The Gift: Knowing Your Gifts Inside of You from God

By Ms. Donna Lynne and El-Don Beasley

A little girl growing up with experiences that she felt that no one could explain. Day after day, year after year, fighting and hiding from an unexplainable force of power. Afraid to tell anyone and feeling alone and helpless. She started hearing a soft voice that made her start to think that she wasn't a normal little girl. A soft voice that was guiding her and protecting her daily. A soft voice that told her things that would happen beforehand. She shares her inner most personal experiences that kept her shackled and tied up inside. Bound and stuck for many years, but no one from the outside would have ever known. She struggled with a power that she had no idea what it was and why it was taken over her. For several year of going through her life of confusion, she fights her fear and finds out that she has a gift that God has given her from birth. A gift that is so powerful that she feels that there has to be many people in the world with the same gift. She wants to share her life story to help other people that are fighting and hiding from their special gift, so they can live their lives the way God intended them to live. So they can know that they are normal and have a spiritual power called, "The Gift of Knowing."

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491828373

Ms. Donna Lynne

Ms. Donna, the sixth child of eight children. She always dreamt of writing her first book for several years. She wanted to share her experiences, but was afraid of rejection. She gained more strength through the Grace of God to finally write her book. She is also going back to school to finish her degree after 30 years. She is a divorced mother of four beautiful children and three wonderful grandchildren. He goal in life was to give her children all the love and care of two parents. She is a dedicated friend that loves people and especially adores children. She is very independent and always strived forward to becoming a successful woman. Her spiritual walk was interrupted off and on for many years. Now she is standing after fallen many times and walking in a Christian life that is growing stronger everyday. Having God in her life now, is the most successful desire she has accomplished and she is still a work in progress.

Book preview

Chapter One

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A Baby Girl is Born

How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

Matthew 23:37

A Baby Girl was Born

When the doctor yelled at the nurse and said, Get Mrs. Williams to delivery ASAP. This is her sixth pregnancy, and she is known for fast deliveries, so let’s get her there, Stats! The staff started moving quickly without hesitation. They had to go through several hallways, up one floor on the elevator and wheeled her into the delivery room. My mother wasn’t your average expectant mother and the staff knew she wasn’t going to do a lot of screaming and hollering and/ or fussing. They heard her make a few moaning sounds periodically. Before they could get her to the delivery bed she informed them that the baby was already here. They were amazed at how little of a sound she made during delivery. One of the nurses lifted the sheets and saw what she described as a beautiful baby girl. She was tiny with beautiful eyes. She had dark black hair that was slicked down on her head. She looked very healthy and she had started crying with this strong powerful cry. She said, she wasn’t even able to put on the surgical gloves on before I came into the world at 5 pounds and 15 ounces. I entered into this world at 1:45 am, wide eyed and looking around.

I wasn’t the first child my mother gave birth to in this manner, but at least she was able to be wheeled into a room and not give birth to me in a hallway, as some of my siblings were born. As the nurse was examining me, she told my mother that she really gave her a run for my money that night. She then told her thank you for at least making it to the delivery room. My mother just held me in her arms and said jokingly; see you in about a year or less. You know I am pregnant every Saturday night! My mom had such a beautiful sense of humor. The nurse just laughed and said, I’m sure I will Mrs. Williams.

Mother shared earlier that many of her previous births had come two weeks earlier than expected, so the Doctor and nurses watched her very closely because they saw in her medical records that she had a history of having quick deliveries and surprised many doctors and nurses in other states. One of the nurses told my mother that she didn’t believe that myth that the more babies you have the faster the next one comes until she met her. She called my mother an amazing woman and said she was the talk of the hospital the entire day that I was born and for several days after. Some of the other doctors and nurses came to visit my mother to hear her incredible story. This made my mother feel good, because she loved all the attention she was getting for delivering her own baby.

My Parents Freddie and Anna Williams were your average couple that got married while my father was enlisted in the military; he went to the Air Force. My father was a great athlete that was a superstar back in his days. He ran track for Stamford High School and broke many athletic records that are still standing today. He was a tall and thin brown skinned, handsome young man.. He had a funny sense of humor and loved to have fun. He was the jokester of the group and was always the life of the party. He loved school and had a very good grade point average. He was your average young man that had a little click that he hung out with every day and most of his friends were athletes just like him. He lived next door to my mother and her family and he was best friends with my mother’s brothers. So that’s why my father and mother knew each other so well. My mother was the type of young lady that spoke her mind and didn’t worry too much about anyone’s responses. She was a kind and loving young lady that didn’t get along with my father when they were growing up. A matter of fact, my mother and father argued every time they were around each other. Always dissing each other and yelling that they hated one another. One day my mother got so mad at my father, she took a knife and through it at him, and it lodged into the wall just inches away from my father’s head. Believe it or not, they got married on September 5th, 1954, despite their differences. My mother had five children very close in ages. I had another sister that had died 3 days after she was born, from premature birth. Her name was Christine. It was my father who came up with my name; his favorite song was Oh Donna! by Ritchie Valens. So I was named Donna after the song and they added Lynne to give me a middle name. Because, my dad was in the military, all my siblings were born in different states. I was born in Warner Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins GA. My oldest sister Roxanne, who was eight years old, was very excited, because her birthday was just two days ago, so I was practically born on her birthday. Roxanne was very mature for her age and was like a little mother herself. She always looked out for her younger siblings because she felt like she needed to be there for our mother. Our dad was always away for the military, and she stepped in to make our mother know that she could count on her for anything. She learned everything from cooking to cleaning to keep the family running smoothly. She baby sat many times for us and didn’t once feel overwhelmed about anything she was asked to do.

