Items related to 30 Days to Redemption
Lissy is predestined for a calling; one she didn't ask for or want for that matter. The weight of America's fate rested heavily on Lissy's shoulders. If she failed, America would be destroyed. Time is ticking. She only has 30 days to wake America up to the danger. She has no connections, no plan, little money and no time. Lissy will face multiple trials and road blocks. Every effort to warn Americans that God's judgment is about to be rendered upon their very heads, will be thwarted. She will be violently assaulted, thrown in jail, mocked and rejected. Lissy will second guess her calling by God. Was her dream just a product of her over-active imagination? What if it was only a dream? What if it wasn't? She will question her own sanity. No matter the outcome, her marriage to the one and only love in her life, Glen, will hang in the balance and she has to choose. Lissy will lose friends, family and her spotless reputation as a nurse in a prestigious hospital. It is an enormous price to pay for a dream she is uncertain will ever come to pass. What are her options? If she does nothing and God destroys America, blood will be on her hands and worse; she might be denied access to heaven. If she agrees to be interviewed on national television and other media outlets to warn Americans, she will lose everything. She is sure to be a laughing stock, the butt of all jokes told around every American's dinner table. The countdown has begun. Will she be able to stop the judgment befalling America? Will they believe her? Does she believe it herself? Can this really be happening to her? To her beloved country? Lissy must focus. God has given her 30 days to convince Americans to repent and turn back to Him. She will do whatever it takes to save America. She has to warn them. She will warn them, no matter what the cost. The real question remains. How will America respond?
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Lisa Scott was born and raised in upstate, New York. As a teenager, Lisa wrote children's short stories for fun. She departed from the writing scene for many years and pursued a career as a Paralegal. Lisa missed the freedom to create in the writing world. When God laid it on Lisa's heart to write a book, she enthusiastically submitted. Lisa took up her passion for writing again in 2010. She is now a Christian fiction writer, still residing in upstate, New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:
September 7th
The annual Shepard Labor Day picnic; this would be the very last holiday she’d ever spend together with the entire Shepard family tree intact. If she only knew what was coming, she would have cherished every moment, taken many more photos of her crazy, but deeply loved in-laws, held on to them a little bit longer; said her good-byes properly.
This year marked the 10th year and running family tradition with little disappointment. It was chalked full of drama, constant complaining and chaos. This year, it had come to a screeching halt on account of the weather. Thank you Jesus.
Overall, it had been a pretty cruddy day to have a picnic. The winds had been too strong, gusting on up and over 35 miles per hour. And there was an unseasonable nip in the air. Thank God it hadn't rained. Lissy Shepard glanced around the inside of their pole barn. Never again would she complain to her husband about the money they'd spent erecting the Godsend. Glen's winning argument had spared her from attempting to cram all 95 Shepard family members into their 1,700 square foot home.
Lissy eagerly bid the last of her in-laws a fond farewell, then slowly turned to address the vast expanse of leftovers spilling out of their containers and littering the rows of her rented tables.
She shook her head in disbelief. They're like locusts, she marveled. They came. They devoured. They left.
"You’ve outdone yourself again, Lissy," Glen said. He closed the gap between them in three long strides. It was a feat he could easily manage. He had a good seven inches over Lissy.
He wrapped his arms around her pulling his fingers through her long black hair. She had spent hours slaving over a hot stove in order to pull off another infamous "Shepard Labor Day Family Picnic". And he loved it. It was the one event he looked forward to each year. And it was the only time he got to shine like a brand-new penny in front of his family, overstating his accomplishments for that year and bragging on his beautiful wife and two college-bound children. Let’s face it, Lissy and the kids always made him look good.
"The food was incredible," he said. "You used your mother's secret recipe for the chicken marinade, didn't you?"
Lissy smiled. She had outdone herself. She pressed her face into Glen’s chest, relishing in the moment. It wasn’t often that he showed her such appreciation. Not that he didn’t appreciate her, it was just that...well... Glen really wasn’t much for expressing what he felt Lissy already knew. That presumption often times left her feeling taken for granted and, undoubtedly, left Glen on the couch for the next few nights, scratching his head.
