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Are You Living in a Bucket?

May22

Please share a photo related to your bucket list!

It was a simply request. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic closed down my employer’s corporate office over a year ago, we have been having “photography prompts” at work on our company’s blog. Each week the coordinator comes up with a topic for us to post pictures. It was a way for us to continue feeling connected to each other because everyone in the company was now working from home. We were able to share small glimpses into our personal lives while being at home on lockdown.

While I’ve worked from home as a nurse case manager since 2006 (for 3 different companies) the office support staff on my current job as well as executive leadership all work at the home office in a very typical corporate America setting. Just like all other companies in America and across the world, we have been impacted in countless ways also. This fun activity served many purposes, but mainly as a chance to feel connected to co-workers who were likely facing many personal challenges while trying to maintain a proper life-work balance which did not seem to exist anymore. The lines and crossover from home to work was very blurred to say the least.

The topic of the “photo prompt” this week was simply this: “Please share a photo related to your bucket list!” Some expected pictures would be things like sky diving, bungee jumping, go on a safari, see the Northern Lights, go on a road trip across America, learn how to play a musical instrument, run a marathon, ski the Swiss Alps, write a book, or go on a mission trip to Africa.

Given there is a storyteller inside me, my responses to the photo prompts are typically not one phrase or one sentence, and certainly not even one picture. I often post a whole collage and write several sentences to explain my photos. So it was with this one as well, and after I posted my response, I received an email from our Chief Medical Officer. Before I get to that, consider what some of our other prompts were and what your responses may have been.

  • Post a selfie since we haven’t seen each other in person in a while.
  • What vacation are you dreaming about taking after the pandemic?
  • Let’s see your pets.
  • Let’s see your plants and gardens.
  • Let’s see your home office workspace.
  • Post a picture of your younger you.
  • What at-home hobbies have you explored during lockdown?
  • What home improvement projects are you working on or have already completed?
  • What Secret Santa Christmas gift did you receive from an anonymous co-worker?
  • Let’s see those pictures of work memories when we actually got to see each other in person.

So back to this week’s photo prompt. Keep in mind this is not social media but rather a corporate blog space for all employees to see. Below is my exact response to the entire company: 

Please share a photo related to your bucket list!

OMGoodness! This is such an easy one for me. I’m.living.my.bucket.list.every.day! All I had to do was borrow some of my Facebook collages that I’ve posted in the past to explain my bucket list life. So here goes the explanation of the 4 sets of pictures:

GROWING OLD TOGETHER: Those pics are my husband (William) and I down through the years. It starts with the middle pic in that collage when we were 14. We were in 9th grade, and he was my homecoming court escort that year. That’s when we started “dating” as freshmen in high school. We eventually broke up but got back together a week before high school graduation when he almost died of a blood clot (epidural hematoma) requiring emergency surgery to save his life. (I mentioned that in last week’s photo prompt because his sister is my favorite nurse for saving his life.) So anyway, we got married at age 21 and the other pics are just random pics throughout the years including the bottom center pic from our 30-year class reunion.

PLACES WE’VE GONE: We like to travel the continental US, nothing really overseas as we haven’t built up the nerves for that yet although we have been on a Caribbean Cruise and to the Bahamas. As for the US, we’ve gone from NY to CA with stops all along the way including Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, and even a national TV appearance on Good Morning America back in 2001 in the bottom left pic (dressed in red with TV cameras in the foreground being interviewed by Charles Gibson.) William was named the Dickies American Worker of the Year, but that’s a whole ‘nutha story. It included a trip to NY for Labor Day weekend to be on TV and a brand new Chevy Silverado truck. A week after we got home from NY, the terrorists struck! (Yep, imagine that feeling of euphoria replaced with utter terror for the city that had been so kind to us just a week prior.)

HAWAII 30TH ANNIVERSARY! We finally made it to Hawaii in 2016. That was truly a bucket list, especially considering we do not like flying over a lot of water; hence the reason we don’t travel overseas. But we really wanted a special celebration for 30 years of marriage, so we did it up big and had the best time ever! Now every time Hawaii Five-0 comes on TV, I still point out all the places in the opening montage that we visited. I doubt any other trip will ever compare to this one. However, let me be clear… I tell people it’s not the places we go but rather how HE makes me feel once we get there that makes our trips so special.

MY BABIES: Well of course my life with William would not be complete without our 2 sons, aptly named Jordan William and Brandon William. They are now 22 and 26, so that collage is reminiscent of their baby years and current adulthood, which I still find hard to believe. The top left is from Jordan’s wedding last year a week before the pandemic hit. He married his high school sweetheart too! Needless to say, MOM is my favorite title, and motherhood was the best thing that ever happened to me.

That’s it. I know my life is nothing special, but it’s very special to me. I consider myself so very blessed to actually get to live a life where I don’t have a bucket list. I’m living in the bucket.

Too much information for a corporate blog? I wasn’t sure, but the storyteller inside me takes every opportunity to share a story. After I posted it, I thought perhaps I should have kept it short and sweet with one picture and a one-sentence explanation. 

Then I got the email from our Chief Medical Officer. He simply said: “Betty, what a refreshing perspective! A true blessing.” The subject of his email? Living in the bucket!

With his simple yet profound response, I knew I had done the right thing.

I love writing and encouraging people. I often find it hard to give a simple answer as the storyteller inside me often takes over even when I try to be brief and do what is expected. Yet I find myself writing all the time even though it’s been a whole year since I made my last blog post. WOW! Time has flown by, especially during this past “COVID year” which seems to be in some kind of time warp. I dare not try to go back and makeup for not blogging during the pandemic or offer readers any type of explanation as to why this storyteller hasn’t blogged about the global pandemic or anything else going on in this world for a whole year. Let’s just say I think it’s time for me to start sharing again. I hope someone is still listening.

Now, my question to you: What’s on your bucket list or are you living in a bucket?

A Sneak Peak at Chapter I of My New Book: THE BIRTHDAY GIFT

Sep23

This is the first chapter of my new book coming out in 2020. I’d like your opinion, please. I won’t share the book synopsis just yet and hope instead that you will give this a quick read and let me know if you’re interested enough to turn the page to Chapter 2.

Chapter I – Black and Blue

“Mrs. Williams, I regret to inform you that your husband was found . . .”

