At the age of seventeen, Father’s Day became a mockery to me and my faith in my Heavenly Father took a serious beating. Almost twenty-six years later, I’ve learned not to see Him with eyes handicapped with biological and situational limitations, but with the spiritual eyes that reflect the brand/receipt of His DNA.

With them, I can see that He’s all that AND a bag of chips! (Y’all know I love food.. lol). He’s enabled me to understand that He despises my act(ions) that go against His word, not me. He’s taught me that the measure of forgiveness I receive is in direct correlation to the measure I mete out. He’s enlightened me with the knowledge that forgiveness is a gift I give myself.

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by Dr. Cupid Poe and Kathi Macias
Publisher: Authorhouse
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by D.S. White of Read Zone Book Reviews

“She paused again, then plunged ahead. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that, no matter what’s happened in our lives, there’s nothing so bad that God can’t carry us through to the other side. The Bible says that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Sooner or later, God’s good plan for our lives will become clear to us, Emma Jean, if we’ll just let it.

Emma Jean was fighting tears now, wishing on the one hand that she’d declined Millie’s invitation and gone on back to her apartment where she’d be safe from such emotional revelations, while wishing on the other that she had the courage to open her mouth and tell this dear woman everything that was on her heart. In the end she said nothing, except a silent thank you to God, as the unspoken question echoed in her heart: How many people would He send to her to give her the same message before she finally got it?” - Pg 74.

I approach the writing of this review with unwanted credentials: that of a survivor of abuse. However, it is those very credentials that give me the authority to wholeheartedly recommend this book for those who’d like to:

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No, I’m not blonde nor has the skin on my face been vertically challenged.

But I did think those three little words would a) Catch your attention, b) Give you an inkling of the type of post and c) Set the tone for the rest of the post.

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“I later learned that behind the facade of a perfectly made up face, a sassy mouth, an incredible sense of style, and a quick brain (she was a junior in High School at 15) lay the broken remains of little girl who wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but was being molested by her much older brother, with whom she lived…”

I was reading a book yesterday as I waited for the bus. The main character, a blonde Georgia peach, had just broken up with her fiancé.

While she was out fundraising, he had been cheating on her with a newly hired co-worker.

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It Stretches…
Beyond Race …
Beyond Gender…
Although I was slowly working my way toward it, I had no intentions of broaching this topic just yet. I was smack dab in the middle of Death and Love with the intent of making a nice little segue into abuse and list resources and everything.

Unfortunately, that game plan was prempted by a post made to one of my writing groups for which I have permission to share as follows:

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This post was taken from one of my writing groups on yahoo.

August 11, 2005
Entrenched Epidemic: Wife-Beatings in Africa
By SHARON LaFRANIERE

LAGOS, Nigeria - It was a typical husband-wife argument. She wanted to visit her parents. He wanted her to stay home.

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An admitted websurfing junkie and collector of information, this is the area that makes all that time spent surfing worthwhile for others beside myself. As I mentioned earlier in the Contributors section, although we are not confined or defined by our experiences, they do however serve to shape us into the people we become.

Having suffered from a lack of knowledge, part of my gift to anyone who would care to avail themselves of it, is the provision of resources and helplines for women and teens in precarious situations. If you know of any or are one yourself, please choose you and break the cycle or pass on the information to someone who needs it.

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I’ve provided a short list of hotlines and websites below so that you may either find the support you need or the information you need. No need to go it alone, reach out, click and latch onto what’s yours for the taking. Whether you’re victim or perpetrator isn’t it time to stop the pain?

Hotlines:

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