About Christy Brunke

Welcome, friends! I’m blessed to be a mom, a pastor’s wife, and the bestselling author of the fictional book, Snow out of Season. But my greatest claim to fame comes from being a child of the King. Because of that, I’m passionate about my family, unborn children, and God-written love stories. Though I used to live in China, now I love serving in ministry here in Maryland. Praying you’ll be blessed as you read my blogs, my story, and my award-winning novel!

Jewels Green: Dying to Be With Her Baby

When 17-year-old Jewels Green discovered she was pregnant, she started preparing to raise a child. But everyone she loved pressured her to have an abortion. Her resolve crumbled, and she terminated the pregnancy at nine weeks.

Jewels Green attempted suicide to be with baby

Photo courtesy of JewelsGreen.com.

To dull her emotional pain, Jewels started cutting herself. Three weeks later, she attempted suicide. “If I keep going, maybe I’ll end this horrific, consuming pain once and for all. And then, well, maybe then I’ll get to meet my baby.”

Her boyfriend’s 911 call saved her life, but her mind and emotions still had a long way to go to heal. “I willingly attended psychotherapy sessions and obediently ingested psychotropic medication to try to slay the vicious guilt monster eating away at me.”

“The month I spent in the adolescent psychiatric until saved my life. My abortion still haunted me . . . but it did not monopolize my every waking thought.” She emerged from that month “with an incongruous newly-found zeal for abortion rights.”

Her “Incongruous Newly-Found Zeal for Abortion Rights”

She marched at a rally in D.C. and then worked at an abortion clinic for five years. “We all truly believed we were offering women an innocuous, much-needed, and unfairly-maligned ‘medical’ service.”

Jewels Green holding a hanger sign at Pennsylvania rally.

Nineteen-year-old Jewels Green holding a homemade hanger sign at a Pennsylvania rally.

But what she swore by during the day couldn’t protect her at night. “I started having nightmares that were no longer only about my lost baby–whom I thought about often and cried about and missed–but of all the babies killed by abortion…. My sleep was haunted by tiny limbless phantom babies.”

But Jewels “pushed down the unpleasantness.” “If all of these strong, capable women I worked with thought abortion was OK, I must be able to believe that too . . . I kept going back to work, day after day.”

Feet of 10-week-old fetus unborn baby in fingers

Feet of 10-week-old unborn baby. Photo courtesy of endtimeprophecy.net.

The woman who cleaned their clinic couldn’t do the same. “I vividly remember the cleaning lady who quit after finding a foot in the drain of one of the sinks.”

Neither can Jewels forget the time the power went out for hours. “We were all explicitly instructed NOT to open the freezer where . . . the medical waste was stored (read: dead baby parts in biohazard bags).”

But someone did open it. “I will never, ever forget the stench of decaying human flesh for as long as I live.”

The Dead Little Boy in the Fridge

At the time, Jewels laughed about those incidents with her co-workers. But there was one thing she could never joke about: the dead little boy in the lab’s fridge. “This perfect 10-week-old fetus ‘survived’ the suction abortion procedure perfectly intact.”

After one night of gruesome nightmares that terrified her, Jewels finally spoke to her boss.

“What we do here is end a life,” the clinic director said. “There is no disputing this fact. [Tweet that!] You need to be OK with this to work here.”

Convincing herself she was OK with it, Jewels continued to clean the surgical instruments and counsel the women who came into the clinic.

How Jewels Green Became a Pro-life Activist

Abortion Hurts by pro-life activist Jewels Green

Photo courtesy of JewelsGreen.com.

Years later, a friend of a friend agreed to be a surrogate mother, but then discovered the unborn child had Down syndrome. The parents offered her payment in full to abort it, and she did. That’s when Jewels realized that “abortion kills an innocent human being . . . every time.”

Soon afterward, Jewels became a pro-life activist. “Within weeks . . . I began donating my time, talents, and treasure to the cause. I joined several national and local pro-life groups and sought out my local chapter of 40 Days for Life.”

Today, Jewels is happily married with three children. She speaks and writes to save unborn babies and their mothers. Read the rest of her eye-opening story in Abortion Hurts and We Choose Life!

 

Perspective through Pain: Mark’s Story

Pastor Mark Brunke with four-year-old daughter Michaela Brunke“You must be in so much pain,” the orthopedic surgeon said to my husband, Mark, after looking at his MRI.