The next thing I remember hearing is “Code Blue” even though it was now pitch-black outside my ICU window at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. I don’t know what happened next on that beautiful sunny morning after I opened my front door for the police officer. He was standing there in the last ray of sunshine I would see for quite some time. I guess I could look at the police report or medical records, but what’s the point. I really don’t want to be reminded of the single most horrific day in my entire life.

What happened? Why was the police officer talking in slow motion? Was that simply my mind abruptly coming to a halt because I could not bear to hear the next words coming out of his mouth? I know for a fact that my heart broke into a thousand little pieces, so I guess that explains the Code Blue. My heart had stopped beating.

Heart attack—when one’s heart attacks its own body because the heart has been shattered. That’s according to me, not the American Medical Association. When a police officer knocks on your door and regrets to inform you of anything, that only means one thing, one gut-wrenching, unimaginable thing.

I had been married to that man for twenty-two blissful years, and there was no way it was all coming to a catastrophic end like that. We had plans. We had a whole lot of plans. We still had so much life to live, and of course, we were going to grow old together. Our daughter’s sweet sixteen birthday party was only two weeks away. As a matter of fact, I had planned to call the caterer to finalize our headcount for the party before I left for the airport to pick up Bill. His plane was due to arrive at LAX later that evening.

Bill had just called me less than twenty-four hours prior to that knock at the door when he was on his way to the airport. He was giddy. He told me that he had found the perfect birthday present for Bella on his very last day in Tel Aviv at the Jaffa flea market. Bella was a daddy’s girl and, needless to say, the beneficiary of various quaint souvenirs he always seemed to find no matter where his research took him. It was surely going to be a spectacular sweet sixteen surprise that I couldn’t wait to see. He even hinted that it was something that would change her life forever!

The birthday gift that Bill found here at Jaffa Flea Market in Tel Aviv, Israel changed Bella’s life forever. You can even say it literally changed the world.

Yes, I must admit that I too was a very happy recipient of sentimental and oftentimes breathtaking gifts from around the world. We were his girls, and there was absolutely no way he was not coming back home to us. No way. He had been in Israel for thirty-three days. It was time for him to come back home. I had been expecting a phone call from Bill during his four-hour layover at Heathrow. Instead of Bill’s much anticipated call, I got that abominable knock at my front door!

Then I heard it again. “Code Blue.”

Everything went black. As I reflect on that disastrous day, everything was already black. My world had gone dark and void.

From what I’ve been told, I woke up the following morning with no recollection of the previous day. Apparently, I had a heart attack on my front porch after hearing the mind-numbing news the policeman had come to tell me. Apparently, I had another heart attack in the emergency room and a third one shortly after being transported to ICU. And sadly, apparently those words my ears had refused to allow my mind to process were no less true just because I refused to hear them, let alone accept them.

My heart was broken. I was broken. Life as I once knew it no longer existed. There was no reason to go to the airport. Bill never boarded his connecting flight in London. The only thing at the airport now was his luggage, and there certainly wasn’t any reason for me to go claim that. Well, no reason that I knew of at the time.

Had it not been for the birthday girl and the birthday gift, there really would not have been a reason for me to ever wake up again. I had no inkling that the gift of life was literally waiting for me at Virgin Atlantic. All I had to do was go claim it.

Can you image the “life changing” birthday gift Bill found for his 16-year old daughter at this flea market in Israel? It truly was and still is the GIFT OF LIFE! (The video is actual footage of the Jaffa Flea Market)

A Short Story… from FaceBook

Jun28

I posted this picture on FaceBook earlier this month as my profile picture along with a rather long caption. I called it “A Short Story…”

Yes, I know it’s rather odd to have such a long post on FaceBook, and I’m fairly certain most of my friends didn’t even read it before they clicked like. My guess is they just liked the picture and kept on scrolling. But for those who took the time to actually read it, they left some very encouraging comments and thanked me for sharing my story. So I decided to copy my FaceBook post to my blog since this is where my storytelling actually belongs.

Below this 1993 picture of my husband William and I, you will find my actual short story post from Facebook, copied exactly as written. I’ll explain the details after the end of the story.

A Short Story…

This pic is from 1993. Ten years prior to that, William had a near fatal head injury, an epidural hematoma (bleeding around the brain) requiring emergency surgery to save his life. The neurosurgeon had to do a craniotomy where he opened up part of William’s skull to remove the hematoma that reduced the pressure on his brain. By the way, that was May 17, 1983, a few days before high school graduation. William and I weren’t even talking to each other at the time. We had broken up like many teenagers do in high school…. On again, off again… we just couldn’t get it right, so we were going our separate ways forever after high school.

BUT THEN THIS HAPPENED! God has a way of getting our attention, doesn’t he? I had no idea he had even been injured. My brother Dennis was home from California and heard about it before I did. He just causally asked one evening at home “Did y’all hear about that Collier boy who got hit upside the head?”

TIME STOPPED! MY HEART DROPPED! Somebody please help me… The rest is a blur. Fast forward a bit, and there I am walking down that long hallway all by myself to that scary neurotrauma ICU where I see many Colliers standing at his bedside. (Remember, we were NOT a couple at this time. It was way over for us.) They saw me walk in, and EVERYBODY left. I don’t recall any words spoken. 

There he lay with my shattered heart scattered in thousands of pieces all over his ICU bed. How could it come to this? I don’t recall much of anything from that first visit except that he appeared lifeless, his beautiful brown eyes almost swollen shut, and that gauze dressing wrapped around his head like a turban. His head was huge, machines were everywhere, and I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to speak or even recognize me. Or if he did recognize me, would he want me to stay? After all, I had broken his heart in high school.

Well, I can’t tell you what happened next because I don’t remember. To this very day, I still get a headache when I think about it. Of course he doesn’t remember because he was recovering from brain surgery after almost losing his life. 

All I know is this. Surgery was over. He was recovering. We were beginning.

Our true love affair began at Methodist Hospital as he continued to improve over the next few days. He went home 12 days after surgery. Our high school romance, as shaky as it was, just didn’t matter anymore. We had fallen in love in 9th grade. We fell in love again at Methodist Hospital. And yes, I do remember some of those conversations, unlike the first one in ICU. Suffice it to say, many tears were shed. 

God saved William’s life that night for me. So when I say I just love that man sooooo much, and he is the absolute love of my life, now you know why. 

