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She That Findeth by Kim Brooks
Meet Kim Brooks,
author of She That Findeth
#shethatfindeth
About the Book
Ten years of believing, yet still no husband in
sight for Shenita Love. The Bible does say “Wait on the Lord,” which, for
Shenita, means waiting for God to deliver her a soul mate. Then again, God
helps those who help themselves.
On her thirty-fifth birthday, Shenita’s fear of
never starting a family has reached a fever pitch. Her trusty “rule
book”—filled with guidelines for dating—simply isn’t cutting it. Soon Shenita
is signing up for online dating sites, hitting on men at sporting events, and
putting herself out there in ways she never imagined.
When Shenita stops playing by the book and takes
matters into her own hands, she finds anything can happen.
Meanwhile, her closest friends are struggling with
their own issues of sexuality, acceptance, divorce, insecurity, and financial
strain. Always the faithful shoulder to lean on, Shenita wants to be there for
them, but her desire to find a man leads her to an unforeseeable circumstance.
A place where she must examine her relationship with God and reconsider her
priorities.
Excerpt from She That Findeth
Chapter 1
“Happy Birthday to
ya…Happy Birthday to ya…Happy Birth-day!” sang
and clapped my three closest girlfriends at a small table inside a quaint
restaurant in downtown Detroit. Too bad
it wasn’t karaoke night; that was Thursday.
But I was still too excited that my birthday fell on a Saturday in March
this year. That made up for the fact
that it was my 35th and here I am celebrating it with a bunch of
females.
I love my girls
and all, but sometimes a sister just wants the presence of a man.
Here I am all
decked out with my off the shoulder purple blouse, short fitted gray skirt,
silver stilettos and matching Gucci bag yet no man to compliment me on how good
I looked. I had just gotten my hair cut
and colored with a light brown Mohawk on top that faded to black in the back
and my makeup was flawless. I even bought
and wore hazel contacts, which I was hesitant to buy at first because of my
brown complexion – but they actually looked kinda cute on me.
I was feeling
this “new look” and new me, yet there was no man seated next to me to whisper
in my ear how I was the finest thing in the room. Nope, at thirty-five, here I am with not a
prospect in sight. No man, no boyfriend,
not even a “special friend.”
Nobody.
Lord knows I
just knew I would have been married with at least two kids by now.
I’ve been
believing God for a husband for over 10 years now.
I keep my list
of ten things I’m believing God for in a mate tucked away in the zipper part of
my Bible cover and have done so for years.
I guess I never really attached a timetable to my requests – maybe I
should have said something to the tune of, “Before my eggs dry up and I have to
believe God like Sarah and Abraham, Lord.”
Maybe then my prayer may have been granted a little earlier. At the rate I’m going, I’m going to have to
take in vitro and believe God for twins.
Thank God for technology.
“Haaaa-peeee-birthday…Happy Birthday…Happy
Birthday…”
I could tell
the waiters and waitresses, all of diverse hues, were getting a kick out of my
friends’ rendition of the Stevie Wonder classic as they grinned from ear to ear
and nodded their heads. I wondered if
they had ever heard it before.
Or maybe they
were laughing at my girl Danielle, also known as Dani, who swayed wildly with
her Android taking pics in one hand and her glass of Sprite on the rocks in the
other. If you didn’t know Dani was saved
you would think she was drunk, and at just two years shy of forty, one would
never know by the way she carried herself.
Always ready for a good time, Dani took pics of herself showing off her
fresh makeover, which brought out the peach undertones in her tan complexion,
and her new black-and-gold minidress, which flattered her tall, curvy frame;
and she also took pics of me and the rest of the crew and uploaded them to Facebook
simultaneously, half of which I hadn’t even seen yet to approve. Lord, I hope she doesn’t tag me in any pics
where I’m looking crazy. Candid shots
get on my nerves.
“Make a wish,
girl!” Danielle yelled while snapping her head swerving her long, black layered
weave to the other side, almost hitting Jackie in the face.
Jackie just
looked at her and rolled her eyes as she proceeded to stir her black
coffee. She wiped the cheek where
Danielle’s hair almost smacked her, probably hoping it didn’t turn her fair
skin pink, as Jackie bruises easily. She
had stopped singing the song a while ago and looked ready to go home. At thirty-six, Jackie appeared as if she had
had enough of all the many years of singing birthday songs and probably wanted
to catch a rerun of her favorite show, Law
and Order, again. With her being a
prominent, well-respected attorney in the city she was greatly intrigued by
that show. I wouldn’t be surprised if
my birthday festivities weren’t ruining all her normal Saturday-night fun. Jackie ran her fingers through her short
curly red hair, then rested her hand on her forehead.
“Yeah,
Shenita,” sprang Pippa while scooting her chair in closer to the table and
positioning her round frame just right as she pointed her light brown manicured
finger toward me matter-of-fact, “The Word says in 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou
mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth, so it’s okay
to make a wish and blow out the candles.”
At thirty-two and the youngest of the
crew, I wondered if Pippa really thought I needed her approval based on The Word on whether or not I should make
a wish? I guess she didn’t know me as
well as I thought she did, otherwise she would know I’ve been making wishes and
blowing out candles ever since I got saved fifteen years ago. I wasn’t convicted about it then and I sholl
ain’t convicted about it now.
Man, this
birthday cake had so many candles on it that it looked like if I didn’t blow
them out fast someone would have to call a fire truck.
Thirty-five candles
– one for each year of my long,
unfruitful life.
I take that
back, as a public relations specialist for the Detroit chapter of a national
non-profit, One Love Initiative, from the outside looking in, I had all the
makings of a success. I literally have
had hundreds of people come up to me in tears and say how the non-profit I work
for, which as a result of fundraising efforts provides housing options for
single parents and low-income families, how I, or at least how my efforts,
changed their lives. I love what I do,
and thank God for the job that definitely keeps a sister’s condo association
fees paid and Benz car payment up to date, but even still, I feel my life is
lacking in one area. Love.
So with a big
inhale and then a huge blow over the strawberry shortcake with my favorite
cream cheese icing, I silently made the same wish I’ve been making since I was
twenty-five: “I wish to find true love and happiness” Except this time I did something I had never
done before with my wish. I added these
four words,
“This year, Lord . . . please.”
About the Author
Kim Brooks is the Award-winning
author of non-fiction and fiction books for singles including Black Expressions
Bestseller, He’s Fine…but is he Saved?
and her newest novel release, She That
Findeth.
Kim is a former guest columnist
for Gospel Today Magazine and featured on The Word Network and she publishes a
monthly eNewsletter, The Single Heart, and an online daily devotional for
single women which encourages thousands worldwide and is subscribable for free
on her website, Kimontheweb.com
Order This Book
SHE THAT FINDETH (Trade Paperback):
SHE THAT FINDETH
(eBook):
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