After a few contented sighs, Lissy lifted her pale blue eyes. Glen lightly brushed Lissy's cheek with his thumb. He had a gift for her. One he knew all the money in the world couldn’t buy. And, if he was lucky, later she may want to thank him properly...
"Why don’t you head inside and take a nice long, hot bubble bath," he said. "I called Arnie and he’s on his way over. We’ll clean up."
Arnie was their next door neighbor and one of Glen’s closest buddies. They became fast friends about 15 years ago when Glen and Lissy had first moved to the quaint little town of Newark, nestled in upstate New York. Arnie had gone over to introduce himself and lend a hand moving in, if needed. After exchanging brief introductions, they soon discovered that they shared the same passion for the best team in the entire National Football League: DA Bears. They've been inseparable ever since.
Lissy slowly coaxed Glen’s head down to meet hers, nose to nose. After a very brief kiss, Lissy reluctantly pulled away. Arnie was sputtering up the driveway.
"We’re in the pole barn!" Glen shouted as Arnie rounded the corner into their back yard.
"I figured," Arnie answered, propelling his voice over the noisy thrumming of his tractor. "Where else were you gonna stack all those people?"
He stomped on the brakes and killed the engine.
"No way was the Misses gonna have that whole clan inside her house," he said sliding off of his tractor. "There must have been a hundred folks that showed up at your place judging by the parade of cars I have seen streaming up and down the road."
"Pretty close to it," Glen chuckled.
Glen and Arnie exchanged a quick handshake. Arnie turned and tipped his hat at Lissy. It was his way of saying hello to her. She assumed he didn't say much to her because he was a self-proclaimed atheist. She figured he was afraid she'd literally hit him over the head with her bible.
Before long, their conversation shifted to the "big game" coming up that Sunday. The Bears vs. The Packers at Lambeau Field. Lissy saw her chance to exit stage left before Arnie had an opportunity to fully digest the extent of what he had signed up for.
Arnie was a kind-hearted fellow, originally from North Carolina. He spoke with that slight southern drawl at the end of every word. In his late 40s, Arnie was closer in age to Glen than Lissy, who was a very attractive 44 and looked more like she was 34.
"Sorry I couldn’t make it to the picnic," Arnie said. "I had to... What the!"
"Thank you so much for helping Glen clean up!" Lissy blurted out over her shoulder.
She was not willing to endure any statements of retraction that Arnie may offer up. Lissy zipped to their back door, and slammed it shut behind her.
She headed down the hallway and into their only bathroom, locking the door behind her. Resting her head against the door, Lissy let her eyes roll to the back of her head. It had been a long day. Sweet silence. Well...Almost, apart from Arnie’s impressive use of adjectives, which he loudly projected in order to voice his displeasure.
After running her bath water, Lissy shed her clothes and was about to slip in when she was startled by a loud pounding on the bathroom door.
"Mom!" Shrilled Natalie. "Nate won’t give me the car keys! Kenya and I are going to the mall to get a new purse for school tomorrow and we need to leave now before it closes!" Kenya Adams was Natalie’s best friend.
"I wanna go too!" Nate said. Lissy heard him stomp down the hall towards the bathroom door.
"I wanna get some snacks for school tomorrow and she won’t take me with her!” Nate yelled through the door. “I hate having to share a car with her, she’s so--"
"Enough!" Lissy said, folding her arms across her chest, shouting through the door. "Why aren't you guys helping your father?"
"Dad said it was ok to go to the mall," Natalie said. "Arnie's called a couple of his buddies to come over and help."
Lissy puffed out an exaggerated sigh. "Natalie, take your brother with you and be home in two hours. Nate, give her back the keys. Now."
"But mom!" Natalie shrieked.
"Either you take Nathaniel with you or you don't go." Lissy relaxed as she heard her disgruntled children march out the front door and pull out of the drive way. She slipped into the tub, blasted the hot water and let her mind wander.
