Outskirts Press, INC.

Where Is Your Joy?

Cheryl is a young lady who has faced many obstacles in her life. She was a twin, her twin brother died at birth. Cheryl's aunt thought that Cheryl would die any day because Cheryl was a very sick little baby and eventually put up for adoption. It looked like everyone had given up on this little miracle baby. Now isn't that something, this baby had been destined to fail from the start. Cheryl grew to believe that love was kind, gentle, forgiving, unselfish and forever. She then marries a man who she thinks share those same beliefs. She later finds herself in a courtroom filing for her divorce. Her now ex-husband (Steven) was having an affair right under her nose, of course he denied any wrong doing. Sixty days after their divorce was final Steven was remarried, talk about betrayal! Cheryl was never bitter towards Steven. She then came to the decision to become celibate until God sends her a soul mate (her Boaz). Two years of being celibate she thinks to herself (I have it made, this is a piece of cake, I can handle it) until someone got to her heart (Josh). Needless to say Josh was not the man that she wanted him to be. Despite all of the storms in Cheryl's life she remained faithful to God. She survived death, and several failed relationships. Cheryl is still standing!!! Cheryl finds "joy" in knowing that although the storms of life was raging that God was right there with her all the time carrying her through the storms.

Often times we are faced with many storms in our lives. Storms are events that take place that we have no control over. That could be death of a loved one. We hold those that we love close to our hearts and we take for granted that they will always be with us. Now, we are flooded with loneliness and despair.



Some of us have been faced with betrayal, that could be from a spouse or a friend. What do we do , in those cases? We all know someone , or is related to someone, that struggles from alcohol/drug abuse. Do we cast them aside and look down on them because they are not us? Who are we, anyway? Do we allow ourselves to abandon or reject them?



What about a young girl who has had numerous sex partners, or numerous abortions? Do we judge her? Do we allow the storms that take place in our lives hold us back forever? We all can relate to being misused or abused , can we live beyond that?



When we are going through storms in our lives , we often think that we will not make it through. We fail to realize that God ordains our struggles so that He can orchestrate our futures. We often question God - Why us? Well, why not us?



We fail to realize that God is making us over while we are in our storms. Who will you be, when your storm is over? I find joy in knowing that God loves us unconditionally and even if we don’t get it right the first time around, he gives us more chances. What will you do with your next chance? This book will inspire you to persevere.