey of your own.
3 people found this helpful
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A personal story that is touching and thoughtful

I love the way Kay Bruner put together this book! At first, as you start reading, it seems like a travelogue of an overseas living adventure. But, once the groundwork is laid, and the reader has the real picture of what that transition brought out, the personal story opens up. This isn't a journal, it isn't a biography, it is a story that unfolds because of that transition to life on an island. Interestingly, the story isn't finished. I enjoyed the gracious candor with which Kay wrote.
3 people found this helpful
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Read this book and "learn to live by Love"

Examples of how we try to measure up by being and doing good are laid bare in “As Soon as I Fell.” BUT, it doesn't stop there. Along with many interesting stories of adventure, the author describes the joys and struggles of raising a family while carrying out a mission. These must be understood by the reader to appreciate the magnitude of the lessons learned in the end. Out of the chaos develops a beautiful story of a woman who loves deeply, learns to forgive, and drops the guilt factor. A+ Kay Bruner…keep writing!
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A must read

This is such an honest book, it is well worth reading, especially for overseas workers.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

a story of redemption and of the amazing love that God has for us if we can ...

The first part of the book is fascinating and gives real insight to the life in a place virtually unknown to most Americans, not to mention the struggles of living there while trying to work for the Lord. However, the message in the second half of the book is gripping, a story of redemption and of the amazing love that God has for us if we can just reach out and grasp it. Kay tells of letting go and allowing God to show his love for us and who we are. I doubt anyone can read it with dry eyes. So well written!
1 people found this helpful
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A great story of redemption for those of us who are weary of doing good (or life in general).

I loved this book. A candid, honest look at Kay and Andy's lives reveals that even for Christians life can be full of messes, but that God is always faithful to redeem us and use even the ugliest stuff for good. Kay writes in a way that really holds your attention and her and her husband's stories are just plain compelling. I can think of about a million girlfriends who need to read this book, and I'm going to make sure that they do. It was such an encouragement.
1 people found this helpful
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Beautiful Story

I saw a friend’s review of this book on Facebook and I immediately wanted to read it. I purchased the book and finished it the next. Kay’s vulnerable and courageous account of her experiences opened my eyes to depth of sacrifice made by missionary families. I loved that about the book but what I enjoyed even more was her portrayal of her healing journey. I laughed out loud and I also wept as I read. As a therapist, I appreciated how she ultimately took responsibility for her healing and extended forgiveness. As a result, her story gives us all hope and even insight into freeing ourselves from the bonds of religion, self condemnation, and pain.
1 people found this helpful

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