Painted Dreams: Living Your Best Life

By Dr. Jo Hanna Mechergui

This book was written to demonstrate acts of faith and the lessons that I learned in life that renewed my faith and made me stronger spiritually.

All things are possible with prayer. Praying allows us to get in contact with our higher being and renewing our faith. This book is filled with short stories that provided spiritual guidance that strengthen the writer's spirit. I hope that it provide some spirit guidance to the readers.

Allowing the spirit to guide me has changed my life. It has improved my physical being, restored relationships, improved my financial status, profound peace of mind, and given me confidence and courage to reach my highest potential in God's will.

Painted Dreams has given color to my prayers. It gives a visual picture to prayers that only God can paint. This picture helps to strengthen our faith and make us stronger spiritually. Let God continued to bless my readers and myself and provide us with divine spiritual guidance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503556522

Dr. Jo Hanna Mechergui

About the Author Dr. Jo Hanna Mechergui was the project director of Hawaii’s Access to Recovery Program. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, master’s degree in speech and language pathology, and a PhD in administration She has over thirty-five years of experience in education, program management, and curriculum development. Dr. Mechergui is an internationally experienced educator and administrator who has assisted people from a variety of cultures in expanding their academic learning and professional growth. She brings to the global community her positive multinational attitude and a unique ability to inspire awareness in others. She has worked with native Hawaiian and Pacific Island populations on the islands of Oahu, Lanai, Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai. She has also worked in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia; and Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia and across the United States from Michigan to Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, California, and Washington State while collaborating with a variety of federal agencies on targeted initiatives. She has the desire to strengthen, teach, encourage, validate, and exhort people to follow their life goals. She is able to accomplish this with insight, with practical experience, and always with humor.

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Copyright © 2015 by Dr. Jo Hanna Mechergui. 706997

ISBN:   EBook      978-1-5035-5652-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 09/04/2015

KJV

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

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Preface

This book was written to demonstrate acts of faith and the lessons I learned in life that renewed my faith and made me stronger spiritually.

All things are possible with prayer. Praying allows us to get in contact with our higher being and renewing our faith. This book is filled with short stories that provided spiritual guidance that strengthen the writer’s spirit. I hope that it provides some spiritual guidance to the readers.

Allowing the spirit to guide me has changed my life. It has improved my physical being, restored relationships, improved my financial status, gave me profound peace of mind, and given me confidence and courage to reach my highest potential in God’s will.

Painted Dreams has given color to my prayers. It gives a visual picture to prayers that only God can paint. The pictures help us to strengthen our faith and make us stronger spiritually. May God continue to bless my readers and myself and provide us with divine spiritual guidance.

I dedicate this book to my mother who guided me and gave me the strength to learn life’s lessons. To my best friends, Sandra Braden, Marrshah Roger, Verna and Walter Kelser.; Walter and Marrshah fought a brave, long battle against cancer. My friends taught me the meaning of faith and courage.

I also dedicate this to my sister Eunice and friend Tim Williamson who had the insight to my gift and helped me to stay focused and encouraged me to use it. I had the wonderful opportunity of attending Oprah’s Growth Summit several years ago. I would like to also thank Oprah for planting the seed of encouragement and reminding me that all things are possible in the spirit of God’s will through her teachings. One must believe and have faith that it will occur. I thank all the people that touched my life to make these stories possible.

CONTENTS

A Child’s Love

What Is a Sunrise?

Facing My Fears

The Miracle of the Bees

The Gift of Love

V-Formation for Motivation

A Safe Haven

Rise Above the Storm—Soar Like an Eagle

Dream Keeper—Oprah’s Growth Summit

The Rainfall

Urban City Blues

Look Beyond the Surface

Dr. Martin Luther King Day

Wild Flowers—The Hawaiian Islands Treasure

Getting Through the Moment

Joyful Noises

My Name is Josephine

Courage of Faith—Mr. James Baldwin

The Gated Fence

Burn the Ships

The Lost Connection of Love

The Answer Is Here

My Brother: My First Friend/ My Sister: My First Friend

Journal from the Heart

The Summer Walk

Mr. Giovanni

Dancing in Paris

Desire of My Heart

The Church Socials

Living by Faith

Speak To Me, God

The Lesson

Close Call

The Middle Eastern Dinner

The Bus Ride to Freedom

One Person Can Make a Difference

Broken Promises

Shouts of Joy—An Ordinary Day

The Balloon

The Green Coat

Crimes of the Heart

My Best Friend

Kawaiaha’o Church

Earl and Margarita Cryer—the Attack of the Water Moccasin

Walter and Verna Kelser—God’s Foot Soldiers

A Dreamful Meditation Vacation

Lessons Learned

Final Chapter

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.

—Vincent Van Gogh

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.

—Langston Hughes

We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.

—Mao Zedong

A Child’s Love

The sparkle in her eyes when I enter into the room is a light so bright that no light is needed on a moonless night. She looks to me for guidance in her heart, and to her, I am an expert on life’s journey. When she laughs at my jokes I am the best comedian that life has to offer. If I am sad, she is sad. If I am in pain, she feels my pain.

