Former Miss America Talks Miscarriage, Death Threats in Motivational Memoir

Aside from the Miss America crown she earned in 1990, Dr. Debbye Turner Bell is a veterinarian, award-winning journalist, motivational speaker and now, an author.

Turner joins “Start Your Day” hosts Sharon Reed and Shannon LaNier to discuss her new memoir “Courageous Faith: A Lifelong Pursuit of Faith over Fear.” Reed calls the book an inspirational, vulnerable, self-guided help memoir about persevering in the face of adversity. The book touches on Turner’s miscarriages, death threats on her life and the three-time loss of the Miss Arkansas pageant.

“The heart of the book is that if we will believe that we can persevere, we can overcome adversity, we can use failure as building blocks toward success, then we’ll see that happen,” said Bell. “That doesn’t mean that life is all great, and I share too much information about many ways that life has not been great for me. But I’m living proof that dreams can come true, that God is good and that you can overcome your difficulties if you have the courageous faith to get up.”

For people who are struggling with their own self-worth and need a confidence boost, Bell says it’s important to acknowledge that “we all go through difficulties” and someone else went through your same situation and survived it.

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