Ok, getting back to this pic. This was 1993, 10 years after our life changing experience right before high school graduation. By now we had been married 7 years and were expecting our first little bundle of joy. (I’m pregnant with Jordan on this pic… lol) So when I see pictures like this, sometimes it brings back all sorts of memories for me. This one opened the floodgates! I like looking back and reflecting on where we began, what we’ve endured, and where we are now. There are trials and tribulations in all marriages, and ours certainly isn’t exempt. But this one thing I do know. When I look into those beautiful eyes, I can still remember 1983 and what it felt like when I thought it was the possibility that I would have to live my life without William. I know there is an ear-to-ear scar all the way across William’s scalp that no one can see underneath his hair, but I can feel it. It’s an ever-present reminder of God’s grace and mercy. I can also feel the lifetime of love that we’ve shared. And even though Jordan wasn’t born yet, when I look at this picture, I know he’s there inside me. That’s where love begins – inside. Jordan will be 25 next week. William and I will celebrate our 33rd anniversary in August. All I can say is #ThankYouLord!

So yeah, I actually wrote all that on FaceBook as the caption when I updated my profile picture. That’s why I prefer FaceBook over Twitter and Instagram. I haven’t mastered the craft of brevity yet. My friends know I tend to be long-winded once I get started, and my posts often go on much longer than most people’s attention span. But that doesn’t stop me. I continue writing anyway hoping that someone will read what I have to say and get something out of it. That’s really my reason for copying this post to my blog. I hope when you read this, you will get something out of it too.

We all have stories to share to help inspire and encourage others. Think about your own life. I’m pretty sure you have many stories to tell. What has God done in your life where you have absolutely no doubt it had to be a blessing from him? Many times he blesses us beyond measure without us even asking. He knows us just that well.

As for that little bundle of joy hiding inside me at the time this picture was taken, he’s now 25 years old. This is our precious little firstborn, Jordan William Collier. He’s getting married next year and is well on his way to becoming the man God created him to be. I encourage all of you parents to continue praying for your children. There is greatness inside all of them.

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

Psalms 127:3 (NLT version)

I would love to hear from you guys. What stories do you have to share that will encourage someone else? After all, we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared with others. Thank you for living inside this testimony with me. God has certainly been way too good to me, so I’ve got to tell it!

Are You Living Inside a Testimony in Your Marriage?

Mar4

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview this lovely couple for my web talk radio show 7 years ago when they had been married only 8 months. They’ve been married almost 8 years now and thanks to a Facebook memory post, I was inspired to blog about them today. I only did the talk show for 6 months due to lack of time and other obligations, but I learned a great deal producing those 12 shows (2 per month.) There is so much to learn when we take time to reflect on our past and how all the pieces come together to make us who we are today. Just as I realized when I was writing what I thought would be my first and only book, it’s amazing to see how God so perfectly orchestrates our lives and prepares us for what is to come. All we have to do is acknowledge him, and he will direct our paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

First, let’s flash back to 2011 when I interviewed DeShun and Kyanna Beard. You can listen to the entire interview here: “Love and Marriage: Is It a Fairy Tale?”

The Fairy Tale Wedding – Is it possible to really live happily ever after? When you listen to their interview, you’ll discover that we don’t really live inside fairy tales, but we do all live inside testimonies meant to be shared with others. Their beautiful love story will inspire you to discover your own great love, and with God’s blessings, you can live happily ever after.

I haven’t listened to that episode from my talk show in 7 years, and I must say it was good to hear it again. Did you listen? If not, here’s the link again. Just click here… I really want you to hear this.

We can’t all be like Cinderella and find our very own Prince Charming, but I choose to believe in the sanctity of marriage and what it stands for. Cinderella is simply a fairytale. However, we can all live happily ever after with God’s blessings. Hopefully DeShun and Kyanna’s love story will inspire you to view your own marriage differently, perhaps view your spouse from a different perspective and treat them as if you are living inside a fairytale pursuing your own happily ever after. Marriage requires work, but it’s well worth the effort in order to enjoy the blessings that can only be found when you truly view your marriage the way God intended for it to be.

My goal is not to repeat what you heard on the podcast, but rather to encourage you to listen for yourself at how the interview unfolded. It’s such a sweet story, one that will truly bless you if you are one who thought true love just doesn’t exist these days. I’m here to tell you it certainly does!

The happy couple, Mr. and Mrs. DeShun Beard, along with DeShun’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Beard. You will hear my very special guest on the radio broadcast, DeShun’s mother, Greta Beard (far left) share an emotional and touching story. This is the mother-in-law all future brides would love to have!

When this interview first aired in February 2011, I also shared it on my Facebook page along with these pictures and captions to serve as visual aids when listening to the interview. I’m sharing them here with you now, along with the original captions to fully engulf you in this experience. Here’s the other 3 pictures to go along with this beautiful little story.

The wedding party at the Fairy Tale Wedding on DeShun’s parents’ estate. The Scriptures teach us that the marriage Union and relationship was inspired by God, instituted by God, is preserved by God, and can rightly be dissolved only by God. So God created man in his own image . . . ; [one] male and [one] female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark 10:9). Any two persons entering into the marriage union should realize that marriage is an institution of God and that the One who designed and authorized marriage has the authority to determine the standards of marriage.

 

I Corinthians 13 – THE LOVE CHAPTER. “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”… The wedding rings: The ring could be the oldest and most universal symbol of marriage. There are many accounts of the meanings behind the use of wedding rings but the actual origins are unclear. The ring’s circular shape represents perfection and never-ending love. The early Christian church gave religious meaning to the ring by making it part of the wedding ceremony. “With this ring I thee wed, and this gold and silver I thee give, and with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly chatels I thee endow.” The thumb and first two fingers of the hand were to represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the fourth finger stood for the earthly love of man to woman.

 

The newlyweds began their wedded bliss as husband and wife while celebrating on their honeymoon cruise. Congratulations DeShun and Kyanna. May God forever bless you and your marriage! Your beautiful love story will bless all that hear it. Thank you for living inside the testimony with me!

Marriage really can strengthen your relationship with God and increase your faith in Him. Jesus will walk hand-and-hand by your side along with your spouse. All you have to do is make room and let him in.

DeShun’s advice: Put the Lord first in your relationship with your significant other.

Kyanna’s advice: Things may happen, but we know joy comes in the morning light… Know that God is always there.

