Degrees of Perfection: My Soul's Journey

By SoulJourner Howard

Have you ever had one of those light bulb moments? You know, one of those times when you suddenly got it. Well author SoulJourner Howard has, and she wants to share with readers the story of how she went from living a manic existence with no purpose to living a peace-filled life, laughing as she went.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490867854

SoulJourner Howard

SoulJourner Howard currently resides in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and three children—two of whom are autistic. SoulJourner, whose real name is Nette Howard, chose her pen name because life for her has been a journey full of adventures, scary times, and questionable outcomes. But through it all, God allowed her to maintain her sense of humor and unique perspective on life events. Her writings are deeply personal, true, and factual. Her top priority is to fulfill the calling God has placed on her life by sharing His word, His love, and His tenderness the best way she knows how—through the gift of writing. She hopes you enjoy every piece of her work. And more importantly, she hopes you will be inspired to trust the Lord and live with purpose.

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Copyright © 2015 SoulJourner Howard.

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.

Bible quotes are taken from Life Application Bible, New King James Version (Tyndale), unless otherwise noted.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-6784-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6785-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015901181

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/29/2015

Contents

Lightbulb Moment

Introduction

Knowledge

Mission Impossible: Admit to Submit

Mission Impossible: Revelation Knowledge

Submission in Action

Trust

Thankfulness

Humble Acceptance

Walking in Knowledge

Addressing Fear

Final Thoughts

References

A Note of Thanks

First giving honor to God for loving me.

My husband (my bff) for encouraging me.

My sisters for loving me.

My children for walking with me.

My pastor for inspiring me.

My lovely, crazy, and wonderful parents for always believing in me.

This is for all of you!

Thanks,

—SJ

Lightbulb Moment

It was just an ordinary day, nothing special as I remember. The kids were off at school, my husband was at work, and I was left alone. I loved this time of day; the house was so quiet I could hear myself think.

This was the time to immerse myself in pet projects, gab on the phone, or play on the computer. But this day didn’t hold any of the usual lures. Instead I popped in a church CD from a couple of Sundays past. We did not attend, because the flu had taken hold of my husband and eldest son. Anyone who has had a sickness in the house knows how quickly things can escalate. I became a cleaning sergeant! Everything needed to be cleaned, disinfected, sprayed, wiped, soaked, washed, or mopped. I was waging a war against every germ in the home, and I was playing to win.

Eventually, the bug ran its course. No one else caught it. Praise God! The house returned to normal. It was in this, my quiet moment, I realized I had work to do. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10, NKJV). Enjoy the reflections of this journey.

—SJ

Introduction

I hadn’t always enjoyed my quiet time. In fact, it was usually a time for loathing and frenzy. My family gave me purpose, and as long as my husband and my kids were around, I had stuff to do. Does this sound crazy or familiar? If it seems crazy, perhaps your grandmother never told you that an idle mind was the Devil’s workshop. Well, apparently she told my mom, and my dad must have had the same motto ingrained into his psyche. Every time they saw their kids failing to do something constructive, my parents would find a chore for us to complete.

My dad