It seemed like only yesterday that the kids were pulling on her pant leg, demanding, "I want uppie mommy." That fond memory had been replaced with "I want outie mother." She knew it wouldn’t be much longer before she had to watch her beloved chicks fly out of the nest. Natalie was 19, a sophomore in college and Nathaniel, 18, a freshman. Both kids had opted to go to Finger Lakes Community College and live at home to save money, but once they transferred to SUNY Brockport after their sophomore year, they'd move into a dorm room on campus.
Lissy slipped into the tub, reflecting on the day’s events. It had been a good day, good food, good family, well.... Mostly. Lissy was thankful for the family God had given her. Glen’s family was all that she had now. Her family had died tragically in a plane crash when she was 18. She was an only child. It wasn’t long after her family had died, that she was introduced to Glen by a mutual friend.
Content with the day’s events, Lissy began to pray out loud quietly. "Lord, I just want to thank you for my family. I see the work that you perform in them daily. I'm so grateful that You continue to keep a watchful eye on them. They really have been such a blessing to me. Thank you for the people You've put in my path that have helped keep me sane. You consistently surround me with Your love, grace and mercy. Thank you."
Lissy felt a warm sensation sweep across her as heat filled the room. She knew God was there with her. And He was listening. Lissy worshiped God with a song she had written for Him, remembering the very first time she had felt His presence. If she had to relay the experience to someone else using just one word, terrified would be a good one.
It was five years ago. Glen and Lissy were in the midst of one of their many cold wars, wherein nobody spoke to the other for days. Glen had always been a great guy, a faithful husband and a doting father, but he also loved his drink. He wasn’t an alcoholic or anything to that extreme, but on occasion Glen would go on these drinking binges. It would usually begin when things got a little tight with the finances, and it always ended with his head in the toilet, the kids crying and Lissy very upset. Truth be told, Glen was belligerent when he was drunk. The violent verbal assaults that would fly out of his mouth would cut her to the bone. Given the choice, Lissy would have taken a punch to the mouth any day over the horrible names he would hurl at her.
After one of his tirades, Lissy had decided to try out one of the local churches with the kids one Sunday in search of advice from anyone willing to give it, on how to resolve the not so perfect issues plaguing her within the four walls of the Shepard family home.
Lissy had always believed there was a God. She even had the kids baptized when they were babies. Heck, Lissy even made sure the whole family went to church every Easter and Christmas Eve to impress upon them the real meaning for their celebration. At that point in time, Lissy never thought much about having any type of personal relationship with God. She felt that she was a good person and never really worried about the whole "heaven" and "hell" thing.
What did worry, she was that Glen’s poor choices were negatively impacting her and their two children. She also worried about her husband, who turned to the bottle for comfort when things got a little tough. She couldn’t comprehend why Glen wasn’t able to cope with what she concluded to be normal everyday life stresses. Lissy had lost her entire family tree in a single day. She’d survived much worse.
As the church service began that Sunday morning, Lissy remembered sitting in the cold, hard wooden pew. Her focus had shifted toward the minister, who had just began reciting his early morning sermon. Lissy leaned forward hoping that he would have a personal word for her when all at once, it hit her. A sudden overwhelming sensation of warmth swept straight through the innermost part of her soul. It was a place inside of her that she never knew had existed. A voice of reassurance began to infiltrate her thoughts, insisting that things for her were about to change dramatically.
The warm sensations intensified into heat and consumed her entire body. The heat had become so intense that she began to sweat. Lissy jumped out of her seat, completely unaware of the fact that she was causing a huge disruption in the midst of their service. She was desperate to get out of there. Lissy had no idea what was happening to her, but she didn’t want it to continue. The heat she felt wasn’t a burning type of heat that caused pain. It was something completely different. It was foreign to her and even though she’d hate to admit it now, it really did terrify her.
Lissy felt a "presence", but she couldn’t see anything. As far as she was concerned, God was up in heaven, somewhere way up in the air-- far, far away. He wasn’t supposed to be down here and He definitely was NOT supposed to be setting up residence inside of her right at that moment.
Lissy giggled at the memory. She recalled picking up the pace with her kids firmly in tow as she headed for the exit. She had just made it outside of the large sanctuary doors allowing them to slam shut behind her, when an elderly woman stepped in her path.
