Picture for the Frame: Finding Joy Through Our Trials

By Regina S. S. Wood

Many of us have definite plans about how the story of life goes, but the purpose of God prevails. In Picture for the Frame, author Regina S. Wood narrates how she learned to embrace the unplanned and how she kept faith in Gods promise.

In this memoir, she tells a story about the power of a promise, the power of love, and the power of faith. Through her personal experiences and challenges during her life, Wood offers advice for

having a grateful heart, coping with lifes unchangeable circumstances, making the best choices for the maximum result, living life to the fullest, realizing that giving up is not an option, and striving to fulfill our purpose.

Picture for the Frame serves to inspire and encourage the masses to never give up, to hear the inner voices, and to remember that each of us can persevere and achieve regardless of the not-so-idealistic circumstances presented in life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491774298

Book preview

PICTURE FOR THE FRAME

Finding Joy through Our Trials

Copyright © 2015 Regina S. Wood.

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.

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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.

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.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7428-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7429-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015913075

iUniverse rev. date:   09/23/2015

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1     Being Obedient to God’s Will and Sharing Your Experiences

Chapter 2     Outlining the Beginning and Family

Chapter 3     Discerning Skills Acquired through Living

Chapter 4     Facing the Circumstances

Chapter 5     Embracing the Unchangeable

Chapter 6     Showing Compassion and Understanding

Chapter 7     Pushing Ahead in Spite of Trials

Chapter 8     Yielding to God’s Will

Chapter 9     Having a Grateful Heart

Chapter 10   Keeping Faith through the Promise

Chapter 11   Reinforcing through Fond Memories

Chapter 12   Accepting the Gift of Affliction

Chapter 13   Appreciating the Angels

Chapter 14   Pondering the Cause of Affliction

Chapter 15   Controlling Pain

Chapter 16   Knowing the Power of Prayer

Chapter 17   Dealing with Unfamiliar Occurrences

Chapter 18   Accepting Trials and Passing the Test

Chapter 19   Conquering Fears and Moving Ahead

Chapter 20   Identifying God’s Plan

Chapter 21   Obeying the Inner Voice

Chapter 22   Understanding the Importance of Education

Chapter 23   Recognizing Answered Prayers

Chapter 24   Overcoming the Odds

Chapter 25   Interpreting and Believing Your Dreams

Chapter 26   Identifying Privileges

Chapter 27   Ignoring Player Haters

Chapter 28   Keeping Faith at Closed Doors

Chapter 29   Handling Adversity

Chapter 30   Treasuring the Blessings

Chapter 31   Loving Is the Greatest Gift

Chapter 32   Holding On to Vision and Determination

Conclusion

About the Author

To my divine source and to my sons,

Bryan and Ryan.

I give my first dedication to my divine power, who gave me my sons, truly gifts from above,

and, next, to my sons,

who gave me the unconditional love and support I needed,

the courage to keep striving forward, and the daily mantra that giving up is not an option.

INTRODUCTION

Life has its challenges, but the other option, death, marks the end of new opportunities here on earth. Each day should begin with thankful hearts for the blessings we have been given. The challenge is learning to cope when life gives us less than we anticipated. The supreme path is to make the best of our choices, whether viewed as mistakes or successes. Major mistakes are the failure to set achievable goals or to seek to fulfill our purposes in life. We truly have to learn to be content in whatever states we encounter and to work to achieve the most that we can regardless of the circumstances. That inner power—that voice, that burning force inside—has the power to propel each of us to conquer all things.

In my book, I share my personal challenges and how I moved forward to enjoy living every day with a grateful spirit. It is a good life. Success is realized when we encounter valleys and storms and find ways to keep our joy. Peacefulness is achieved when we learn to reach out and help others and when we realize there is always hope and a promise. We constantly struggle to find our purposes. Many of us have definite plans about how the story of life goes, but the purpose of God will prevail. There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand (Proverbs 19:21). I will share how I learned to embrace the unplanned and kept faith in His promise.

My trials are not the same as your trials. But we all have dark days. Sometimes reading or listening to someone’s plight in life will help you make it through those difficult days and help you understand how to conquer the obstacles in your way. The light will become so much brighter, and your load will seem lighter. Also, I share some of the happy times and highlights in my life. Maybe you will see more happiness than you originally saw. My goal is to let you know that we are all quite alike in many ways. I trust you will find some words of encouragement in my story.

CHAPTER 1

BEING OBEDIENT TO GOD’S WILL AND SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES

If every person is created uniquely and every person has his or her own journey to travel, doesn’t it make sense that every person has a story to tell, a story worth sharing? I believe that our creator purposely made it so that we would all have distinct lives in order to have something to share with others. The main purpose being that each individual life story should be shared to help others along this awesome journey of life. I believe that people need to talk and tell what has happened to them in their lives. People need to hear what others have to say. Be willing to share the pain as well as the goodness.

Further, I believe that our creator gets angry and feels hurt and let down when we fail to share what we have learned with other people. We are all disciples, and we should always minister to others when needed. A life not told is a life that is virtually wasted. No one knows what you have experienced or the revelations that were revealed to you. In essence, not telling a story is tantamount to planting a seed and doing nothing else to ensure the seed will ever come to full fruition. If you are reading this and thinking that you have nothing new or interesting to share, I challenge you, as I am challenging myself, to just let go of your doubts and fears and start writing. Never be ashamed of your past or present; you will never appreciate life in its full beauty and will never have hope for a joyful future.

I do not profess to be a biblical scholar—far from it—but the Bible has been a mainstay in my life. From time to time, I will quote pertinent scripture to solidify my points. I find in Job 19:23 these words: Oh that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book! Job realized the importance of a written account of his life for future generations. Job’s purpose was a success. His life’s account was documented, and he has been a source of strength and comfort for many through his trials and tribulations. Throughout the ages, can you imagine how many people read Job and found solace and the strength to keep on moving ahead? I am thankful for the book of Job; I have read it many times, and I discover something new each time I go through it.

When I started thinking about the genre of my book, I decided not to rely on my knowledge base and instead consulted Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Voilà—there was the perfect genre just waiting for me to