Footprints into Your Faith: Enlightening, Encouraging & Empowering

By Jim Ackley

Jim Ackley had been unemployed for nearly two years. During that time, the Lord was tugging at Jim's heart to do something that would help people come to know him. As he tried to grasp exactly what he was supposed to do, there were different incidents that guided his decision.

Influenced by a newborn baby, a friend's daughter who needed help, and a niece who re-entered his life after being out of sight for twenty-five years, Jim finally realized that the Lord wanted him to write Footprints into Your Faith.

This book that will not only engage you with its stories, it will help people of all ages and all denominations of faith examine their own paths in their walks of faith. There very likely is a subject in this book that you will identify with or sympathize with. Each chapter has Scriptures that are the basis for the subject.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449733032

Jim Ackley

Jim Ackley was born in Decatur, Alabama, in 1961, the fourth of five children, to John and Alice Ackley.  Growing up in Decatur, he attended a Catholic elementary school and public school from sixth grade forward.  Graduating from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, Jim majored in marketing and minored in management.   He started his career in the manufactured housing industry in 1992 where he worked until 2009. Jim married Andrea Willoughby Alexander in 2001 creating a blended family that includes Jim’s sons Ben, Sam, Max and Andrea’s son Grant.

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Copyright © 2012 Jim Ackley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-3303-2 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-3304-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-3305-6 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011961484

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/05/2012

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1      Getting Here

Chapter 2      Still on My Way

Chapter 3      Three Little Angels

Chapter 4      Honor Your Parents

Chapter 5      Katherine

Chapter 6      L-O-V-E

Chapter 7      For our Children

Chapter 8      Death

Chapter 9      Forgiving

Chapter 10      Be Still

Chapter 11      So What is Your Story?

Chapter 12      Can I Get a Witness

Chapter 13      No Coupons Accepted

Chapter 14      Anxiety

Chapter 15      Let God be the Yin in your Yang

Chapter 16      Lock out / Tag out

Chapter 17      Miracles are Real

Chapter 18      Are you Strong Enough

Chapter 19      The Untold Sermon

Chapter 20      Peacefully Waiting

Chapter 21      Personal Gain

May you find words within these pages that enlighten you to something new in your own walk of faith, encourage you through struggles in your walk of faith and empower you to go and act on your faith.

Acknowledgments

A very heartfelt thanks to those mentioned here:

Andrea Dawn Ackley, my lovely wife. I have never known a more caring person who puts herself behind all others without hesitating. She inspires me to be a better person. Her laugh is infectious, her smile lights the room and her heart is as big as the world. She is simply a beautiful, beautiful person.

Alice L. Ackley, my mother. She has proofread this book and put up with all of the misspelled words and sentence fragments. My book has been successful for me before ever being published. After reading my book, she has started back to church and teaching Sunday school. She is a cool Christian woman who has helped shaped the lives of thousands of students during her tenure as a high school English teacher.

My sons Ben, Sam, and Max. For a long time these boys have been mentioned as a clump. They are now growing up to where it is only one of them that are mentioned at a time. With two of them in college and one to be junior in high school, they are good kids that I am very proud of.

Grant Alexander, my stepson. He has been very interested in the progress of my book. Grant is looking to start high school next year and has sights on making a career in baseball.

Yvonne Williams, friend, former teacher, currently teaching at Auburn University. During my mom’s near fatal illness Mrs. Williams stepped in and edited this book for me.

Kelly and Greg Deline, great friends. Kelly and Andrea have a bond between them that many sisters wish they had. They are sisters in Christ who help each other take on fears and tears. They are there for each other to have words of support for special occasions and just for the opportunity to brighten the other one’s day. Greg has been a friend in business for many years.

First Bible Church, Decatur, AL.

Mt. Hermon Baptist Church, Savannah, TN. Now my home church, I was finally dunked at this church to complete the full cycle of accepted practices of Baptism. This church is full of prayer warriors who really love the Lord. They have been good to me and my family and I appreciate their role in helping me to continue to build my personal relationship with the Lord.

The Lutrell, Bomar and Willoughby families who have helped me grow in my walk of faith.

Biblegateway.com. This is a wonderful website that was very helpful during the writing of this book.

Preface

This undertaking was something that I really never imagined that I would ever be a part of, much less be responsible for. But as I sit here to write the preface to this book I am really torn. My publishing efforts are on hold because of a poem that I wanted to open the book with and really set the tone for the book. I have been bogged down by trying to obtain a license to use the poem that I chose. The poem, Footprints in the Sand is a great poem.

I was willing to pay the licensing fee to use the poem. Unfortunately, my publishing needs for the poem did not meet the original licensing agreement. From that point, things really slowed in getting the licensing issue handled. While use of the poem would have me receiving printed copies of my book by now, I have decided to omit the poem and push forward with this project.

At this point I am debating on whether to change the title of the book. Let me explain the thought behind the use of the poem. I felt it would be a great way to kick off the book and get you in the frame of mind that you were going to be lifted up by reading this book. We are to be God-like in our lives and I am going to do my best to lift you up in this book as the Lord lifted up the person in the Footprints poem.

I remember the first time that I had ever read the Footprints poem. I was a freshman in college and was with some new friends. We were walking around campus one afternoon and stumbled across a girl that one of the guys knew from high school. We visited her dorm room and she had a poster with the Footprints in the Sand poem on it. When I think of the Footprints poem, I automatically think of that poster in that dorm room. Little did I know that it would later be such a big part of my life?

Here I am over thirty years removed from that occasion when I first read the poem. I would love to have it copied here just because I feel like the person who penned the poem put the ultimate illustration of what a personal walk of faith is like. We often are able go it alone. We have the ability to make choices both good and bad. These good and bad choices enable us to continue to push forward to the next decision and then the next. Unfortunately we are not perfect and we cannot control the actions of those around us. These two facts alone mean that we are going to have peaks and valleys to deal with. At those times in our lives as Christians when we are in our valleys, we reach out to the Lord to give us guidance and strength. What we don’t think about is the fact that He has a watch on us and He is there for us even when we are not aware of it.

As you move forward through the pages of this book I hope and pray that, if you get absolutely anything out of this book, it is the fact that the Lord is always there for you regardless of anything in your past. He is there for you if you will ask Him to be. It has to be personal. Your relationship with God is not going to be identical to that of any other person of faith and that is okay. It is also okay that perhaps you have not been the perfect Christian throughout your life. As you spend time reading the Bible you will find case after case where the most unlikely person comes to the defense or service of our Lord. You will not be the first thief, prostitute, murderer or whatever moniker you have on yourself at this time to become a Christian. There are many that have gone ahead of you.

Many Christians today have gone through a period of time when people questioned their new claims of faith. They were questioned by some and talked about by others. The one thing that they did have to fall back on was a new found faith in their savior Jesus Christ. This faith, though raw and undeveloped, is something that you do not have to justify to anyone. It is the greatest gift that a person can receive and you are able to give it to yourself. It is yours and not one person who walks on this earth has the right to question it.

I hope and pray that this book will bring you comfort during a challenging period in your life. A challenging period does not have to mean that it is necessarily a bad time. Some successes can be just as challenging. Whatever may be going on in your life, keep your faith and trust in God. Keep in mind that your triumph over the problem or situation you are having will soon be a lesson in life that will make you wiser and stronger than before.

I am not perfect, not even close. But I do know this; He has put this book on my heart for quite a long time. I delayed as much as I could, trying to make something else out of what He was telling me to do. But when I started, the words flowed easily. I have surprised myself reading back through what I have written. I know that this was not all me. He has put