Miriam: The Girl with a Golden Heart

By Praise Abraham

Miriam had a very difficult childhood. She was the second child of John and Telia out of a family of seven children.
Miriam, the second born, was the only one who was not Johns biological child out of the seven children. Miriam was not fully accepted by her sisters and brothers as a result of this and was always treated as a foreigner in her own parents home. This went on during her childhood life up until adulthood life.

Miriam did not know that she was not Johns biological child until she was a teenager. Miriams familys background was meant to be kept as a family top secret from both Johns and Telias families. But this family secret wouldnt have been broken if it was not for Enie, the eldest in the family. Enie had developed hatred for her sister Miriam for reasons we do not know. This hatred was expressed through her courage in spreading the news both in the neighbourhood and at the school where the whole family attended for their secondary education. This was all through the influence from Johns close family, who did not like Miriam because she was adopted and was accepted by John as his own daughter.
Miriam only knew that she was not Johns biological daughter through a close friend called Tombi. When Miriam heard the news, she could not keep it to herself. It was too big an issue to be kept to herself. She immediately confronted her parents, who seemed very disappointed with family members who never kept secrets. Both John and Telia knew that it must have been one of the elderly family members who told Enie everything. However, Enie was grounded for being used as a tool by some adults against her sister.
Miriam was conceived out of wedlock during the time when Telia and John went on separation because of Johns short-lived period of infidelity. His unfaithful lifestyle did not last long as he contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Out of anger, Telia later left John to be with her parents, who were pastors of a church in a small town situated in the eastern part of the country.
Telia was a very beautiful young lady. It was not long after she was healed of STD that a single young man called James failed to resist the temptation and the attraction he had for Telia and made her pregnant. However, James and Telia were very committed Christians who were also serving faithfully as Sunday schoolteachers in the same church were Telias parents were pastors. In the end, James was asked to resign as a Sunday schoolteacher and John strongly requested for Telia to join him back into his life in the city, where he worked and lived as an engineer, even though his decision was against his parents wish. The time Telia went to join John, she was about two months pregnant, and she never saw James again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481769235

Praise Abraham

She was born in Zambia in a small town called Chipata. She was the only child to a single mum whom she recognises as a business lady. Praise had a very difficult childhood as she was always in and out of hospital throughout her primary education. She suffered from unknown diseases to medical doctors. Desperation led her mother to consult traditional medical help even though she did not believe in them, but she has regretted it for the rest of her life as she was not happy with the method of treatment that left her daughter, Praise, with marks on her beautiful face, which she could not remove. Because of the marks on her face, and as a student in the UK, Praise has gone through some bullying experiences from some students and some members of the church she attended the first three years of being in the UK. Praise Abraham has always been passionate about writing from a young age. She has a gift of a creative mind that can be traced as far back as secondary school, where she first wrote her first poems—both in the local language and English—on pieces of paper that were always thrown away by her mum who did not understand what the writings meant then. Praise Abraham has also been passionate about education from a young age, and she believes this passion was mainly shaped by her zealous, ambitious, and very optimistic mum. Praise’s mum also strongly believed that education was the answer to many things. Her mum believed that if she had gone far in education, she could not have been where she was, doing business that she thought she did it just for money. And she did not want her daughter, Praise, to go throw the same thing, and it was her duty to make this happen in her daughter’s life. As a result, there were very strict guidelines in the house—“No missing school unless sick”—and if Praise decided to miss school for no reason, that meant no pocket money the following week, and special treats would be withdrawn for some time. She has a diploma in accountancy from a Zambian Higher Institution of Learning. After graduation, she worked for two years as an assistant accountant/office manager at a company called Levy Mwanawasa & Co, owned by the late president of Zambia, Hon. Levy Mwanawasa. Then in 1999, Praise was offered a scholarship from University College Northampton and graduated with a BA in economics and business and an MA in international business analysis in 2002 and 2004 respectively. She also holds ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) level 2. After graduation, Praise taught and did administration, finance, and accounting jobs. She’s working towards moving into self-employment.

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© 2013 by Praise Abraham. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

This book was first published by Authorhouse in 2009 under the title The Girl Next Door.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/02/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-6843-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-6844-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-6923-5 (e)

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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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.