My sister next in line after Roxanne is Pamela, who was a small and tiny little girl who was second big sister. Pamela, who we called Pam, enjoyed being the big sister and always felt like she had to keep the boys in line. She got in arguments with my brothers practically every day. She was very tiny, but she would fight my brothers or anyone else that messed with her. Then after my two sisters is my brother Freddie Jr., who took the role of man of the house when my dad was away. My brother Fred was your average young boy that took being the oldest boy very seriously. He didn’t like to be bossed around by my older sisters, and would constantly remind them that he should be respected as the oldest male of the house. Of course my sisters, Roxanne and Pam wouldn’t pay my brother any attention to what he was saying. They would always say, respect us because we are older. Next there was John L who was the mischievous one. He loved to get into things that he had no business getting into. He loved to eat and would eat enough for three people. My brothers would get into double trouble often and stayed on punishment at least once a week. They were all born in San Antonio Texas. There was also my sister Margaret, who we called Peggy, who was born in Massachusetts. Peggy wasn’t any more than a little over a year apart from her new baby sister. She was so excited to have a sister younger than her. She felt that now that she has a younger sister, she would now have someone to boss around. She was the youngest before I arrived and was pushed around by all her older siblings.

We moved to Georgia for a short time then my mother decided that she had enough of traveling from state to state all the time, within six months she had packed up and moved us back to Stamford, Connecticut. My father wasn’t very happy because he still was listed in the Air Force and wasn’t very excited that his family wouldn’t be in his daily life. My dad had to settle in Massachusetts because that was the closest base for him to keep working in the military. My mother wanted to go back home to be with her siblings. My mother had nine siblings and was excited to be around them and all their children. She also wanted to be near her mother, Anna L Atterberry. My grandmother also raised all her nine children alone, after my grandfather Julius Atterberry died at a very young age. My mother grew up without a father figure, and she saw everything her mother had to endure and knew that dedication and love was something that made a family a strong unit. My mother wanted the guidance from her mother and felt that if her mother could raise a family of nine alone, she could do it also and she had a husband to help her. My mother felt that no matter how many children she had everything would be okay. Her children were her life and she took pride and joy in loving and caring for us.

I was told that I was a tiny baby that slept in a dresser draw most of my infant life. We didn’t have a lot moving from state to state, so my mother managed with what she had. The most important thing to my mother was to raise us with all her heart and soul. She was a dedicated woman that had her children back to back. It was hard for her, but nothing stopped her from doing everything in her power to give her children the best. I was told that I was spoiled and loved getting all the attention. By the time I was three years old I had two more brothers and their names were Brian and Todd. Even though Todd was the baby, I still got a lot of attention, especially from my dad. To him I was still the baby girl of the family. My parents call us the four little ones and the four big ones. My older siblings told me that the four little ones always got more than the four big ones. They said sometimes they felt cheated because the four little ones got treated extra special. They stated that sometimes when there were goodies, the four little ones would get the goodies if there wasn’t enough for all of us. And there were times when we were excused from punishments. There was fighting going on every day. Somebody was always mad at somebody. My mother always tried to make sure we all would get along, but I think that it was just too many personalities in one house. Half of the time my mother didn’t know that there was fussing going on, because we would keep it among ourselves. The rule in the house was, if you didn’t respect each other and get along, you would have to deal with Anna. That was the last person you would want to have to explain to why you were fighting. She would listen to you situation for a minute, and would never take sides. She would just let us know that we had to get along, or deal with her. Now don’t you dear talk back to her, because she would remind you of who she was and what she could do to you. I used to think that my mother had an extra extension to her arms. She could reach across a table and slap you with a blink of an eye. You didn’t even know what hit you, and then you had to go upstairs to you room, so she could beat you the old fashion way. My mother used to grab you by your arm or leg, which ever she could reach first, and give you a whipping as she yelled at you at the same time. The angrier she was when she was fussing and cussing, the longer your whipping. The one thing my mother believed in whipping you was on your bottom and nowhere else. She did tear our legs up at times when she used a switch instead of her hands.