As I said at the end of the talk show, a happy marriage requires work and commitment. I look at my husband as the man the Lord blessed me with, and it’s up to us to make it work. In our hearts we know without a doubt, we were meant to be together. I hope when you look at your own marriage, you can see it for what it really is. Don’t fantasize about anyone else’s relationship; just concentrate on the one that you’re in. Make it what you want it to be. Be committed to making it work, and it simply has to work. Make your marriage a great love story. After all, Walt Disney had to create Cinderella. You can create your own beautiful love story!

So once again, thank you DeShun and Kyanna Beard for sharing your beautiful story with us 7 years ago and again today. Thank you Greta Beard for being my very special guest on the program that day.

As a special treat, I asked Kyanna for an updated picture of her family now. Not only are she and DeShun still happily married after almost 8 years, they have also welcomed 2 precious little baby girls into their family. If you heard this story in 2011, just take a look at how the Lord has blessed this family since then.

Love and Marriage: Is It a Fairytale? Not at all. However, just look at what the Lord has done in DeShun and Kyanna’s lives. With God’s blessings, you really can live happily ever after. (From left to right: Kyanna, Harlow, Harper, and DeShun Beard)

Besides being inspired to blog about this sweet couple after the Facebook memory popped up today, I was also inspired to create a contest of my own. Like I said in the interview, I entered a “Greatest Love Story in the World” contest several years ago. Although William and I didn’t win, I still love our story and am happy to share it every chance I get. This is what I actually entered for the contest.

* * * * * Now I’m giving you an opportunity to win $100 in my Living Inside the Testimony – Greatest Love Story Contest!

Contest Rules:

  1. Let’s keep this simple without a lot of written rules, legalities, and disclaimers. My desire is to make this sweet and easy.
  2. Write one page to explain why you think your love story is the greatest love story in the world.
  3. You must be a married couple to enter as I am trying to promote the sanctity of marriage as described in the bible between a man and woman.
  4. Email your entry along with a picture of you and your spouse to me at livinginsidethetestimony@yahoo.com.
  5. I will read all entries and select one grand prize winner to receive $100 (Visa gift card or PayPal)
  6. Deadline to submit your entry is April 15, 2018.
  7. Winner will be announced no later than April 30, 2018.
  8. If you submit an entry, you are giving me permission to post your written entry and picture on my social media and website.
  9. If you have any questions, please ask. You can leave comments/questions here on my blog, on my Facebook page, or email me at livinginsidethetestimony@yahoo.com.
  10. I am the only judge for this contest, and my decision will be final. I will judge honestly and select what I feel is the best example of living inside the testimony in your own marriage and what makes it the greatest love story. Thank you for your participation and understanding!

 

 

 

Audience Participation Is Not Necessary

Jul5

It’s not about me, but on my “About Me” page on this site, I wrote:

My prayer for each of you who choose to subscribe to my blog is that you will be inspired and encouraged by the testimonies and stories that I share. My favorite scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” As I seek the Lord for guidance as to what I should share with my subscribers, I earnestly pray that you will be blessed and inspired. As Revelation 12:11 says, we are overcomers by the words of our testimonies.

So it’s really not about me… LOL!

What I mean is this website is not “about” me. Of course I share my thoughts and testimonies because I know them better than anyone. But when I started blogging, I really thought it would be more interactive. I thought some of you would share your testimonies too. After all, this is the “Living Inside The Testimony” blog site where I tell people that I’m a nurse by profession, author by passion, and storyteller by the grace of God. On here, we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared to help inspire and encourage others. Yet I was looking for audience participation, subject ideas, and lots and lots of comments. The reality that I have discovered is that it’s up to me to share and motivate you. As an author, I’ve learned it can be a quiet and lonesome journey because unless you sell a million copies of your books, you never really know if anyone is reading them or not.

Am I making a difference? Does anyone look forward to reading the latest blog post? Have you read any of my books? Are you being blessed or inspired? This modern age of social media, reality TV that is anything but reality, and the answer to any question right at your fingertips thanks to Google, Siri, or any other electronic personal assistant or search engine has left us bombarded and overloaded with way too much information already. However, the fact remains that I describe myself as a storyteller, and THIS blog is here to inspire and encourage you.

Welcome to my blog site where I’ve got a story to tell you!

Now I get it. I think I always did, but I guess I had to confess to all of you. This is my blog, and it’s my responsibility to be the only participant. So I will stop wondering if you’re reading or not. We are overcomers by the words of our testimonies, but maybe I need to be the first overcomer.

I certainly hope someone is reading. I certainly hope I have inspired someone. As I read through some of my previous posts, I encouraged myself! I wondered where I found the words to write what I did, but of course they must have been divinely inspired by the Lord. Some of the stories feel as if I’m reading them for the very first time, and guess what, I impressed myself. Yes, I really did. That was really all the reassurance I needed that this blog is not falling on deaf ears. I hear me. I hope you do too!

Let’s See Where Baseball Takes Him

Aug29

That’s the title of one of my numerous photo albums on Facebook.

It’s also part of living inside the testimony. This testimony is actually my youngest child’s pursuit of a college baseball scholarship.

Allow me to digress for just a moment for those who have not visited my website before.

I’m a nurse by profession, author by passion, and storyteller by the grace of God. My desire is to help readers discover that we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared to help inspire and encourage others. You’ll find yourself laughing, crying, rejoicing, and soul-searching all at the same time as my books take you on a roller coaster of emotions and self-enlightenment. Discover the inspiration, faith, hope, humor, and love we all have in common. I share my own personal testimony in the first book, and the remarkable testimony of others in all the books that follow.

Living Inside The Testimony® is actually my trademark. I really do “own” it. So why didn’t I realize my baby boy was living inside his very own testimony?

Brandon has been playing ball every year since he was a 5 year-old kindergartner.

Brandon Collier - 5 year old T-baller

Brandon Collier – Ellendale Little League T-ball (5 years old)

Like many parents, we thought he would enjoy playing different sports. His first sport was basketball, and that’s where he earned the nickname Speedy. He was so fast running down the basketball court that his coach simply started calling him Speedy. Later that year, he started playing T-ball too, and somehow the nickname just stuck with him. After all, he had been running ever since he learned how to walk. He had been jumping, and climbing, and defeating the laws of gravity ever since he was a toddler. He scaled my kitchen cabinets like spiderman and then sat on top of the counter when he was only one. He leaped across the living room from the sofa to the love seat, and I caught him in mid-air once to prevent what surely would have been a terrible head injury as he jumped from a chair toward our brick hearth before he even turned two.

