Kisses Of Sunshine For Women

Kisses of Sunshine for Women Copyright © 2005 by Speak Up, Inc., and Thelma Wells Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kisses of sunshine for women / [compiled by] Carol Kent and Thelma Wells. -1st ed. p. cm. Summary: "This devotional provides sources of hope for readers"- Provided by the publisher. ISBN-10: 0-310-24768-3 (hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-0-310-24768-5 1. Christian women-Prayer-books and devotions-English. I. Kent, Carol, 1947- II. Wells, Thelma, 1941- BV4844.K572 2005 242'.643-dc22 2004028854 This edition printed on acid-free paper. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The website addresses recommended are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. Interior design by Tracey Walker Printed in the United States of America 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 /?DCI/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 he knows my name Thelma Wells The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. Chinese proverb My mother was little more than a child herself when, at age seventeen, she gave birth to me. Not only was she young, she was crippled and unmarried. In scribbled handwriting, from the back room of my grandparents' home in Dallas, Texas, she wrote "Baby Girl Morris" on my birth certificate. However, she called me "Thelma" after the midwife who helped deliver me. Later I assumed the distinctive last name of "Smith" from my biological father. It wasn't until I applied for a passport to take a trip to Panama that I encountered a real problem, when all I could produce was a birth certificate that read "Baby Girl Morris." I had to spend $175 in a court of law to buy the name I had used all my life. Not many women can say, "I was a girl without a name," but I meet ladies every day who have no idea who they really are. It is one of the greatest privileges of my life to be able to say (and write a book with the title), Girl, Have I Got Good News for You! One aspect of sharing God's love with women that I most enjoy is helping them regain their self-esteem. I get so excited as I am able to "midwife" them into an understanding of God's role in erasing the baggage of shame and guilt they may be dragging around. I tell them, "You don't have to live with silent, private guilt all of your life. What may have happened in your past is over and should be done with. It's history. You can pack your guilt and shame away in a box, use duct tape around the edges to seal it tightly, and put it in the trash where it belongs, because Jesus wants you to bring it to him." And after I have delivered this good news, I tell them they have a new name. They are not a nobody, they are not a generic Baby Girl Doe in their Father's eyes. He calls them by a holy name. They are blessed, redeemed, and precious. They are his lambs, daughters of the king, his bride. I paid $175 for a piece of paper that says my name is Thelma Wells. JesKent, Carol is the author of 'Kisses Of Sunshine For Women', published 2005 under ISBN 9780310247685 and ISBN 0310247683.