Raise Your Ebenezer

This rattled my whole being. I was taken with this new word and its meaning for my life. I have Ebenezers, I almost exclaimed in church! Immediately my mind reeled, recalling instances in my life when God helped me. I was so excited that I began writing them down all over the sermon notes.

I remember thinking, The God of the universe has given me a lifetime of Ebenezers—proof, evidence—that He loves me and that I can always trust Him. This was the coolest thing I could imagine.

I knew what I had to do next. I set out to map my own personal Ebenezers by listing all the ways God helped me through struggles, pain, and suffering (my victories from God). The Lord’s hand was all over my life. A new sense of purpose and knowledge of His faithfulness began filling me. I started writing a memoir that gradually evolved into what you are reading today.

So that’s just what this project became—a testament of my simple, little, amazing, redeemed life to help build my trust and ultimately glorify Him. I wanted others to have this experience as well so this guidebook was created just for you! It will allow you to map your walk with God and discover your own Ebenezers.

I was so thrilled when our pastor’s wife suggested we use this mapping process for our Ladies’ Retreat! My excitement quickly turned into anxiety. Yet by the grace of God, despite a few major difficulties, the retreat was a great success for all twenty-eight of us who attended. Moreover, although I did not anticipate it, this event quickly became yet another personal Ebenezer.

Your life is a God story too. This guidebook serves as a tool to help you remember and plot your own Ebenezers. As you witness the goodness of God in your life, He receives the glory and your faith grows. You will be able to look back with eyes of faith and see that He was there with you all along in your blessings and battles alike.

After creating my own map, with the final product in my hands, I was just awestruck by the work God had accomplished. All I could think was I really can trust Him with every detail of my life. I am so excited for you to get started!

Introduction

So you’ve bought this book and taken a chance on me, a grandma and new author. You need to know a few more things. I was an A student in high school and was awarded “Woman of the Year” at graduation. Political science was my choice of college study just because it seemed interesting and easy. I worked as a police officer, prison guard, and investigator early in my career. I ran for political office and was elected. Later on, I went back to school to become a teacher, and further down the road, I started my own storytelling business. To God be the glory for using all these scraps.

Now before you start thinking, What a compelling, exciting life she’s had, you also need to know that I’ve broken all Ten Commandments, and I know that you know adultery and murder are two of them.