It's in the Green!

Good morning to each of you. I am excited! It does not take much to get me excited, true, but I am that way right now! 

I have to start this Sunday morning's blog off by saying, "Father, You have been good to me." Look at what I wrote at the beginning of my book, W.O.W. created w.o.w. You can see that I was thanking the Lord for His blessings for carrying me through my life to that present moment. And now I start today by acknowledging His goodness in the publication of another book, Chopping My Row, and in the pathway that He is making for it.

(This was written at the publication of a prior book.)This book of mine is the culmination of the hopes and dreams of a Memphis school girl who, because her mother told her to, “Reached for the Stars” and dared to say, “I’m gonna be somebody one day.” Walk, if you will, back down Memory Lane with me a bit…

As she sat in the Guidance Office of Manassas High School, taking in her scholarship letter, she couldn’t help but pick up her Memory Book and read some of the autographs that had been written by her classmates.  One autograph stood out more than the rest, the one that read, “May your joys be as deep as the ocean, your sorrows as light as its foam and may you always have the wind at your back.”

She idly wondered if the ocean had any foam. But one thing for sure, she would walk these halls no more. This would be the last day. Tomorrow they all would graduate downtown at Ellis Auditorium. She had a new dress that her church had bought for her because her Momma could not afford a new dress and all graduates had to wear white.

******

Three Months Later…

She was going to college! She was going away from home. Momma was traveling on the Trailways with her.  Momma would check her in and then Momma was catching the bus back to Memphis. Soon, she would be on her own. Yes! (That too, is a story for another day.)

******

College Graduation, Marriage, Two Adopted Children and Thirty Years Later…

The email that she had received that morning had made her wax sentimental. She looked back over life and thought about the big part that Jesus had played in it.

She thought about how HE had brought her through so many trials. She reflected upon how He had held her hand when her Momma had died twelve years ago. She had thought that she would not and could not make it. But, because of the love of Jesus, she had. She thought to herself:

GOD (my beginning)

Love (crafted in)

A Plan

Care Packages (to sustain)

Love (gathered back with)

 GOD (my ending)!

 

She thought to herself, “If I hold to His hand, since He created me, He will sustain me and gather me back to Himself, all in His good time. W.O.W.! She sat with her head bowed as she reflected upon the various “care packages” that she had been gifted with throughout her life. She reflected upon the pink and green suit from her high school club days (a story for another day); she reflected upon her scholarship; she reflected upon her best friend from her freshman college year, Joyce, etc.

As she sat around and reminisced, she realized that she had been shown favor by the Lord. Then she wrote:

When I think about the favor that GOD has placed on my life, I can’t help but marvel at the fact that the GOD, Who orchestrated the cosmos; the GOD that initiated this thing we know of as time and placed a limitation there on; the GOD that one day will usher in eternity; takes the patience and places HIS omnipotent eyes and ears on a tiny speck of dust called Alma, I am agog! ‘What am I that THOU are mindful of me?’

As she continued her reflecting, she realized that she had come far from the starry-eyed teenager who went to college with one pair of regular shoes and one pair of Sunday shoes and one dress skirt. As she finished checking her email, she finished up her reverie with a perusal of the news feed on Facebook. What she saw there, caused her eyes to fill with tears that slowly cascaded down her cheeks.  Several of her former students had posted on Facebook giving her an outstanding shout out for her work while she was their teacher. She lifted tearful eyes toward the ceiling and said a grateful prayer to Jesus.

         

She realized that the starry-eyed teenager had had a successful teaching career in that she had made a positive enough impact on her students that some of them reached back and thanked her. She thought about the poetry books that she had authored and about this one that she was working on now.

She knew that all of these positives in her life meant that Jesus, in His infinite care and wisdom, strategically wove the pattern of her life so that all things fell just so. Then she said, “Lord, oh Lord! Can You hear me? It’s me, Alma. And I just want to say Thank You!”  - (excerpt from W.O.W. created w.o.w.)

Y'all know how I make a habit of getting up on Sunday mornings with a blog that talks about my being excited about getting ready to attend worship. This morning no exception, but I have some added joy. No, nothing better than great has happened, yet. Here is what I read on the internet this morning about my book, Chopping My Row:

 Amazon.com: Alma L. Jones: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks ...

https://www.amazon.com/Alma-L.-Jones/e/B00SNJXP8E

1.      

6 Results - Alma L. Jones, who was born in Memphis, TN to Lula M. Carr, makes ... "Chopping My Row", is receiving very favorable comments and is one to watch.

I took the liberty of highlighting what made me so giddy in green. That made my day. So I opened my blog with thanksgiving, and I will close it the same way. Thank You, Father, for your many blessings. You are to be praised and honored for all of Your lovingkindness. To You be the glory!