Fast forward 12 years, and Brandon is now a 17 year-old senior in high school whose dream is to earn a college baseball scholarship. He wants to major in Business Management and perhaps follow in his dad’s footsteps and own his own business one day.

Brandon Collier, Boltoh High School Varsity Outfielder, Class of 2017

Brandon Collier, Bolton High School Varsity Outfielder, Class of 2017

He’s still Speedy too. Just take a look at this video composed of several short clips of some of Brandon’s high school games which I thought would serve as my personal memories only. Little did I know that I would use these same “home videos” to create part of Brandon’s online recruiting profile for college coaches, recruiters, and scouts to view. On the video, he’s the one batting and/or running bases.

Okay, since this is a blog and not another book, I’ll try to be brief and get to my main point… 🙂

Whether Brandon earns a baseball scholarship or not, whether he ever plays baseball beyond his senior year of high school or not, and whether baseball doesn’t take him anywhere other than where he’s already been, Brandon knows life will go on with or without baseball. He will still go to college. He will still have a career. He will still become the man GOD created him to be. College baseball is a dream. If this dream doesn’t come true, all he has to do is dream of something else. It’s all part of living inside the testimony. Baseball is part of his testimony; it’s part of his life, but it’s not his whole life. It has taken him places he otherwise would not have gone. Being part of a team and the life lessons learned on the baseball field will serve him well later in life.

However, I most certainly do believe he will get a baseball scholarship. He believes that too. I also believe Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sin, and I will spend eternity in heaven. He believes that too. I believe we were all created for a purpose, our lives should glorify and magnify our Creator, and we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared to help encourage and inspire others. I believe he’s too young to fully understand that although he does understand people are watching him. His life is a testimony, so wherever baseball takes him, it’s all part of the journey.

One of the first projects he had for school this year was to create a small poster with a picture of himself and 10 words to describe who he is. Along with 10 adjectives, he included this picture of his favorite scripture:

Philippians 4:13

Count the words in the scripture. Yes, it’s 10 words.  It’s not 10 different adjectives that describe Brandon but a combination of 10 words put together into one sentence which describe him. This is what he brings to the baseball field. This is what others will learn from him as he continues living inside the testimony, whether the testimony is on or off the field. It really will inspire and encourage others even though he may be too young to see it right now.

Where will your dreams take you?

I hope your answer is “Wherever God leads me.”

So let’s see where baseball takes him…. Click here if you’d like to see some of the pictures from my Facebook photo album. (I think you have to log into Facebook once you click the link in order to see the pictures.)

BONUS VIDEO

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom. I’m throwing in this little video clip simply because it’s part of the testimony. Brandon is a massive 5’7″, 140-pounder who starts on his high school varsity football team as a wide receiver and cornerback. Needless to say, I have to trust the Lord every.single.day for his safety and protection when he runs out on that football field because he is one of the smallest players out there. This was the season opener last week. All I’m going to say is watch this #StompDown by #27 Blue, my baseball player… LOL. Yes, I thoroughly enjoy watching him play baseball and football. What’s even better is watching him grow up and become the young man GOD created him to be. We can certainly enjoy his athletics along the way. 🙂

What I’ve Learned from Living Inside the Testimony

Dec13

It was never about me!

Yes, IT WAS NEVER ABOUT ME!!!

When I started writing what I thought would be my first and only book in January 2009, I thought it was totally about me. It didn’t take me long at all to realize that it was really about God’s amazing love and abundant blessings. The book was to bring HIM honor and glory. As I’ve noted on my website, I’m a nurse by profession, author by passion, and storyteller by the grace of God. My desire is to help readers discover that we all live inside testimonies meant to be shared to help inspire and encourage others.

Now that it has been almost 7 years since my first book, and I’m in the process of “wishing” to begin my 5th one, I want to take some time through this blog to reflect on each one. I hope that you have been inspired, encouraged, and enlightened. I hope that you have discovered that you do indeed live inside a testimony too and that by sharing your own testimony, you can help inspire and encourage other people. For we are overcome by the words of our testimony. (Revelation 12:11)

Living Inside The Testimony took me only 30 days to write the first draft from cover to cover. It took 44 years of living before I was prepared to write it. I had been living inside the testimony my whole life, but it wasn’t until God sat me down to right the book that I realized it.Living Inside The Testimony

I have come to realize that God was with me all along, and even when I did not acknowledge him in my life as I should have, he was always with me to ensure that I would walk down the path he had pre-ordained for me. Like the song says, Order my Steps in Your Word…. So even though the book is about me, it’s not “really” about me. It’s my testimony that I hope by sharing, others will discover God’s amazing love and abundant blessings in their own lives.

As one book reviewer described it, “This book is not your everyday read. It’s far from it. It’s a wonderfully amazing story of Ms. Collier’s walk with God. It’s her living testimony, her daily struggles, her daily acceptance that she is walking with her Father. Ms. Collier’s testimony is told with exuberance and love, helping people to understand that there will be trials along the way, but having faith and hope in your heart will help you to overcome any obstacle. From her ups and downs with her high school boyfriend, to marrying him, and living life as a wife, to work and pregnancy and family, Ms. Collier shares tragedies and milestones.” (Reviewed by Molly E. for Readers’ Favorite)

Angel in My Room is a story of love, compassion, and forgiveness. I hosted an online radio talk show for about 6 months (but that’s another story) and had the distinct honor and blessed privilege to interview Lillie Hopkins as she told her story for the first time after keeping silent for 31 years.  After the interview, it became apparent to both of us that she had so much more to share that would be a blessing to so many other people struggling with the insecurities of love, compassion, and forgiveness. We had no idea when the interview first aired in February, 2011 that the end result would be this book which I released a short 7 months later.Angel in My Room

I never thought I would write anything. I certainly didn’t think I’d write a book about my own testimony, let alone the testimony of someone else. But there I was in 2011 writing another book. Lillie had waited 31 years to talk about it, and she chose me to tell her story. Well, that’s not exactly true. God chose me. He knew all along that I would write it all those years later, and the sole purpose once again was to bring HIM honor and glory for what he had done through Lillie’s life.

