The Son Still Shines Through Broken Windows

By Janice I. Stevenson

This book is about Gods grace, constant intervention and deliverance for any soul that will submit to the unconditional love of the heavenly Father.

The purpose of this book is to show how the mighty power of God can heal and deliver. Many of us have been broken. Many of us have experienced events that have left scars on our souls, but God still wants to use us. He created each one of us for a specific purpose. The windowpanes of our souls may have been shattered, but the Son still shines through broken windows.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512710564

Janice I. Stevenson

Janice Stevenson is a multitalented educator, speaker and writer. She is well-known for her creative teaching style and original program productions for her school. She is living proof that anyone can overcome obstacles and barriers to success by allowing God to take control of their life. Janice obtained a masters degree in education from Loma Linda University and has been teaching elementary school for over thirty-five years. She also serves on the Womens Ministry Team of her church as a creative program designer and speaker. Janice now resides in the state of Nevada.

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Copyright © 2015 Janice I. Stevenson.

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 author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All quotes in the Heart Notes sections, poetry and song were written by the author unless otherwise indicated.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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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.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1057-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1058-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1056-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015914039

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/26/2016

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Endorsements

Preface

Foreword

Chapter 1:   The Gift, the Promise and the Punishment

Chapter 2:   Love Lost and Secrets

Chapter 3:   Buffering for the Suffering

Chapter 4:   The Watchful Eyes of God

Chapter 5:   The Bright Light

Chapter 6:   Courage to Stand

Chapter 7:   Moving Forward

Chapter 8:   Spiritual Adoption and Determination

Chapter 9:   Under His Wings

Chapter 10:   Upward Bound

Chapter 11:   Missing Pieces

Chapter 12:   Love in the Flesh

Chapter 13:   The Calling

Chapter 14:   Redefined as God’s Design

Endnotes

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my family, all of my students, both past and present and their parents. It is especially dedicated to everyone who passed through my life and left a deposit of love, concern, support, encouraging words and a positive, Christian example. There will always be a special place in my heart for the following people because they went beyond the call of duty in being God’s hands and heart.

The Late Robert Cole and Sophia Cole

Pastor and Mrs. Calvin and Wynona Preston

Pastor Harold W. Kibble

Thomas and Zeola Allston and family

The Late Dr. James E. Dykes, Ethel Dykes and family

Hazel and Ben Szpila and family

The Late Luches Bizzard, Carrie Bizzard and family

The late George Henderson, Emma Henderson and family

Dorothy Mincey and family

Ruth and Nathaniel Wallace

Barbara Person and family

The Late Delphine Gibson and family

Willie C. and Elizabeth Ryles and family

Annicia and Johnny Holliday and family

Barbara Boulware and family

Robin and Clarence Brown and family

Barbara McDavid

Dr. Norwida Marshall

Elders V. J. Mendinghall, Conrad Gill, and William R. Wright

Pastors Oneil Madden and Marvin Clarke

All my Superintendents

Dean Jones

Dean Verdun

Dean Holloway

Dean Wright

Dean Dupree

Dean Jackson

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank my Heavenly family for creating me, blessing me, watching over me and instilling my being with treasures galore!

I would like to thank my Pastor; Oneil Madden, for encouraging me and helping me to realize I had something worth sharing.

I would like to thank Toni T. Ellis, my Soul Sparking Coach, for totally propelling me into seeing all the treasurers God placed within me and pushing me to write and not just dream about it.

I have nothing but respect, admiration and appreciation for Pastor Calvin B. Rock for his kind endorsement, Christian example and encouraging words.

I would also like to thank Gayle Ellis for her awesome editing skills and encouraging words along this journey.

Special appreciation is extended to Mrs. Zeola Allston for writing the foreword with the capable assistance of her son, Tim Allston.

My present church family have been a corporate body of encouragers and well wishes. I feel so blessed to be a part of the Abundant Life family.

I thank Robin Brown for listening to me and helping me get the musical notations right for Rejoice.

To God be the glory!

Endorsements

This is an excellent book that embraces positive family values. A must read for individuals searching for identity. It promotes the theme that good always triumphs over evil, even if others seem to hold you down.

Oneil Madden, Abundant Life SDA Church, Senior Pastor

The Son Still Shines through Broken Windows is a story that awakens every range of emotion.

Karen Petersen, parent of former student

In this busy life seldom does one take time to purposefully reflect on the process of growth and being. This book represents such thought and introspection as the author retells the important stages and events in her life. As the reader follows the storyline a variety of emotions arise to respond to Grace’s feelings of self-doubt and loneliness. However, God shows up with His providential plan and the rest is history.

