The Journey – Pearls of Wisdom

By Sharice Jones

This book will help you look into your inner self to help you find your purpose
and seek the path you were meant to travel. The book is inspiring, motivating
and purposed filled with the objective to inspire individuals to live an on
purpose life. And to help guide you in developing your inner gifts and tapping into your GOD given destiny; with the hopes of ultimately becoming all GOD has intended for you to become. The book will also address different areas of life where some individuals may struggle and how other individuals may have overcome their obstacles and were brave enough to share their life experiences. The author will share glimpses of experiences she learned growing up in St. Louis Missouri and then eventually relocating to Texas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503532250

Sharice Jones

Sharice Jones is a Human Resources professional in Houston Texas; she is a devoted Christian a loving wife, mother and sister. Sharice is inspiring, motivating and a mentor to women; she is committed to helping women discover their purpose. Sharice attended the University of Houston where she received her bachelor’s degree and has earned her Master’s degree in Human Resources Manager for the University of Phoenix; this is her first book.

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Copyright © 2015 by Sharice Jones.

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.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Website

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version. © 1972 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV; Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 02/12/2015

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 The Journey

Chapter 2 Jesus Speaks in Parables

Chapter 3 Being Excellent Where You Are

Chapter 4 Time Is Something You Can Never Get Back

Chapter 5 The Power of Positive Thoughts

Chapter 6 Pick Your Battles

Chapter 7 The Power of Prayer

Chapter 8 Speak It into Existence

Chapter 9 Self-Esteem

Chapter 10 A House Divided

Chapter 11 Naysayers

Chapter 12 The Great Divide

Chapter 13 Getting a Seat at the Table

Chapter 14 You Can’t Change Other People

Chapter 15 The Past Does Not Define You

Chapter 16 Living in Fear

Chapter 17 You Are Who God Says You Are

Chapter 18 Self-discipline

Chapter 19 Keys to Opening Doors of Opportunity

Chapter 20 Lessons Learned

Chapter 21 Family

Chapter 22 Reflection

The Journey

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Breaona Ard, Sharice Jones and Fred Jones

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way Psalms 37:23

To my husband, Fred Jones: Thank you for always being so supportive. You are my friend, my traveling partner and my partner in life, I love you.

To my daughter, the lovely and talented princess Breaona Ard: Thank you for growing up to be such a beautiful, smart, and talented young lady. You will always be my little princess! I love you, and I am so very proud of you.

To my mother, Karen Jones: Thank you for having the courage and strength to raise four girls on your own. Thank you for teaching me how to have a strong work ethic and a never-give-up attitude.

I offer special thanks to my sisters, Candace Rhone-Jones, Latrenda Jones- Roberts and Elaine Jones-Cross. We have been through so much together, and I pray that each of you will continue to strive for excellence and let your lights shine. When I was a child, I wished for three sisters for my own selfish reasons. My wish was for each sister to take turns turning the jump rope while I jumped. If one sister became tired, one of the other sisters could take over the turning while I was jumping the rope. Being a five-year-old child, the one thing I did not think about was the time it would take for all three of my sisters to grow up enough to be able to turn the rope for me. The funny thing was I did in fact get the three sisters I asked for, but events didn’t happen quite in the way I envisioned when I was a child. (Do you guys still want to turn the double-dutch ropes for me while I jump?)

Thank you to my beautiful, talented cousin, Keya Jones, my inspiring and lovely friend, Monique Carr, and my wonderful, adoring aunt Loretta Tuggle for their support. I could not have completed this book without you guys.

My journey started when I grew up in a single-family home. My mother had me when she was sixteen years old, after which she married and had three more children. Later, she got divorced and began trying to figure out how she was going to provide for her children. She decided to go back to school and moved our family from St. Louis, Missouri, to Houston, Texas, in the early 1980s, when Texas, and particularly Dallas and Houston, still had a number of jobs in the oil sector. I often look back and wonder how my life would have turned out if we had not left St. Louis. Texas was laid back and had a lot of opportunities to offer. For a single woman to move to another state and take four children (all girls) with her was truly rare and almost unheard of. We had one cousin who lived in Texas and offered to take us in, and that was how my journey began.

Acknowledgments

Thank you, God, for giving me the strength and determination to complete this book.

My grandmother, Elaine Jones, has been my inspiration in life. Big E, as some of her grandchildren passionately called her, was a woman with a gentle spirit and a heart of gold. She had twelve children; in the process of caring and providing for her family, she went back to school to pursue her nursing degree. She worked as a pediatric nurse at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, for over twenty years. With all the obstacles, trials, and tribulations she had to endure to accomplish her goals, she never gave up, continuing to have a positive and uplifting attitude toward life. Grandma Elaine knew the secret: Believe in yourself and the power of positive thinking. She knew that you could accomplish whatever you put your mind to by staying dedicated and focused on your goals. I learned the value of hard work, love of family, a good work ethic, and the never-give-up attitude from my beautiful grandmother with a heart of gold. Grandma, you will be eternally missed and loved forever.

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Grandmother Elaine Jones

Chapter 1

The Journey

To whomever much is given, of him much is required. When I was a child, I would always hear this phrase, but I really never understood its meaning. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and I am the oldest of four girls. I always ask questions, and I used to ask myself: What is my purpose in life? Why was I born? Why do I exist? Why am I here on earth? I believe that, at some point in life, all people want to know why they were placed on earth and why they exist. I am consistently reexamining my life, the path I have chosen, and the choices I have made in the past and present; and I long to align God’s word and His commandments with my desire to be a good servant to Him. I imagine that when you find out what your purpose in life is, it is like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. If you go through life aimlessly, you will never know your purpose. How sad it would be for you to miss your calling; to have existed on earth without knowing your full God-given potential would be one of the worst things that could