If I am joyful, she is blessed with much happiness. Her love is so pure and unconditional like fallen, untouched snow that makes a muddy, dirty path a beautiful winter wonderland of joy.

When she hugs me, I can feel the presence of God surrounding me with his understanding, forgiveness, joy, and love for me. I thank God each day for the love of a child. When I sing a song off-key, it is a magical performance that is placed in her memory of love. There is no feeling greater than this. Her love is like a circle with no beginning or ending, just a constant continuation of unconditional love. God is love and eternal life; whoever lives in love lives in God and God lives in him.

God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life. It was not to judge the world that God sent his Son into the world, but that through him the world might be saved. (John 3: 16–17)

What Is a Sunrise?

One afternoon on a cool spring day, after playing outside, Karin ran inside the house looking for her grandfather. She had just learned a new word that she was so excited to share with him. Her grandfather slowly poked his head around into the kitchen. He looked down on this little person with eyes as black as coal and with a sparkle so bright he could see his reflection. What’s wrong with you, child? he asked. Afraid of the answer he might get, his eyes looked away. What is a sunrise? she asked. He carefully studied her face and looked deeper into her eyes and said, I will tell you one day child when you are ready. He was prepared to give her a long lecture on his answer but she said, Okay, Granddaddy, I am going back outside to play.

Three weeks had passed from that cool spring day when early one morning, the grandfather slowly got out of bed. Everyone in the house was still sleeping. It was still very dark and cold outside. As he got dressed, he walked quickly into Karin’s room. He took the blanket off the bed and wrapped her up like an infant. She slowly opened her eyes and asked, Grandfather, where are you taking me? He looked deeper into her eyes and shook his head as if to say you are safe so have faith and come with me. He walked with a sense of urgency. He opened the door and walked toward the rear of the house. They passed the playground and the trees, and he continued to walk with a purpose in mind. They could smell the crispness of the cool spring day in the earth and could hear the birds singing a very cheerful tune welcoming a new day in God’s glory.

They came upon a very small grassy hill. He placed the child gently down on the cool, wet grass. He held her very tightly. His body kept her warm, and she no longer noticed the coolness from the grass. After several moments, he turned her face toward the sky. Again, she tried to talk, but he shook his head. It appeared that they were both studying the sky for several hours but it was only for a moment when it happened. God put on a magical grand visual show for this audience. Big, purplish gray clouds in the east spread out across the sky like a dark ink in water covered the entire area. The darkness of the night changed to several shades of grays and blues. Then the darkness changed to lighter colors of orange Then the orange slowly crept over the entire sky to several shades of orange and gold. The great golden ball slowly pushed the darkness of the night away and brought a magnificent light that was surrounded with the spirit of the day. The grandfather looked at her with misty eyes and said very softly, My dear one, that is a sunrise.

God’s Word opened our hearts and takes us out of the darkness of the night and gives us love and understanding of a sunrise of a new beginning each day. In the quietness of a sunrise within our spirit he gives us guidance. God reaches out like the grandfather to carry us to the light of his wisdom by being still and by listening within our spirit. Some lessons in life are best learned when we are carried to the light to receive the abundance that God has given us. Thy word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light on my path (Psalm 119:105).

Sunrise.tif

Facing My Fears

As long as I can remember, I have always been afraid of cats. It did not make a difference if the cats were small, big, cute, hairy, scary, fat, friendly, large, or tiny. I was afraid of them. I would run away from them in fear if they were in my space. I always felt that a cat was always out hunting for their prey. My mother felt that cats were excellent hunters and it was very hard to outmatch their skills. My mother passed on her fear of cats onto me. My mother was terrified of cats as well.

One day after I got out of school, when I was in the first grade, my mother was waiting for me to walk me home. We were walking home from the school when we saw a very large, fat, man-eating cat. My mother clammed down on my hand with such force it would take a steel cutter to separate the grip. The man-eating cat had the look of a skilled hunter waiting for his next meal. He allowed us to get a head start as we were quite a distance away from him before he proceeded to run in our direction.

My mother and I suddenly developed speed and accuracy like a long-distance runner who had trained for the US Olympic Team. We were no match in speed with the skillful hunter. We ran away from the cat for several blocks with him right on our trail. Out of exhaustion, the cat lay on the grass to rest. We proceeded home as two defeated athletes. My mother’s words ring in my ears whenever I saw a cat, We can never trust cats, and they can be very dangerous. Stay your distance, they are animals to fear. I had etched her words into my heart and mind that carried me into young adulthood.

On my second year in college, I was living off campus and had a good living arrangement with three other students. Near the end of the school year, with final exams around the corner, I had to face this fear.

After studying late at the library one evening, I drove home to get much needed sleep. I got out of the car, carried my backpack and trying to rush into the apartment. Suddenly, I had a strange feeling coming over me. I felt like someone was watching me. I tried to walk as fast as I could while looking around the parking lot. Looking ahead on the front entrance of the apartment was a big, black cat with very intense, excitable green eyes sitting on the front entrance of the apartment building. Our eyes met for a moment, as