"The Lord is with you now and your life is about to change drastically and forever."
That statement stopped Lissy dead in her tracks. Her knees buckled and hit the floor in one swift motion.
The elderly woman, affectionately known as Mama Rosa, placed her hands on the top of Lissy's shaky head. Natalie and Nate looked on; their feet froze in place.
"Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?" Rosa asked.
"Yes," Lissy whispered. She felt a calming presence overwhelm her senses. She was no longer afraid. She felt...Guilty. Convicted.
"Do you want to have a more intimate and personal relationship with Him and our Father?"
"Yes." Lissy began to sway on her knees.
"Are you willing to ask for forgiveness of your sins and invite Jesus into your life?" Asked Mama Rosa.
"Yes." Lissy allowed her body to submit. Her mind, her soul. Her everything. She wanted this.
"Then repeat these words after me," Mama Rosa said. "Lord, I am a sinner. I thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins. Forgive me, Lord, of all of my sins as I forgive all others who have sinned against me. Come into my life and change my heart in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."
Lissy had no idea how she was able to repeat all of that, but she knew she wanted to-- and did do it with the assistance of some other source of strength that came from deep inside of her. It was a strength she knew she did not possess.
What happened to Lissy next still baffles her mind every time she thinks about it. In one fluid movement, she found herself lying flat on her back right outside of the sanctuary doors. She was fully awake and could hear everything that was going on around her, but Lissy was unable to open her eyes-- and she couldn't get up.
Heat continued to sweep through her as she simultaneously felt a pressing down type of feeling. It was as if someone was holding her firmly to the floor. After a couple of minutes, the sensations began to subside. Overcome with emotion, tears streamed down Lissy’s face. All fear and condemnation had been replaced by a peace inside her that could never be explained in the natural.
She heard the elderly woman reassuring Natalie and Nathaniel. The kids were amazingly calm, Lissy thought.
Ten minutes later Lissy was able to open her eyes and look around. She expected to see who it was that was holding her down. Lissy had assumed it was the elderly woman, but she found no one standing near her. She turned on her side in a feeble attempt to sit up. Her whole body felt like it had been filled with lead. Mama Rosa came to her side and helped her into a nearby chair.
Three weeks later Glen swore off all alcohol. He said that he had a "revelation" that drinking wasn’t the answer to his problems and that his occasional excessive use of alcohol might be negatively impacting her and the kids. It was as if he had just flippantly decided to take out the trash. Whatever. It didn't matter. Lissy would take the much needed change in any way she could receive it.
Lissy splashed warm water over her exposed knees. What began as a terrifying experience for her five years ago had slowly blossomed into a wonderful relationship with Jesus and her heavenly Father. She flipped the drain switch with her big toe, allowing the water to recede.
She wondered when God was going to reach Glen on the same level He had reached her. While God had encouraged him to quit drinking, Glen wasn’t really...
The annual Shepard Labor Day picnic; this would be the very last holiday she’d ever spend together with the entire Shepard family tree intact. If she only knew what was coming, she would have cherished every moment, taken many more photos of her crazy, but deeply loved in-laws, held on to them a little bit longer; said her good-byes properly.
This year marked the 10th year and running family tradition with little disappointment. It was chalked full of drama, constant complaining and chaos. This year, it had come to a screeching halt on account of the weather. Thank you Jesus.
Overall, it had been a pretty cruddy day to have a picnic. The winds had been too strong, gusting on up and over 35 miles per hour. And there was an unseasonable nip in the air. Thank God it hadn't rained. Lissy Shepard glanced around the inside of their pole barn. Never again would she complain to her husband about the money they'd spent erecting the Godsend. Glen's winning argument had spared her from attempting to cram all 95 Shepard family members into their 1,700 square foot home.
Lissy eagerly bid the last of her in-laws a fond farewell, then slowly turned to address the vast expanse of leftovers spilling out of their containers and littering the rows of her rented tables.
She shook her head in disbelief. They're like locusts, she marveled. They came. They devoured. They left.
