I Survived

By Faith Ester

This book is a voice for those that are abused with no voice, an encouraging voice to keep the faith.  The whole point of writing this book is to help others to dig deep and find yourself regardless of the circumstances you to can survive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664216914

Faith Ester

She is honest, humble, and simple in spite of all the clouds in her life she never forgot the love of God and here she is encouraging everyone to trust in the Lord.  I am are deep reader of faith based books are devoted nurse are loving volunteer mother and grandmother hoping to be a writer.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Faith Ester.

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.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

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 Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Credits:

Credits for I Survived Written by( Faith Ester)

Prologue by (Baby Blue)

Poems by (Baby Blue)

Foreword by (Coco yea)

Book Description by (Baby Blue)

Praise By (Hezzy)

Epilogue by (Stormy Oliver)

Praise by( Princess)

Editor (Faith Ester)

Sponsored by (Princess)

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®,

NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan.

All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version

are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1692-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1693-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1691-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020925388

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/29/2020

Contents

Dedication

Contributors

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Part 2

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Epilogue

About the Author

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my deceased son, who saw the strength in

me that I did not know I possess, and to my deceased mother, who

instilled the values of life and faith in me and introduced me to my

first love, Jesus Christ, and left me an inheritance of vast importance.

Contributors

BABY BLUE (poems and book description) is an avid reader and passionate writer whose heart goes out to children around the world. Baby Blue was born on a Caribbean island but migrated to North America in 1999. From the age of twelve, Baby Blue has worked as a health care aide providing help and support to the elderly and children of various backgrounds. She has a diploma in early childhood education and is pursuing her dream as a published writer. In 2004, her poem It Seemed to Me received an Editor’s Choice Award, and in 2012 Baby Blue was a finalist in the World Poetry Competition. Her poem Applaud Them is featured in Stars in our Hearts: Images, a poetry collection. In 2013, her work was featured in three other poetry books, International Who’s Who in Poetry, The Best Poets and Poems of 2012, and Sistah’s With Ink Voices. Her other books include Obedience in a MeFirst World, Monkey Mind Madness, Poetry on the Run, and Through My Eyes: Poetry of a Vivid Mind. Her latest project is as co-author of Where Are You, Mom? She also shares some of her work on Facebook. Baby Blue has collaborated with writing groups worldwide, such as Sistah’s With Ink and Poetry Circle to motivate the youth using written words to build bridges. She has also helped people learning English to write their first English verse.

FAITH ESTER (author) is a devoted woman of faith who accepted her trials and by faith surrendered them to God. She believes she has been through the fire and is being refined as gold. Her passion is helping others see the light on the other side of the tunnel. She has a deep love for God and looks forward to helping even more people, this time with her writing. She has always had a love of reading and a way with words which was nurtured in her from childhood. In this book, Faith Ester shares great insights and nuggets of truth from her life, getting constant inspiration from the word of God. Faith Ester has gained great wisdom and knowledge just from living life. I Survived is her first publication. Faith Ester is a devoted mother of three adult children and four grandchildren. She lives in North America.

COCO YEA (foreword) is the sales manager and owner of Works.

Foreword

I am in awe of writers. I am filled with admiration for them. It takes an incredible amount of courage to put your soul on paper and have people less talented than you, probably much less creative than you, trampled all over you. Authors face the night alone.

We all know that there are millions of people who want to write, who want to tell stories. We also know that there are only a few lucky souls to have the skills and talent.

Well, we can’t always choose the stories that we have in our lives, but if we take the risk, show that we are human, that we are vulnerable, then that’s where the best stories are. It’s my hope that one day, I’ll have mine published too.

In I Survived, Faith Ester words bend at her will. Her words though pained, pull and stretch creating an experience both truthful and beautiful. Such a talent is rare. Such a talent should be nurtured. Such talent is praised. Such talent is earned. Such praise is deserved for I Survived.

This is no romantic, historical drama. No imaginary tales. Rather she crafts a uniquely adult experience through her display of words that cajoles her readers into a full experience from birth to adulthood. Faith Ester reveals both darkness and light, despair and hope, and love and hate in ways that are truthful, authentic and transparent to the human experience. Through a small dose of her musical background, we see the increase of a child’s ability in spatial reasoning and aid in her development. Then Faith Ester work matures and perfects the ability of adults to face their realities with grace, strength and love.

The poems included in this autobiography, cultivate developed complex imagery. They also seem to be performing a narrative about life. In many ways this book mimics the tragedy of love which invokes in its audience catharsis, drama, pleasure, and a paradoxical response. We see universal themes that are well represented. Faith Ester openly shares defeat and brokenness in the public domain which is reminiscent of her dad’s illness, and the nursing staff inability to save him. Faith Ester work demonstrates that true repair cannot be accomplished through the effort of others, but rather through one’s own self-reflection, honesty, and plight for healing.

We also see the seductive and misleading yet powerful and passionate, tactile power of love. The author captures the classic themes of responsibility, love and despair that her mother experienced when she didn’t know how she was going to provide for her children despite her best intentions.

Upon completion of High School, Faith Ester shows that sometimes one must care for self and her needs must come first despite her many responsibilities and the broader demands of the world. We see value and strength in self-care and meeting one’s own personal needs.

Throughout the book Faith Ester captures the full spectrum of love in several ways silently sharing that love is music on its own. She captures the sinuous nature of love’s movement. We see it when she was seeing The young man in the village, and when she met the young man at the hospital and in the relationships shared by her relatives. She captures the importance of self-love and embracing the complexity of your being to truly find understanding, peace and happiness. Throughout her writing you will find that she is retelling the core lesson that love attracts love.

