Overcoming Opposition: It Was God’s Amazing Grace

By Darrell R. Izard

This book is about life—and the struggles and challenges that so many folks deal with but overcome to make it where they are today. This is a story of a young person’s life that affected them growing up and how they relate to things going on today.
This book is meant to be an inspiration, and motivation reminder to someone else; never give up on your beliefs and dreams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664190986

Book preview

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Growing Up In 909

Chapter 2 My Dad

Chapter 3 My Mom

Chapter 4 I Remember

Chapter 5 School Years

Chapter 6 My Heart

Chapter 7 My Twin

Chapter 8 My Siblings

Chapter 9 Death

Chapter 10 What is Love?

Chapter 11 The Church

Chapter 12 Ministry

Chapter 13 May 21, 2017

Chapter 14 My Plans

Chapter 15 Present Day

Chapter 16 Journals

J 1

J 2

J 3

J 4

J 5

J 6

J 7

J 8

J 9

J 10

J 11

J 12

J 13

J 14

J 15

J 16

J 17

J 18

J 19

J 20

J 21

About the Author

SYNOPSIS

This book is about life—and the struggles and challenges

that so many folks deal with but overcome to make it where

they are today. This story is based on events that have taken

place in a young person’s life that affected them growing

up and how they relate to things going on today. This book

is meant to be an inspiration, and motivation reminder to

someone else; never give up on your beliefs and dreams.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my great grandpa, the late Deacon

Johnnie Lee Propst, and my Dear friend the late Mrs.

Ruth Morgan, and my two great grandmothers Lela Mae

Connor, and Eloise Wilfong. It is each of your words and

wisdom that I have taken and carried with me that have

made me be humble. Because of you all I will forever

know that I must put God first in all I do! Thank you for

your encouragement and the prayers you prayed for me.

Prior to the release of Overcoming Opposition, No

More Suits released the following article, written by

Chief Journalist, Endyia Jones with a message to

aspiring authors by the author, Darrell R. Izard.

Darrell R. Izard is set to release his novel ‘Overcoming Opposition’ and hopes his message can influence future authors.

Endyia Jones | April 26th, 2021.

Self-love is the best love, Darrell R. Izard, author of Overcoming Opposition: It Was God’s Amazing Grace, explained that it is important to love yourself first and foremost. With excitement, Izard tells a powerful story through this novel. Overcoming Opposition is an amazing read inspired by the struggles of life. It has always been a goal for Izard to write a novel and with dedication, he was able to accomplish this goal. Izard explained the feeling of writing his novel as freeing himself. During the writing process, Izard felt encouraged to release some of the things that people have been able to overcome by the grace of God. He said, No matter what you go through in life, there is a brighter day—there is a better side.

This novel is a motivational and inspirational piece that allows the reader to relate on a recreational and personal level. The issues that black people and young adults generally deal with daily are highlighted in this novel showing readers that they are not alone in their struggles. Overcoming Opposition encourages readers to never be ashamed of anything they may face in life.

To aspiring authors:

Take your time, don’t be afraid to express yourself and don’t be afraid of judgement. Don’t be ashamed of who you are and your purpose in life. It is very important to let people know your story because a lot of people are dealing with or going through the same things you have gone through. It is important to get that out of your system to help others along the way.

-Darrell R. Izard

CHAPTER 1

Growing Up In 909

You pray for rain, you have to deal with the mud too. That’s a part of it. –Denzel Washington

M Y MOM’S FIRST apartment was income based. I was the only child then. I always dressed well, and kids would try to purposely step on my shoes. Some of them may have been low key jealous I believe. My dad was a drug dealer. There were times he was not there, but he made sure my mom and I had everything we needed. He wanted my mom to be a housewife. When her friends would come home from college, he would embarrass her with his commands that she stay home after telling her beforehand that she could go out with them. He would ask her to cook his favorite meals and then never show up to eat them. She dealt with this until she got fed up. Finally, she purchased a gun, registered it, and kept it to herself.

Their relationship continued in this way until she snapped. He did the same thing again by embarrassing her in front of her friends. After her friends left, he went outside to talk to someone. My mom got her gun and shot at him three times from the porch. People were running and trying to figure where the shots were coming from. When my dad realized she was doing the shooting, he rushed towards her. They wrestled, and she got away and pointed the gun at his head. When she pulled the trigger, it jammed.

When the gun jammed, my dad knocked it out of her hand, released the magazine and threw it over another building. They returned inside the apartment where I awoke to the two of them arguing and fighting. I even saw him push my mom’s head through the wall. He literally pushed her head through the wall! I was so upset that I started to cry; my dad just looked at me and left. I continued crying and my mom rocked me back to sleep. The hole in the wall was a shape of a human head and my mom’s eye was black. This was the first time I had seen my parents physically fight. Things were quiet for the next couple of days because my dad was gone. My mom asked my great grandmother for some sunglasses to wear to cover her black eyes. This was when I began to see how my dad’s lifestyle started to affect our home.

Because there was always so much commotion in the area, I never really got a chance to interact with other people my age in the neighborhood. I only started interacting with others in the area when I started school. As a child, I always was so happy and enjoyed taking pictures. I have many memories of my mom taking pictures of me for the first day of school. Years later, my mom still has those pictures. Fast forward a few years, my mom had another child and a year later got pregnant again which is when my dad got picked up by the feds and he was sentenced to about 16 years off conspiracy (word of mouth).

***REFLECTION***

From having everything I could possibly want to witnessing my parents fight and becoming a big brother, my childhood was a lot to take in. My dad would come around, but I was mostly raised by women. I also had to grow up quickly. I had to not only become a big brother but there were times I felt as if I was parenting my siblings instead of just being a big brother. Sometimes, I babysat my siblings while my mom went out with friends because when my dad was around, he always wanted her home. I was young and should have been doing kid things, but instead I shouldered a lot of responsibility with taking care of my siblings. Those experiences molded me. I had to learn how to cook and clean at a very young age because I was the oldest child. As I got older, I began to have behavior problems; even still my mom looked at me to lead and guide my brothers in the right direction

CHAPTER 2

My Dad

Great men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

–Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Y OU ACT LIKE you not my son, my dad said. You right, I replied. We went back and forth arguing saying disrespectful things to one another until finally I left and went to work. That was December 27, 2016. Since then, he and I have barely spoken. For most of my life my mom raised me and my siblings. My dad and his twin brother were incarcerated for almost 11 years for drug charges. This was not the first time my dad had been to jail, but this was his longest sentence.

My dad’s name is Doug. People always ask me if I am a junior, and the answer is always a resounding, No! My mom did not give me his middle name for some reason. He and his twin brother were the biggest drug dealers back in the day, and they had a younger brother who also became a drug dealer. Their mom had them when she was 14 years old. Their dad was not in their lives.

We spent years traveling up and down the highway visiting my dad in prison. Besides me, my mom had my other two siblings who I helped rear. My dad also considered one of my cousins as his daughter because he raised her as well. Because we grew up together, we considered each other siblings. When my dad was sentenced to prison, my middle brother was a baby, and I could not have been any more than five or six. When he would call us, he would always say to me, You are the man of the house.

I took his saying to heart. As