BRENDA COBB MURPHY

A Lover of Jesus

Many men think that understanding the bride of Christ undermines their masculinity, but just the opposite is true. In fact, the revelation of the bride will establish it. To be a man who lays his head on the Lord's breast and receives His embrace will set your heart ablaze.

(The Pleasures of Loving God by Mike Bickle)

 

 

Intimacy is having the security of entering Jesus' presence day or night, not through the formal means and paths but walking directly into His private chambers and getting His personal attention anytime. Sharing hearts, dreams, even chit chat, knowing each other intimately, understanding the glances and expressions, communicating without words, each able to share their deepest feelings, not one-sided but a oneness together. A private relationship that is known only to each other, too personal to talk in depth about to everyone. It is the privileges and intimacy of a marriage relationship, an equality where both give and receive.

 

 

 

Every other love does disappoint us to a certain degree. But this love is different. This is the Prince of heaven, and your heart was made for his love.

(Keeping A Princess Heart In A Not-So-Fairy-Tale-World by Nicole Johnson)

 

Cover Photo for The Wild Romancer



I have had in my mind the picture for this book cover for years, even before I wrote the book. I would have liked a more casual look to the wedding veil and crown tossed onto the settee, but to do that we lose the ability to understand the picture, it isn't clear what what the pile is. So I've settled for a more "posed" look.

After keeping my eyes out for the right settee, I finally found the perfect one at Bryan House, a local Bed & Breakfast (thank you Karen, for that tip!). We arrived with our camera, borrowed tripod, and various other odds and ends, and set up. Jan, the owner of the B&B, was very gracious and long-suffering, allowing us to move the heavy table sitting on the rug, the end table, the cushions, and the George Washington doll on the other end table. She tried to remove R.J., her beautiful cat, but he got under the settee and we decided to leave him alone.

After trying various positions and "geographies" as Terry called them, we finally settled on the one above. With the veil lying on the couch itself, you lost the effect, so Jan came up with a cushion and some green material to lay over it so it wouldn't show through the veil. We tried again. I had brought two wedding veils, my original one from 32 years ago which gave the length we needed, and a shorter veil I had picked up at Goodwill that gave us the circle of roses headpiece with strings of pearls and satin ribbons.

After a bit, Jan volunteered her own wedding veil from 41 years ago, bought in Chicago and encircled with wide Chantilly lace . It turned out to be just what the picture needed, providing the lace that the other two lacked. So yes, the picture is actually three different veils positioned together.

We finally got everything ready, the geography right, each string of pearls, ribbons, and lace in the right position, and stepped to the camera to snap the picture. Right at that moment, R.J. the cat reached out and swiped the veils hanging over the front of the settee, pulling the whole bunch down to the floor. (All that shimmery veil hanging in a curtain in front of him, shifting and moving, was just more than his curiosity could stand.)

After taking a deep breath, we repositioned everything and snapped our picture.

At home, we studied the choices, picked the one we thought best, and Terry went to work editing. He had to take out a floor register at the end of the settee, the castors under the settee's legs, the light reflections on each spindle of the banister behind it, and the white corner of the table at the end of the settee. But the most tricky editing by far was taking out the broom hanging on the wall by the fireplace. Why we didn't notice it when we were taking the picture I'll never know, too focused on the other things, I guess.

But, after all was said and done, it turned out to be a perfect picture, and I'm very happy with it.