Sometimes other people can describe it much better than I can. “Betty Collier has done an amazing job of writing Lillie’s story into a marvelous and inspiring book. The chapters flow nicely and once I began reading this book, I found myself so intertwined with it that I couldn’t put it down. I was truly moved and it tugged at my heart greatly. I also thank Lillie for sharing her story because it will inspire so many people who have not had the courage to forgive themselves even though God has forgiven them so easily. Through one woman’s journey, we feel her heartache and pain, her personal sacrifice, and her devotion to God. This is such a moving story and so many of us can relate to Lillie’s pain and suffering. Not all people are able to move past the agony and despair, but this book will change people’s lives forever.” (Reviewed by Rita V for Readers’ Favorite)

SHOWgrins will captivate you as you read the five inspirational stories of courage, determination and spirit from women who refuse to define themselves as only Sjogren’s patients. Join them on their journey of self-discovery as they reclaim their lives and find new purposes and meaning to how they can make a difference and be the women they always wanted to be. Those are the words of Steven Taylor, CEO, Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation. Sjogren’s (pronounced SHOWgrins, hence the title of the book) is actually an autoimmune disease that few have heard about, yet 4 million Americans suffer from this incurable disease on a daily basis.SHOWgrins

I started my journey with this book basically because I identified with the common symptoms of this difficult to diagnose disease, and I thought I had it too. It wasn’t until midway through writing it that my doctor told me he didn’t think I had Sjogren’s. But I was determined to tell the stories of the five fabulous women in the book to help bring about more awareness and education, as well as to raise much-needed funds for research into treatment and a cure one day. I ended the book by declaring my life was far better after meeting these 5 incredible women even though I didn’t have Sjogren’s. Well, as God’s Master Plan would later unveil, 2 years after I published the book, that same doctor officially diagnosed me as having Sjogren’s after all. WOW! WHEW! WHAT!?!? I never wanted to have Sjogren’s, but I did want to know if I had it, so that I could learn how to live well despite having it. So once again, I realized it wasn’t about me after all. It was about the 5 women in the book and what I could learn from them. Had I never met them, I likely would have crumbled and fallen apart after years and years of searching for answers to all that ailed me. Not only was my mission accomplished to bring about awareness and education of this little known disease, I was well-prepared for what I would learn to face for the rest of my life. Instead of being devastated, I am more determined than ever.

However, for those of you reading this post who know my mother, don’t tell her I have Sjogren’s! I don’t want her to worry about me. Please and Thank You!

The Book about James is my fourth book, but I am delighted that Julia Gray wrote it for me! Okay, so I was her mentor, consultant, manager, coach, and even picked the picture for the front cover, but James is her son, and she was the best one to actually tell that story. The book was my idea, I had the vision, but I couldn’t write it like she could. I had planned to write it, but once again, “fate” stepped in, a.k.a. GOD stepped in. The Book about James Little did I know when I first asked Julia if she would be willing to share her innermost thoughts about raising James that she had always desired to write a book. I had no idea, and quite frankly, I was afraid that she would reject my book proposal. Once again, I learned by being obedient to what I felt God had called me to do, I helped Julia fulfill a dream of hers.  More importantly, the book is changing lives and misperceptions about children with special needs. According to Jo Gilbert, Executive Director of Madonna Learning Center, “This book makes you laugh, cry, and give thanks, but it also inspires you to experience the love and joy that children with Down syndrome have to offer. God places children with special needs in our paths for a reason, and he is in full control.”  Ms. Gilbert’s words ring true on so many levels. God puts many things, people, and situations in our paths for a reason.

As a judge from Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards noted, “When people of faith talk about situations that may not be ideal, sometimes the temptation is to sugarcoat the less glamorous side of life. Yet Mrs. Gray lets us see the darker side of her thoughts without becoming maudlin, self-pitying, or causing the reader to doubt God’s faithfulness. This book is uplifting and definitely one that will be appreciated by Christians everywhere. I feel certain this book will be a perennial resource for those who need it. I hope readers who need it most will find it.” So, with that being said, it doesn’t really matter that the whole thing was my idea, does it? What matters is that Julia did a beautiful job telling her story, and for that, God will once again receive all the honor and glory.

And finally, about this “wishful thinking” 5th book which I have actually been praying about for the past 4 years… I fretted over whether to include this as part of my post at all. I woke up this morning with no intentions of writing anything today. After all, Christmas is right around the corner, I have oral surgery for some major dental work scheduled for Monday morning (part of those issues I deal with because of Sjogren’s, but that too is another story), and I have so many other things to do. I won’t even go there as I’m sure your TO DO lists are just as overwhelming as mine. Anyway, halfway through the day, I grabbed my laptop and took a seat in my favorite room in my house to try to get motivated while I looked at all my pretty Christmas decorations. I knew it was time! I prayed, asked for guidance as to what I needed to share with you today, and if I should include this picture.Living Inside the Testimony with Keith Lee

No, it’s not a book cover, but it is the beginning of my next journey which actually began over 4 years ago. For the sake of brevity (which I think I have already surpassed) let me back up just a tad bit and explain. This is a picture of Mr. Keith Lee and me from a couple of months ago when I had the privilege of meeting him for the first time to present my book proposal. (I couldn’t leave without getting an autographed basketball! After all, I was a Keith Lee super-fan long before I became an author). He never said I couldn’t share this picture with others, but I have been hanging on to it and not saying a word as I patiently and prayerfully wait for him to give me an answer about allowing me to have the honor of writing his testimony! If you’re not from Memphis or didn’t follow his basketball career, look here for more information about Keith Lee. This is probably the most “public” information you will ever read about him. Even in today’s social media craze, some people prefer to remain private, and very little is known about the personal side of Keith Lee. As the article states:

The media had always wanted the quiet 6-11 giant to say more, and now here was another reporter, asking the 51-year-old former Memphis State forward to reminisce on his college playing days more than a quarter-century after he led the Tigers to the 1985 Final Four.

Lee very politely declined. Maybe some other time. “I thank the fans for their support,” he said softly, clearly still appreciative of his place in Tigers history and in the hearts of the thousands who cheered for him from 1981-85.

He would simply prefer to remain private, like he always has…

And while he remains a private man, Lee said he’s enjoying himself as a coach at Raleigh-Egypt, where he’s sharing his knowledge of the game with players too young to know how dominant he was at the college level. Five years ago, he earned his degree at Memphis in interdisciplinary studies.

“I give God all the glory. I’m just a vessel used by God,” said Lee, who spent three seasons in the NBA and several more as a pro in the Continental Basketball Association and United States Basketball League.