Contents

Foreword

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

About the Author

The story in this book is not based on what actually happened to anyone. All the characters in this book do not exist and were only created in the author’s imagination. Even the conversation between Miriam and Mary did not happen and was not inspired by anyone in particular, although it sounds as if it did. In addition, what happened to Telia and John is not based on a true story and did not happen to someone in real life. The whole story is a complete invention.

Foreword

The idea to write Miriam The Girl with a GOLDEN Heart came to me in 2007. I was really at my lowest point in life, and during this time, I felt I had a revelation about things I could put down on paper. When the ideas came to me, I felt strongly that I could write something that would encourage someone out there who feels like giving up on him—or herself. My message to that someone is this: please don’t give up—the best is yet to come. You have something special inside of you that is stronger than what you are going through right now. Miriam’s story in this book shows us that the difficult circumstances that surround us every day can never destroy the treasure inside of you.

To my late mother:

You were a special woman to me. Your love for others, your generous hand, and your willingness to help those in desperate need are now treasures in my heart. I always have a reason to thank God.

Dear Reader,

The story in this book is about a woman who has inspired my life to the extent that, even now, her influence brings me energy to carry on, no matter how difficult the circumstances. I am pretty certain that you would have felt the same way I did when the ideas came to me about Miriam’s story. As I pondered her story, I realized that there were certain truths that were, to a large extent, similar to what people go through in their everyday lives. This was why on 28 May 2007, eight days after the day that marked four years since my mother had passed on, I began to write this book. I knew that this story could be a lesson to me or to anyone out there who thinks, I am finished; there is nothing else left for me. This was also quite a remarkable time for me. Two days before the fourth anniversary of my mother’s death, I received a letter from somebody that completely changed the way I looked at life and the way I perceived things altogether. The message in the letter bothered me.

As I sat on a sofa to write this book, I looked at my life in a different way. I was uncertain about my future. I was unsure of what would happen to me on that same day, the following day, or the day after that. But after some time, I said to myself, I suppose that as a Christian, the best way to work things out and move forward is to trust in Almighty God. Then I can put my mind at rest, with confidence that there is someone out there who loves and cares for me more than I can imagine. I made up my mind to take one day at a time, trusting in God every day and learning to put worries to rest, especially those that concern the future. I knew that God was and will always be in control.

Sometimes in life, we ask ourselves millions of questions, but we never find answers to why things bother us. This is true of a woman portrayed in this book; she went through difficult situations in her life, not because she did anything wrong to the people who mistreated her but because of certain things that happened long before she was born. I know there are people out there who go through similar situations every day, through no fault of their own. But I am here to encourage those people that problems come and go, and you can make it. Don’t give up on yourself because of your circumstances or what others do to you. The experiences that you describe as horrible may not be as bad as what Miriam, in this story, went through. She was persecuted by her own brothers and sisters, but she pulled through. She was a hero. She did not commit suicide, she did not take drugs, she did not become a prostitute, and she did not break any laws because of the painful things she went through. To those of you who may be going through some difficult times, I want to say to you, cheer up! It’s only for a short while; do not give up on yourself. Better days are just ahead. Remember that one person’s situation is different than another’s. Do not compare your situation to another person’s; you are special and unique. There is no one who is just like you. Your inherent abilities are different from anyone else’s.

I admire Miriam very much, and I am certain that some of you also will. Many people may admire Miriam for her courage and her spirit that fought to go on, no matter what circumstances she was in. Miriam had characteristics that I consider to be precious gifts from God. Miriam suffered lots of abuse (false accusations, gossip, rejection, etc.) from her close relatives. I am sure that most of you, after reading this book, will relate certain things in your life to Miriam’s story. Your story may not necessarily be the same as hers, but there are certain things we all go through, such as horrible treatment for no fault of our own whatsoever. In our lives, we may wonder why these things happen, but sometimes no answers arise. This is exactly the type perspective I hope to draw out of Miriam’s story.

One thing I’ve always considered remarkable about Miriam is that despite all the problems she went through, she never thought of disowning or taking revenge on her relatives. Miriam was a remarkable woman, and her story is exceptional. It takes a woman like her to prepare a very nice meal even she knows in her heart that the people eating the food don’t like her and have no respect for her whatsoever.

Despite what was happening in her life, Miriam loved her relatives. She helped and supported them where she could without giving it a second thought. Everyone in the area where Miriam lived thought she had a big heart. Miriam not only showed kindness to her own relatives but also showed it to her neighbours and