For eight weeks, Mark had been suffering from a herniated disc in his neck. Because the disc was pressing on a nerve connected to his right arm, it led to extreme weakness in those triceps. It was so bad that our four-year-old daughter, Michaela, could beat him in arm wrestling.

Numb fingers and trembling hands occasionally prevented Mark from writing. And the disc caused him constant, sometimes excruciating, pain.

Purpose, Perspective, and Perseverance through Pain

Despite everything, Mark continued to preach, serve, and love his family well. But he often had to lie down on a bed, a sofa, or even the floor, so he felt bad for “letting people down.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie,” he had to tell Michaela, “but I can’t play Bucking Brunke Bronco. I can’t even play Chutes and Ladders with you right now, because Daddy needs to lay down.”

Two rounds of steroids led to partial relief from the pain and a return of feeling in his fingers. But the relief was temporary, and the strength in his right triceps never returned.

To prevent the weakness from becoming permanent, Mark needed to get surgery. They scheduled it for Friday, June 24. The week before, he sent an email to our church family requesting prayer.

“Our God is still good!” Mark wrote, encouraging us as he maintained his perspective through the pain.

James 1:2-4 perspective through pain

Photo courtesy: flickr.com

“He promises us in places like James 1:2-4 and Romans 8:28-29 that He uses trials like these for our good and His glory to grow us, mature us, and prune us to be more like Jesus….

Trials are good if we seize the opportunity to draw closer to Him!” (Tweet that!)

When Mark saw his primary care doctor, so she could clear him for surgery, his blood pressure was 190/110. The orthopedic surgeon had told him it was probably high because of the pain.

His primary care doctor said, “You’d have to be in an incredible amount of pain for your blood pressure to be that high.”

The Surgery That Saved Him

The day of the surgery, the nurse gave Mark some pills to take, including one named Celebrex.

Pastor Mark Brunke before surgery perspective through pain

Mark right before his surgery. Always a character!

“Great!” Mark said. “Matches my party hat.”

Dr. Quigley performed an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF). In other words, he removed the herniated disc and inserted a cadaver bone and then a metal plate to hold it in place.

Afterward, Dr. Quigley said, “Mark did great! The disc was big, but he had no complications, and he lost less than a tablespoon of blood.”

Perspective Through Pain: Mark Brunke's neck surgery storyMark was told the strength in his arm should return within three or four months. Less than two weeks later, it’s already coming back.

At his follow-up appointment this past Friday, his X-rays looked great.

Yesterday, he returned to work and started driving again. And the pain he had to persevere through for three months? struggled with for three months has disappeared.

“I was in so much pain for so long,” he said, “and now it’s gone.”

How Our Good Father Guides

How deep the Father's love for us song

Photo courtesy of: www.faughnfamily.com

On my way to the library last month, I was praying about what song to sing for my next church solo when God surprised me with His immediate answer (Tweet that!).

I’d been scheduled to sing on Father’s Day, so I’d considered “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us.” Not only was it appropriate for the day, but I’d sung it as special music before, so it wouldn’t take long to prepare. 

But, ultimately, I wanted the Lord to choose the song. I asked Him to lead me to the one of His choosing.

His Answer

After I finished praying, I turned on the radio. At first I didn’t recognize the song playing, but then Chris Tomlin started singing the chorus of “Good, Good Father.” I smiled and thanked Jesus for His instant answer.  

That song had been ministering to me for weeks, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself. But even when we’re blinded by the busyness of our lives, our good Father still guides. 

His Confirmation

How Our Good Father Guides Christy Brunke singingAfter working awhile, I took a walk and called my friend Lynn, who coordinates the special music schedule for our church. 

She asked me if I’d decided on a song for Father’s Day yet. Before I even had time to answer, she blurted out, “Have you considered ‘Good, Good Father?'”

I laughed and shared my testimony from earlier that day. She then shared hers.

As she was mowing the grass, she was praying about what song I should do. Then the Lord sang the lyrics to “Good, Good Father” in her ear. 

Since God was speaking in stereo that day, I started preparing the song He’d chosen for Father’s Day. 

Our good Father guides us in many different ways. Has He ever answered your prayer or confirmed His will for you in an obvious or immediate way? If so, share your story below!