Simply narrated and proving that Faith Ester is a talented, truthful author, with an amazing ability via her daily commutes and transactions to transport you through her words. After reading I Survived, you will be completely satisfied and exposed. Your experience will be aptly and concisely bundled and articulated in the birth of a melodic concoction which forms a brew of passion thus inspiring a love dance through unsung songs of the transpired soul.

On a personal note, this amazing author is my cousin In law. I reminisce on the uncounted quality time spent basking in the sun with her well mannered family. Our bond grew as we shared historical tales of our time on the Island. I have seen the growth in her work and have witnessed her toil to perfect and mature her craft. To write a forward for her is such an honored and challenging task, because I hope to capture words that encompass my honest respect for her work, doesn’t pale in contrast to her genius and demonstrates my living, breathing, palpable love for the author.

Lastly, I encourage the author to keep giving birth to her gift and continue to share her shine. I am grateful that she shared.

COCO YEA

Preface

I believe there is something of splendor within my pain. It inspires motivation, revealing the undetected strength, the hope it births inside to the creativity it cultivates. I wouldn’t dispute that it is agonizing to endure such suffering within my life. Through it all I enjoy the random isolated moments of peace. I treasure this valuable fruit of the spirit and I will never take it for granted. There is something quite surrendering and comforting that comes with nursing yourself to health. To become frozen within time and space in that venting moment with pen in hand. It has become my chosen form of freedom. That moment I get to let go of the pain, right there on paper.

Yes I have suffered but I have rediscovered who I am. Time and time again, while in constant search of my purpose, I have learned to dissect life and to reveal its hidden treasures. My downfalls would not be the end of me but my rebirth. My writing is so important to that process. I embark on the course of healing and dealing while constantly maturing reluctantly.

Faith has always been the light on my path. I learned to survive with my pen in hand as I reflect on my dad’s need at his most dire time in his life. I’ve learned to deal with trying times and what seems like an unfair hand dealt channeling through my grandmother’s strength. I am not unmindful that I am not alone in pain for it is others that motivate my pen. I would be blessed a hundredfold If my dark path could lead you into the LIGHT.

Please note what is documented in this book is not for the sake of gaining compassion, but to bring awareness. We are often prisoners of self without us knowing. In silence, we are imprisoned, both voicing and confronting our pain makes way for the chains to be broken. At the end of the dark path is freedom. If I leave it hidden, it will become a spiraling tornado that manifests chaos within me. By being brave enough to release it, I discharge its power and hold over me.

In this autobiographical record, you will hear a variety of tones. From the voice of blaring chaos inside a victim’s head which happens to be my head, depressive cries, whispers of a lost soul searching and longing to the intense vibrated melodies of heart rhythms in love. I invite you and therefore welcome you inside this wandering troubled mind that has finally found its peace. Experience my journey of life as it happened.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge my precious daughter: Princess my sunshine, my son - my hope granddaughters and grandsons. And last but not least my wonderful niece who offered her helping hand through it all. To the worried, shaken and lost souls who are searching for a glimpse of light, our life challenges aren’t to control us but mold us. Our trials in life are not to stunt, but to elevate us as we evolve from life’s pupils into life’s teachers. We are not our past, we have the amazing ability to move forward even with the most complex personal histories. It is how we deal with our personal pain that creates a fine line between suffering and living.

To my Father God Almighty for this precious gift of Writing I say ‘Thanks a million!’ Help me to use it to Your honor and glory. Amen. Special thanks to my daughter Princess who sponsored this project.

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Part 1

SEE ME!

Who I used to be, and who I am today, there are

no regrets I look forward to what’s to come

I am revealed in the emptiness of my soul,

Look at me as I flaunt my creativity.

Look at me in all my darkness; can you see what I have hidden?

Exposure carries no threat,

I can no longer hide behind the face that is masked.

My tear stained cheeks are now raw

Raw with my own guilt of encumbrance

As my eyes were burdened by insomnia’s burden, Long

nights of sleeplessness and streaming tears

My layers peeled back,

Opening self to be seen

Visuals of infected wounds

Gruesome toll to those who eye witnessed,

See Me!

Beneath my skin structure,

The woman beneath the Mask

Look straight into my soul,

Beyond the windows

Where the shades are drawn

I challenge you … SEE ME!

Look at me,

Look at me and not straight through me,

See me,

See me as I show you

                                   Revealing myself, my faults, my flaws and all …

In all my wrongness,

In the error of my ways,

I illustrate to you the good, the bad and the ugly

All due to my fallen and risen intentions …

In my flight and plummets,

I disclose to you,

Who I was, and who I am today

And all that there is left to say is … Look at me … see me!!!

BABY BLUE

Copyright © 2020 by Baby Blue

Chapter 1

S he was born to a loving family. The fourth child, a girl, with bright eyes and a full head of hair. She entered the world looking around in astonishment, screaming. Her mother smiled, then fainted, demanding the nurse’s attention. She quickly handed the baby to the grandmother. A healthy nine pounds and still crying loudly. The grandmother was unable to stop her. Frightened, she asked, Nurse, what must I do? Without looking, the nurse answered, Feed her. The only thing around was warm water and a jug with some sugar, so the grandmother held the baby in one hand while she poured the water in a cup and stirred in some sugar with the other. She sat on a chair