Dr. Eileen Knight White, PhD

Preface

Have the effects of emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse left scars that never seem to heal? Do you find that every time anything happens that looks like, smells like, sounds like, or feels like any of the abuses you have suffered that you have an urge to hide or emotionally disappear? Do you shut yourself away from the world? Even though you may feel safe in your physical or emotional place of hiding you must realize that you are also missing the wonders of life around you. You must break free so that you can grow into the person God intended you to be. Take a journey with a girl named Grace, and maybe you will discover your authentic self and your true worth.

The purpose of this book is to show how the mighty power of God can heal and deliver. Many of us have been broken, but the Son still shines through broken windows. This fictional autobiography is based on real-life events.

This book is about God’s grace, constant intervention and deliverance for any soul that will submit to the unconditional love and guidance of the Heavenly Father.

-Janice Stevenson

Foreword

Janice Stevenson’s life embodies fully the quotation of Chilean poet-diplomat and 1971 Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda, declaring, You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming.

Our home became the flower garden for this 17-year-old, cut but transplanted flower. Huntsville, Alabama’s Oakwood College, a historically Black Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts school allowed me, as its director of student activities, to nourish and re-plant this precious child; to incubate her tender roots in the fertile soil of our family home life for several years; and to watch her blossom from an original nursing major aspirant to her truest love: returning that care and love and tutelage to children, as an elementary school teacher.

For more than 35 years, Janice’s love and passion for teaching has transported her ministry to the Virgin Islands, Miami, Georgia and now Nevada. Her autobiography, The Son Still Shines through Broken Windows, showcases her personal God directing her personal roller coaster of life in order to make her better, not bitter. What she lacked in constructive, nurturing childhood parenting, she instead reversed. That broken-window pane of her soul has continued to let the Son shine more fully in her stewardship with her students and their parents and guardians.

Unfortunately, Janice’s book may never be listed on the syllabi of a traditional school curriculum. However, if the National Association of Education ever designs a course in Perseverance or Stick-to-itiveness, The Son Still Shines through Broken Windows will become required reading – for students, administrators, educational support staff and caring parents.

Mrs. Zeola Allston, retired college

administrator and mentor of the

author

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The Son Still Shines Through Broken Windows

Has your life’s window been clouded with turmoil and strife?

Has the window of your soul become blurred, and you loathe life?

Is your mere existence wrapped up in pain?

Have guilt and shame become your middle name?

The Son still shines through broken windows!

Have your hopes and dreams all been scattered?

Are the window panes of your soul broken and shattered?

Do you feel like life no longer even matters?

The Son still shines through broken windows!

God is about healing and mending broken lives.

It doesn’t matter if pain darkens your day.

The Precious Son of God will help you to survive.

He is the truth, the light, and the way.

The Son still shines through broken windows!

He’ll put an end to your misery and strife.

He’ll brighten your days with the sunshine of His love.

He’ll wrap you in His warm embrace.

For your sins, He took your place.

The Son still shines through broken windows!

He’ll take all of your brokenness and use it to heal others and make this world a better place.

He’ll erase your frown and put an eternal smile upon your face.

He’s there beside you. You are never alone.

He’ll make your trials your stepping stones.

Yes, the Son still shines through broken windows!

27759.png Heart Notes

God created you with a definite purpose in mind. Even in your brokenness you can look past the cracked windows of your soul, and you will see something greater and better. That is God’s desire for you. Others may think it impossible but not God. Hold on to it like a priceless treasure. Let no one steal your hope for a better future.

CHAPTER 1

The Gift, the Promise and the Punishment

She was born a few days after her father’s birthday and her daddy called her his gift. We will call her Grace. She was the apple of her father’s eyes. Oh, how wonderful was the close relationship Grace and her father had! Even though her daddy’s love for her was evident, Grace’s environment was full of emotional uncertainty.

Grace received gentle touches from her daddy. The hurried, impatient hands of older siblings were sometimes all the touch she would get until her daddy came home. He would look into her eyes and tell her, Daddy, loves you. You are my precious little gift. I love you. She knew he loved her before she ever knew what his words meant. He read to her. He walked with her and talked to her. He patiently listened to her incessant babble and answered every question Grace asked. He was so gentle and patient.

Many times Grace was able to observe her daddy’s gentle ways and wise understanding. He had a sympathetic heart and believed that everyone was innocent until proven guilty. Even when all evidence pointed toward a possible guilty verdict for misbehaving, he would always choose to err on the side of mercy.