When I Decided to Become a Writer

People often ask me when I decided to become a writer and how I came up with the idea for Snow Out of Season.

My Earliest Muses

Christy Brunke named after Catherine Marshall's Christy novelWhen I was born, my parents named me Christy after the bestselling novel of the same name. You might say Catherine Marshall and her famous heroine were my first muses. (Tweet that!) But as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved reading, especially fiction.

As a little girl, I was always dreaming up stories. I remember going into a patch of woods near our house and pretending I was the queen of a small kingdom. 

In sixth grade, I won a short story contest and started dreaming of penning novels and memoirs. But first the Lord led me on other adventures. 

I completed a bachelor of arts in English and moved to China to study Mandarin and teach at a university.

Christy Brunke teaching at Jiangxi Agricultural University

Then I returned to the States to attend seminary, direct school musicales, and work at a church. 

As a teen and young adult, I longed for a God-scripted love story.

I devoured books like Elisabeth Elliot’s Quest for Love and Passion & Purity. Realizing my Creator knew me better than anyone, and knew every man as well, I asked Him to choose my husband.

And He did.

Mark complements me perfectly and has been an incredible blessing to me and many others. But when my mother-in-law was pregnant with him, her circumstances would have led many women to have an abortion. I started wondering what my life would’ve been like if she’d made a different choice. That’s when I decided to become a writer.

Snow Out of Season

when Christy Brunke decided to become a writerFrom that idea sprung Snow Out of Season, the dual stories of two women of two generations who struggle with the same questions. 

Is the child each carries worthy of life?

What will it cost to keep the child?

What will happen if each decides not to?

Read the synopsis and the first chapter of this #1 Amazon bestseller here!

Double Header Novel Hits a Home Run

Love contemporary fiction with a mystery, great dialogue, and relatable characters that will make you laugh out loud? Then don’t miss the novel Double Header, second-place winner of Jerry B. Jenkins’s Operation First Novel Contest.

Jerry B. Jenkins Clarice G. James Christy Brunke

Me and Clarice G. James with New York Times bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins.

Double Header Synopsis

Four years have passed since Casey Gallagher’s father died, but she still polishes his state trooper boots every evening. Then she receives a letter that shatters her perfect image of him and her carefully scripted life. Is she willing to meet her half-brother?

As Casey struggles to forgive her dad for his affair, she continues writing a sports column with her brother, Griffin.  They soon become friends with two Red Sox rookies and a cop Casey’s husband met at the gym. Could one of them be more than he seems?

My Thoughts:

Double Header is a compelling novel about faith, family, and forgiveness. (Tweet that!) The writing was so fantastic and the plot so deftly unfurled, I found it hard to believe this was James’s first published novel.

Her characters stormed off the page into my head. I got a kick out of the relationship between Casey and her fun brother and grinned at the antics of their overbearing agent, Roberta.

Some of My Favorite Excerpts

Double Header novel by author Clarice G. JamesHere’s how James first introduces us to Casey’s boss:

“Gordy, alway the first one at work, shouted, ‘Is that you, Casey? I need a favor.’

Our whole division knew doing favors for Gordy was a no-brainer. We got theater tickets he didn’t want due to the ‘ungodly noise level’ and seats to sporting events he didn’t understand. The biggest favor I’d ever done for Gordy was to take the VP’s corner office off his hands because he ‘couldn’t stand the glare from all that glass.’”

James then describes Gordy’s appearance:

“When I entered his office, Gordy was rustling through a messy stack of papers on his desk. My nickname for him was Macarena man because, more often than not, he was patting his back pocket for his wallet, his front jacket pocket for his glasses, his belt for his phone, or his wrist for his watch.

Clarice G. James, author of Double Header novel

Clarice G. James

‘Put that to music, Gordy,’ I’d teased once, ‘and you’ve got a wedding dance.’”

I’m not a sports fan, but I enjoyed the baseball imagery James used throughout the story, and absolutely loved the ending. With her humor, great voice, and words that spring off the page, James has won a fan for life.

I recommend this book to baseball enthusiasts and readers who enjoy drama, mysteries, and realistic fiction. 

Want to learn more about Clarice G. James and her award-winning novel? Read my interview with here!