"You’ve outdone yourself again, Lissy," Glen said. He closed the gap between them in three long strides. It was a feat he could easily manage. He had a good seven inches over Lissy.
He wrapped his arms around her pulling his fingers through her long black hair. She had spent hours slaving over a hot stove in order to pull off another infamous "Shepard Labor Day Family Picnic". And he loved it. It was the one event he looked forward to each year. And it was the only time he got to shine like a brand-new penny in front of his family, overstating his accomplishments for that year and bragging on his beautiful wife and two college-bound children. Let’s face it, Lissy and the kids always made him look good.
"The food was incredible," he said. "You used your mother's secret recipe for the chicken marinade, didn't you?"
Lissy smiled. She had outdone herself. She pressed her face into Glen’s chest, relishing in the moment. It wasn’t often that he showed her such appreciation. Not that he didn’t appreciate her, it was just that...well... Glen really wasn’t much for expressing what he felt Lissy already knew. That presumption often times left her feeling taken for granted and, undoubtedly, left Glen on the couch for the next few nights, scratching his head.
After a few contented sighs, Lissy lifted her pale blue eyes. Glen lightly brushed Lissy's cheek with his thumb. He had a gift for her. One he knew all the money in the world couldn’t buy. And, if he was lucky, later she may want to thank him properly...
"Why don’t you head inside and take a nice long, hot bubble bath," he said. "I called Arnie and he’s on his way over. We’ll clean up."
Arnie was their next door neighbor and one of Glen’s closest buddies. They became fast friends about 15 years ago when Glen and Lissy had first moved to the quaint little town of Newark, nestled in upstate New York. Arnie had gone over to introduce himself and lend a hand moving in, if needed. After exchanging brief introductions, they soon discovered that they shared the same passion for the best team in the entire National Football League: DA Bears. They've been inseparable ever since.
Lissy slowly coaxed Glen’s head down to meet hers, nose to nose. After a very brief kiss, Lissy reluctantly pulled away. Arnie was sputtering up the driveway.
"We’re in the pole barn!" Glen shouted as Arnie rounded the corner into their back yard.
"I figured," Arnie answered, propelling his voice over the noisy thrumming of his tractor. "Where else were you gonna stack all those people?"
He stomped on the brakes and killed the engine.
"No way was the Misses gonna have that whole clan inside her house," he said sliding off of his tractor. "There must have been a hundred folks that showed up at your place judging by the parade of cars I have seen streaming up and down the road."
"Pretty close to it," Glen chuckled.
Glen and Arnie exchanged a quick handshake. Arnie turned and tipped his hat at Lissy. It was his way of saying hello to her. She assumed he didn't say much to her because he was a self-proclaimed atheist. She figured he was afraid she'd literally hit him over the head with her bible.
Before long, their conversation shifted to the "big game" coming up that Sunday. The Bears vs. The Packers at Lambeau Field. Lissy saw her chance to exit stage left before Arnie had an opportunity to fully digest the extent of what he had signed up for.
Arnie was a kind-hearted fellow, originally from North Carolina. He spoke with that slight southern drawl at the end of every word. In his late 40s, Arnie was closer in age to Glen than Lissy, who was a very attractive 44 and looked more like she was 34.
"Sorry I couldn’t make it to the picnic," Arnie said. "I had to... What the!"
"Thank you so much for helping Glen clean up!" Lissy blurted out over her shoulder.
She was not willing to endure any statements of retraction that Arnie may offer up. Lissy zipped to their back door, and slammed it shut behind her.
She headed down the hallway and into their only bathroom, locking the door behind her. Resting her head against the door, Lissy let her eyes roll to the back of her head. It had been a long day. Sweet silence. Well...Almost, apart from Arnie’s impressive use of adjectives, which he loudly projected in order to voice his displeasure.
After running her bath water, Lissy shed her clothes and was about to slip in when she was startled by a loud pounding on the bathroom door.
"Mom!" Shrilled Natalie. "Nate won’t give me the car keys! Kenya and I are going to the mall to get a new purse for school tomorrow and we need to leave now before it closes!" Kenya Adams was Natalie’s best friend.