Although I have no idea if this book will ever come to fruition, just accepting the fact that it is possible gives me the faith to believe. Perhaps it won’t be Keith Lee (because he is really a very private person who doesn’t even grant interviews, let alone entertain the idea of someone writing a book about him) so if this doesn’t work out, I’m sure another name will pop in my head, and God will direct me further. I certainly won’t be discouraged. For now I am satisfied just knowing I can accept this idea without doubting God, so whatever he decides to do, and wherever he decides to lead me, I’ll be there, ready to interview and write the testimony… whether it’s Keith Lee or somebody who is completely off my radar right now. The more I think about it, the more insane it sounds, but I will leave this paragraph here anyway. Only the Lord knows if this is going to happen or not. And if it does NOT, then the seed has already been planted in my head for me to “dream big” so even if I’m not ever going to be Living Inside the Testimony with Keith Lee, it will be someone…. Someone who walks through the door that the Lord opens. (Actually this paragraph is what I wrote on 4/7/11 when I first started praying about this book, and I just copied it here because it seems to fit.) I thought it and wrote it in April, 2011, and I still think it now.

I know Keith Lee has a story to tell. He has never told it. I know he has a testimony to share. He has never shared it publicly. I know there is no one who can help him tell it better than I can. I am praying that God will help him understand that so that he can be a blessing to others. It has nothing to do with my confidence or lack thereof. It has nothing to do with my writing ability or lack thereof. As a matter of fact, it has nothing to do with me at all. Quite simply, “Living Inside the Testimony with Keith Lee” is all about bringing honor and glory to God. I am assured of that, whether I ever write the book or not.

What testimonies do you have just waiting to be shared with others?

 

Dear Facebook Friend: Thanks for Venting!

Aug21

I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed this morning and saw this post being shared by a friend from a year ago:

Today my Moma turned 81! I asked Moma what she wants for her birthday- she said “Chicken Alfredo from Macaroni Grill” check- that’s for dinner. We started talking about her being a year older- she said- all I want is for my family – kids, brothers, sisters, Grandkids, great Grandkids) to have good health, peace, prosperity and happiness. What a great reminder for all of us. I am going to share something a little more personal with my friends- My Moma did not receive one birthday card and only 2 phone calls today wishing her Happy Birthday. If she was on FB she would have received numerous Happy Birthdays- but she is not-What has happened with folks sending a bday card or picking up the phone and spending two minutes to wish someone Happy Birthday? (this is a rhetorical question, no one needs to respond) what a shame! Moma won’t say anything about this- it just breaks my heart.

After my friend posted this, she received over 20 comments from her family and friends wishing her mother a Happy Birthday. All she really wanted to do was vent, but her friends chimed in anyway.

This made me stop and think about social media and what has happened to face-to-face contact and really caring for each other on a personal scale instead of over social media.

So yesterday, my friend updated her post from last year and shared it again:

Today Momma turned 82- pretty much the same except she wants Eggplant Parmesan for dinner! She will definitely have that for dinner!!!

Several people have chimed in to wish her Happy Birthday again this year. But if things are pretty much the same, I guess she didn’t get very many personal phone calls or birthday cards in the mail this year either.

My friend doesn’t know I’m blogging about her Facebook post; however, she does subscribe to my blog, so I assume she will see this. First, DEAR FACEBOOK FRIEND: I’m posting this without using your name or any of your pictures since I didn’t ask for permission, but I sure did want to post a picture of your beautiful mother. Instead, I’ll share this picture of Jeanne Cooper to help make my point. When Ms. Cooper passed away in 2013 at the age of 84, Entertainment Weekly shared this post.

Jeanne Cooper, who played matriarch Katherine Chancellor on CBS’ hit soap The Young and the Restless, has died. She was 84.

Actress Jeanne Cooper arrives at the 37th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards held at the Las Vegas Hilton on June 27, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for ATI)

Actress Jeanne Cooper arrives at the 37th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards held at the Las Vegas Hilton on June 27, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for ATI)

Cooper, who has starred in the daytime series since its first year in 1973, had been in and out of a Los Angeles hospital recently due to an undisclosed illness. Her actor/son Corbin Bernsen had been informing fans of her condition via Facebook, where he confirmed her death today. “My mother passed away this morning just a short time ago, peaceful with my sister by her side, in her sleep. I was going to visit this afternoon, thought I had time. Reminder to self – time is a precious thing. I too am at peace however. I said my goodbyes several times over during the last few weeks.

“I’ll go one last time now for a gentle kiss a final farewell for this lifetime,” he continued. “She has been a blaze her entire life, that beacon, that boxer I spoke of earlier. She went the full twelve rounds and by unanimous decision… won! And while her light finally gave into the wind that gives flight to all our journeys, there will always be a glimmer left behind by what she stood for. I will speak about that more in coming days, months I suppose. I will certainly dedicate what remains of my life to continue her purpose of honesty, equality, humility, empathy and love.”

So now I really started thinking… DEAR FACEBOOK FRIEND: Thank you so much for venting last year and reminding us again this year about your mother’s birthday and the lack of attention she was given. Too often we forget our manners or lose them completely. Social media has actually made us much less personable and much more thoughtless. I appreciate you so much and hope you don’t mind that I am sharing your post anonymously to make a point.

When I googled Jeanne Cooper’s funeral, I was surprised to see so many hits. There were all sorts of articles and videos, including a video that showed how Y&R aired her TV funeral.  Her family also had a private service in addition to the public memorial. I should have known to expect that since she’s a larger than life beloved soap opera star. There was such an outpouring of love and support for both her natural family and the Y&R family. Maybe we can learn from this (albeit shaky) comparison of these two vastly different lives. My friend’s 82-year-old mother is still alive and well. We shouldn’t wait until someone has passed away to show how much we love and care for them.

If my rambling thoughts have at least prompted you to think about those you love and hold close to your heart, then I have accomplished my task for this morning. I want to inspire others to live inside the testimony with me. Inside this testimony, we love, support, and encourage each other in a personal way by sharing our lives and our time with others.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines testimony like this:

  • An outward sign
  • Firsthand authentication of a fact
  • A solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath in response to interrogation by a lawyer or authorized public official
  • An open acknowledgment
  • A public profession of religious experience

DEAR FACEBOOK FRIEND: Thank you for venting, and please tell your mother that I said Happy Birthday! Living to be 82 years old is quite a testimony all by itself. Loving your mother the way you do is the bonus testimony!!!

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Let’s all remember to share our lives and our time with others in a personal way, not just on social media. And let’s remember what my friend’s mother wanted for her birthday: for my family – kids, brothers, sisters, Grandkids, great Grandkids) to have good health, peace, prosperity and happiness.