It wasn’t long before I had turned four years old when I had started hearing soft voices in my ear. I still vividly remember a soft voice speaking things to me that I didn’t want to believe. I just kept telling myself that it was my imagination. I was sitting in my room the first time it happened. I had my television on and I thought the voice was from the television. I had turned my television off and was on my way out the door when I had heard the soft voice again. It was a soft voice that kept calling my name. The first thing I did was start looking around the room. My heart was beating fast because I didn’t like the fact that I was hearing voices and there was nobody in the room but me. I looked in my closet, under my bed and even looked down the hallway hoping that one of my brothers were playing a trick on me. I ran out of my room so fast and decided to go outside and play with some of my friends. I told myself that it wasn’t real and I should just forget about the soft voice. The soft voice did disappear for a little while but started back up some months after. By the time I was four and a half years old I was having situations with hearing things which were clearer and stronger. One day I heard the soft voice and my sister Peggy was in the room with me. I asked her did she call my name. She said no, and that she didn’t even hear anything. She asked me what was wrong with me and I just changed the subject so she wouldn’t ask me anymore questions. The soft voices started to warn me about different things. Once the soft voice told me to bring a umbrella with me because it was going to rain. One day my brother was outside playing with a neighborhood kid and the soft voice told me to convince my brother not to play with him because he was a bad influence. I used to think that I was going crazy and I needed to ask my mother to take me to a doctor. I fought the soft voice constantly with no intentions of sharing my experiences with no one.

I remember the soft voice telling me not to go outside and play one day. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and all the neighborhood kids were outside playing. So I had gone outside anyway and guess what happened? I had a very bad accident. We had all gotten together and made teams to play kickball. My team was winning, of course, when one of the other team mates picked up a piece of linoleum and flung it in the air like a Frisbee. It ended up hitting me right above my left eye and It knocked me to the ground. All I saw was blood everywhere and I screamed like I was dying. I was bleeding like crazy and the kids went to get my mother. My mother thought she would have to bring me to the emergency room, but it stopped bleeding about 30 minutes later. All the kids came in to see me one by one. I looked like a monster and that was exactly what the kids kept calling me. I was so upset when all the kids got to go back outside and finish the game and I couldn’t play. My eye stayed swollen for a least a week or so. I was so glad when my eye went down. It was such a deep cut. To this day I have a scar over my left eye to remind me of the first time that I didn’t listen to the soft voice. I always thought after my incident with my eye that anytime that I didn’t listen to the soft voice something bad was going to happen to me. So from that day on, I would try to do everything the soft voices would tell me to do. Now, don’t get me wrong, the soft voices gave me courage to do things that I had no idea I could do. For instance, when we played baseball, we used to play girls against the boys all the time. One day they dared us to play fast pitch with them. We were used to having the ball pitched to us slowly. All the girls said, no way, but the soft voice told me to convince them to go ahead and try it. Well, not only did I hit the ball, most of us hit the ball and we beat the pants off of the boys. We also played rigalivio and flag football against the boys also. The soft voice would coach me and we would beat the boys so bad, they started switching up where they want to pick teams and mix girls with the boys. There was also a game we called buck-buck. The object of the game was to make two teams. One team would line up against the wall one by one, but standing behind each other, bent over and holding each other’s waist. It was like a train of butts, bent over and lined up. The other team would line up one at a time and run and jump on the backs of the other team that was lined up and bent over. The first person would try to jump on the back of the person that is closest to the wall. All the other team members would follow and jump onto their backs. When all the team has jumped on the other teams back, the team on the bottom will yell, buck-buck. That means that the team that is at the bottom holding the other team up is the winners. See, the object of the game is to make the team that is holding you up collapse. You jump with all you weight to try to make them cave in and if they do fall in, the team that is jumping are the winners. It was an awesome game. Another game I loved was call tick-tag. We played it a lot with our family members. Our parents used to tell us it’s time for us to leave and we would start a game of tick-tag. We would run around and tag one person and then that person was it. That person would have to run and catch the next person to tag them. And we used to play for hours. Our parents used to take forever to say their goodbyes, so we used to take advantage of it and play tick-tag.

I didn’t remember everything when I was younger, but I do remember the time when I was in the hospital. I was told that I was around five years old when it happened. I was sick with a very high fever and it caused me to have seizures. My mother couldn’t get my fever to break, so they had to rush me to the hospital. I was told that my parents didn’t have a telephone, so they had to go to a neighbor’s house to call 911. It took the ambulance a much longer time to arrive and that just made it more dangerous for me. I was rushed to the intensive care unit for children at the hospital and put on machines. They doctors were concerned about the amount of time it took them to try to get my fever down. Plus I was still experiencing