"I wanna go too!" Nate said. Lissy heard him stomp down the hall towards the bathroom door.
"I wanna get some snacks for school tomorrow and she won’t take me with her!” Nate yelled through the door. “I hate having to share a car with her, she’s so--"
"Enough!" Lissy said, folding her arms across her chest, shouting through the door. "Why aren't you guys helping your father?"
"Dad said it was ok to go to the mall," Natalie said. "Arnie's called a couple of his buddies to come over and help."
Lissy puffed out an exaggerated sigh. "Natalie, take your brother with you and be home in two hours. Nate, give her back the keys. Now."
"But mom!" Natalie shrieked.
"Either you take Nathaniel with you or you don't go." Lissy relaxed as she heard her disgruntled children march out the front door and pull out of the drive way. She slipped into the tub, blasted the hot water and let her mind wander.
It seemed like only yesterday that the kids were pulling on her pant leg, demanding, "I want uppie mommy." That fond memory had been replaced with "I want outie mother." She knew it wouldn’t be much longer before she had to watch her beloved chicks fly out of the nest. Natalie was 19, a sophomore in college and Nathaniel, 18, a freshman. Both kids had opted to go to Finger Lakes Community College and live at home to save money, but once they transferred to SUNY Brockport after their sophomore year, they'd move into a dorm room on campus.
Lissy slipped into the tub, reflecting on the day’s events. It had been a good day, good food, good family, well.... Mostly. Lissy was thankful for the family God had given her. Glen’s family was all that she had now. Her family had died tragically in a plane crash when she was 18. She was an only child. It wasn’t long after her family had died, that she was introduced to Glen by a mutual friend.
Content with the day’s events, Lissy began to pray out loud quietly. "Lord, I just want to thank you for my family. I see the work that you perform in them daily. I'm so grateful that You continue to keep a watchful eye on them. They really have been such a blessing to me. Thank you for the people You've put in my path that have helped keep me sane. You consistently surround me with Your love, grace and mercy. Thank you."
Lissy felt a warm sensation sweep across her as heat filled the room. She knew God was there with her. And He was listening. Lissy worshiped God with a song she had written for Him, remembering the very first time she had felt His presence. If she had to relay the experience to someone else using just one word, terrified would be a good one.
It was five years ago. Glen and Lissy were in the midst of one of their many cold wars, wherein nobody spoke to the other for days. Glen had always been a great guy, a faithful husband and a doting father, but he also loved his drink. He wasn’t an alcoholic or anything to that extreme, but on occasion Glen would go on these drinking binges. It would usually begin when things got a little tight with the finances, and it always ended with his head in the toilet, the kids crying and Lissy very upset. Truth be told, Glen was belligerent when he was drunk. The violent verbal assaults that would fly out of his mouth would cut her to the bone. Given the choice, Lissy would have taken a punch to the mouth any day over the horrible names he would hurl at her.
After one of his tirades, Lissy had decided to try out one of the local churches with the kids one Sunday in search of advice from anyone willing to give it, on how to resolve the not so perfect issues plaguing her within the four walls of the Shepard family home.
Lissy had always believed there was a God. She even had the kids baptized when they were babies. Heck, Lissy even made sure the whole family went to church every Easter and Christmas Eve to impress upon them the real meaning for their celebration. At that point in time, Lissy never thought much about having any type of personal relationship with God. She felt that she was a good person and never really worried about the whole "heaven" and "hell" thing.
What did worry, she was that Glen’s poor choices were negatively impacting her and their two children. She also worried about her husband, who turned to the bottle for comfort when things got a little tough. She couldn’t comprehend why Glen wasn’t able to cope with what she concluded to be normal everyday life stresses. Lissy had lost her entire family tree in a single day. She’d survived much worse.
As the church service began that Sunday morning, Lissy remembered sitting in the cold, hard wooden pew. Her focus had shifted toward the minister, who had just began reciting his early morning sermon. Lissy leaned forward hoping that he would have a personal word for her when all at once, it hit her. A sudden overwhelming sensation of warmth swept straight through the innermost part of her soul. It was a place inside of her that she never knew had existed. A voice of reassurance began to infiltrate her thoughts, insisting that things for her were about to change dramatically.