Isn’t that what we all should want?

 

(Not) Too Busy to Post

Aug15

When I launched this blog in January 2014, my prayer for each of you who chose to read it was that you would be inspired and encouraged by the testimonies and stories that I was going to share. My initial goal was at least a monthly post, but as I look back, I see I haven’t written anything for almost 4 months.

There is a storyteller bottled up inside me, and sometimes it seems to consume me. As I continue seeking the Lord for guidance concerning how to release all the stories floating around in my head, I find myself so overwhelmed that I don’t take time to sit down and pin my thoughts. “Busyness” circa 2015 has a new definition, and in this modern world we live, it can be quite mind-boggling. Like many of you, I am a self-proclaimed victim as well. I won’t try to come up with excuses about how busy I am or the many roles I have to fill every single day. Our degree of busyness is relative to our own personal situations. There is an old saying: “You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”
walk a mile in my shoes

So I will offer no excuses for my failure to make time for what I truly enjoy, being a storyteller. It is a precious gift from God and truly my passion. What I would like to do is inspire you (as well as encourage myself) to take a look at our busyness and try to reconcile how to make a change. But to do this, one must understand this busyness phenomenon. True to 2015, my google search took me to numerous quotes about busyness. Here’s 5 of my favorites:

  • “Some times things just fall off your plate.”
    ― V.K. Springs 
  • “Busyness is not a reason for not getting other things done. It is an excuse for not claiming your true priorities.”
    ― Alan Cohen
  • “The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness.”
    ― John C. Maxwell
  • “I understand our mornings can be busy; however, if we cannot make time for God now, then when?”
    ― Ashley Ormon
  • “Finally, everybody agrees that no one pursuit can be successfully followed by a man who is preoccupied with many things—eloquence cannot, nor the liberal studies—since the mind, when distracted, takes in nothing very deeply, but rejects everything that is, as it were, crammed into it. There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living: there is nothing that is harder to learn.”
    ― Seneca

Right now I still don’t know how I will balance my busyness on a healthier scale, but at least I realize I have to do so. I sincerely hope I have motivated you to take a look at your own busy lives and realize if you need to work on changing things. We were all created for a unique and divine purpose. Make time to figure out what is important in this life. Time will pass us by whether we use it or not.

never give up

Merry Christmas…. to Africa

Dec21

Everyone has that kind of relative, right? You know the one who shows up at the Family Thanksgiving Dinner after all the food has been put away or at Christmas time, empty-handed, looking for a handout. My mother’s brother, Uncle Singleton, is not exactly THAT kind of relative though. He’s from a little rural town in Ellendale, TN, but he spends most of the holidays deep in the bushes of Africa, specifically in Kenya, Nigeria, or Uganda being driven by a mission. His mission is to bring the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ, to the people of Africa.

You see, my uncle is an International Evangelist, and a couple of months ago, we celebrated his 25th anniversary as Founder and President of Christ International Ministries. How he got from Ellendale to the continent of Africa is a miracle all by itself. If you visit his website, you will find information about his ministry to carry out the Great Commission of Jesus to go and preach the gospel and to assist in the growth of the body of Christ. What’s so interesting to me is that his “only” preparation for such an undertaking is simply being “called” by God. It is a gift. It is an anointing. It is the favor of God. It is most definitely a calling to be driven by such a mission… to preach, teach, and support!

L to R - American Traveling Companion - Dr. Dewayne Swift, Evangelist Singleton Hopkins, Evangelist Sybil Hopkins, 2 women from the village

L to R – American Traveling Companion – Dr. Dewayne Swift, Evangelist Singleton Hopkins, Evangelist Sybil Hopkins, 2 women from the Nigerian village

On his first mission trip to Nigeria in 1989, his contact person was afraid to send someone to pick him up from the airport for fear of being hijacked. There he was in a foreign land all by himself, unable to speak the language, dependent upon strangers to help him to his destination well before there was anything remotely similar to google maps. I don’t think his destination is even on a map today! A brave taxi driver took him through checkpoints with men holding machine guns, and he eventually arrived at the designated home safely. Singleton doesn’t travel to the “city” part of these countries. He goes in the villages and deep in the bushes where no American missionary has travelled.  He has preached in the midst of rebel activity, in refugee camps, and even to orphans whose schools had been bombed. While traveling through one rebel line, the people immediately behind his group were murdered.

The first church Christ International Ministries built in Nigeria

The most recent church Christ International Ministries built in Uganda

Through what seems to be a very dangerous mission, Singleton has witnessed miracles right before his eyes. Blind eyes have gained sight and deaf ears have been opened. Souls have been saved, and heaven rejoices. As his wife Sybil describes it, “These past years have been one of amazement…It has been a tremendous blessing, and I appreciate God for allowing me to have the privilege of leaving this country to go to another place in the world and tell people about Jesus.” They have ministered to thousands, spreading the gospel, and providing aid to the people of Africa. It is rare that we ever see him during the holidays because he is usually in Africa during Thanksgiving and Christmas. That’s the best time of the year for him to travel because in order to fund this ministry, Singleton owns and physically labors every day in a small lawn care business. He works full-time on his day job to have the means to fund his mission trips. Because lawn care in his part of the world is slow during the winter months, he chooses to leave that work behind to travel to Africa between November and January. To me, it seems like he brings Christmas to Africa. What a gift!!!

Some of the Nigerians who came to hear Evangelist Singleton Hopkins preach the gospel

Evangelist Singleton Hopkins preaching inside the Nigerian church which he helped build

So as we continue our American traditions celebrating the Christmas season, I ask that you consider sending a Christmas gift to Africa. We have an overabundance of most things here in America, including material possessions, all the modern conveniences that we probably take for granted, and of course the freedom of religion. What better way to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ than to help fund a mission trip to remote areas of Africa, so they too can hear “The Good News!”  You can make a secure online donation to Christ International Ministries by clicking here. Your donations are tax-deductible to this 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

As I mentioned in the beginning, everyone has that kind of relative. My uncle is usually late for Thanksgiving dinner because he is probably in a remote part of an African village preaching the gospel. He doesn’t show up at Christmas time empty-handed either. Instead, he is most likely using his hands to help build churches and schools in those same remote areas of Africa. He’s not looking for a handout. He’s reaching up, all the way to heaven, and he’s teaching the precious souls in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda how to reach heaven too. WHAT A GIFT!