However, her mother’s words were very few and far between. She was more the disciplinarian and didn’t waste words. Grace was very sensitive and because of this she didn’t understand her mother’s ways. Grace was too young to understand that love comes in different forms. Her daddy was the hugging type. He was very supportive and demonstrative in his love. However, like Grace, many of us misunderstand the love of a worried mother. We do not comprehend that she cannot give us what we may need - not because she doesn’t want to but because she doesn’t have it to give. Grace often felt baffled and confused. On one day she could do a certain thing or sit in a certain place and not get into trouble and on another day she could do the exact same thing and get in trouble for it.

Grace was a people watcher and was pretty good at discerning character but, she just couldn’t figure out her mother. Grace carefully studied her mother to watch for any facial expressions or signs that would indicate what type of mood she was in. Grace did that in order to avoid as much physical punishment as possible.

Grace knew her mother had a lot of worries and concerns. Whenever she did speak, the children would pay attention because she wasn’t one for doing a lot of repeating. Grace made up her mind to do whatever she could to lessen her mother’s burdens and avoid her harsh words that could pierce the toughest soul.

There was a time when one of Grace’s brothers got into trouble with the law. Well, let’s start from the beginning. Grace had a brother whose nickname was Andy, and he just loved eating apples from his beautiful state of Washington. One day their mother decided she was going to cut his hair to save money. She usually did a pretty good job. She trimmed the back. She trimmed the sides and she trimmed the top. Next, she set out to even the edges. She did the back edges and the side edges. All that was left to be done was the front edge.

As Andy’s mother proceeded to edge up the front, he sneezed and the razor went sailing across the top of his head and shaved off his hair. He looked like someone had been cutting grass and let the lawn- mower loose straight down the middle of his head. His mother tried to fix the mistake but the more she tried to fix it, the more uneven it became. Her only resort was to cut off all of his hair.

Now, he already had an unusually large head in the first place, and now that he had been shaved bald, he discovered that he had four or five ripples of skin in the back that looked like wrinkled elephant skin. Grace’s mother put some moisturizer on his head and it made Andy’s head shiny. Andy hated being bald headed. When he went to school the next day, he hated being bald headed even more because everybody said they felt like slapping him up-side his head - and many of the kids did just that!

Everyone at school started calling him Apple Head because they said his head looked like an apple. You know how being teased at school can become a really big problem for a child and that’s what it became for Andy. He didn’t want to go to school, and he was upset with his mother for cutting off all of his hair. It really wasn’t her fault. However, in his mind, he was just so angry he didn’t know what to do.

What he finally did to appease himself didn’t make any kind of sense, but I guess in his mind it made him feel better - at least for a moment. After school was over, Andy decided he would stop by the store before going home. He didn’t buy anything there, but he decided to steal a comb. It was not just any comb. It was one of those super- big combs you buy at carnivals or amusement parks. He didn’t have any hair, so he wasn’t going to use it for a good purpose. I guess he took it for the hair he hoped would grow back on his head.

Well, anyway, the store clerk caught him stealing it, and during that time it was the policy for the police to bring minors caught in minor offenses home to their parents.

The police took Andy home and explained to his mother what he had done. Grace listened as the police officer tried to explain to her mother what had happened. Grace noticed that the police officer could hardly get his words out without chuckling a bit. Of course, Grace’s mother didn’t think anything was funny, and she began to speak firmly to Andy and to ask him what in the world he was trying to do. She thanked the officer for bringing him home. The officer left, and Andy was made to go to his room and await his fate when his father arrived home. Grace peeked into his room and teased him, saying, Oooo, Daddy’s going to get you. You’re in trou-ble! When her daddy got home, Grace strategically placed herself within earshot of her brother’s room so that she could hear everything that would take place.

She heard her brother crying and telling their dad how sorry he was, but also how angry he was because of the way the kids treated him at school. She heard her dad tell Andy that he understood how humiliating and hard it must have been for him at school that day.

She also heard her daddy tell Andy that he knew his mother thought he deserved a good beating for stealing the comb. However, never once did she ever hear him raise his voice or speak an unkind word. What a patient daddy Grace had! He was a great dad! He would give you the opportunity to explain whatever had been going on. Grace’s mom and dad were different. That was a good thing because it provided balance in the meting out of discipline. Even Grace’s mom often talked about how happy she was to have a man like Grace’s dad. He took his responsibilities of providing for the family seriously and he was not slack at all. He treated her mother like a