The warm sensations intensified into heat and consumed her entire body. The heat had become so intense that she began to sweat. Lissy jumped out of her seat, completely unaware of the fact that she was causing a huge disruption in the midst of their service. She was desperate to get out of there. Lissy had no idea what was happening to her, but she didn’t want it to continue. The heat she felt wasn’t a burning type of heat that caused pain. It was something completely different. It was foreign to her and even though she’d hate to admit it now, it really did terrify her.
Lissy felt a "presence", but she couldn’t see anything. As far as she was concerned, God was up in heaven, somewhere way up in the air-- far, far away. He wasn’t supposed to be down here and He definitely was NOT supposed to be setting up residence inside of her right at that moment.
Lissy giggled at the memory. She recalled picking up the pace with her kids firmly in tow as she headed for the exit. She had just made it outside of the large sanctuary doors allowing them to slam shut behind her, when an elderly woman stepped in her path.
"The Lord is with you now and your life is about to change drastically and forever."
That statement stopped Lissy dead in her tracks. Her knees buckled and hit the floor in one swift motion.
The elderly woman, affectionately known as Mama Rosa, placed her hands on the top of Lissy's shaky head. Natalie and Nate looked on; their feet froze in place.
"Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?" Rosa asked.
"Yes," Lissy whispered. She felt a calming presence overwhelm her senses. She was no longer afraid. She felt...Guilty. Convicted.
"Do you want to have a more intimate and personal relationship with Him and our Father?"
"Yes." Lissy began to sway on her knees.
"Are you willing to ask for forgiveness of your sins and invite Jesus into your life?" Asked Mama Rosa.
"Yes." Lissy allowed her body to submit. Her mind, her soul. Her everything. She wanted this.
"Then repeat these words after me," Mama Rosa said. "Lord, I am a sinner. I thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins. Forgive me, Lord, of all of my sins as I forgive all others who have sinned against me. Come into my life and change my heart in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."
Lissy had no idea how she was able to repeat all of that, but she knew she wanted to-- and did do it with the assistance of some other source of strength that came from deep inside of her. It was a strength she knew she did not possess.
What happened to Lissy next still baffles her mind every time she thinks about it. In one fluid movement, she found herself lying flat on her back right outside of the sanctuary doors. She was fully awake and could hear everything that was going on around her, but Lissy was unable to open her eyes-- and she couldn't get up.
Heat continued to sweep through her as she simultaneously felt a pressing down type of feeling. It was as if someone was holding her firmly to the floor. After a couple of minutes, the sensations began to subside. Overcome with emotion, tears streamed down Lissy’s face. All fear and condemnation had been replaced by a peace inside her that could never be explained in the natural.
She heard the elderly woman reassuring Natalie and Nathaniel. The kids were amazingly calm, Lissy thought.
Ten minutes later Lissy was able to open her eyes and look around. She expected to see who it was that was holding her down. Lissy had assumed it was the elderly woman, but she found no one standing near her. She turned on her side in a feeble attempt to sit up. Her whole body felt like it had been filled with lead. Mama Rosa came to her side and helped her into a nearby chair.
Three weeks later Glen swore off all alcohol. He said that he had a "revelation" that drinking wasn’t the answer to his problems and that his occasional excessive use of alcohol might be negatively impacting her and the kids. It was as if he had just flippantly decided to take out the trash. Whatever. It didn't matter. Lissy would take the much needed change in any way she could receive it.
Lissy splashed warm water over her exposed knees. What began as a terrifying experience for her five years ago had slowly blossomed into a wonderful relationship with Jesus and her heavenly Father. She flipped the drain switch with her big toe, allowing the water to recede.
She wondered when God was going to reach Glen on the same level He had reached her. While God had encouraged him to quit drinking, Glen wasn’t really...
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherRevival Waves of Glory Books & Publishing
- Publication date2015
- ISBN 10 1312988290
- ISBN 13 9781312988293
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages322
- Rating
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