My Current Situation: Building Faith & Killing Giants

By Velda M. Knauls

My Current Situation was birthed from a place of love for the unloved, and for the broken and abused. My Current Situation is for those souls in this world that can’t seem to find their way through the chaos and confusion life brings. My Current Situation will teach you to trust God for every situation. It will bless you to find your voice when you feel unheard. My Current Situation will equip you with the weap-ons of your warfare, while fortifying your relationship with the Lord.
The purpose of My Current Condition is to help build your Faith to the highest level of Trust in God and His Word while Defeating every Giant. Via the testimonies throughout this book, the reader will learn the art of war through prayer, praise and worship that will consistently bring defeat to the giants in the life of the Believer. Always learning to fight every battle on your knees through faith and not by sight.
My Current Situation is a book that will bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the broken, and restora-tion to so many lost in your daily battles. My Current Situation will speak to the heart of so many bat-tered women and men on the frontline of an abusive relationship. My Current Situation will show you the great depths of God’s heart as you face the seen and unseen obstacles in your lives.
As human and Believers in Christ Jesus, we face daily battles, be it financial, abuse, depression, anger or otherwise; know that God has given us the necessary weapons to defeat the giants in our current situa-tions. Through God grace, My Current Situation will teach you how to be victorious through your very own prayers.
Touching the Heart of God like never before, you will be encouraged on how to be a faithful servant in your walk of Faith. God has equipped each and every human with tools for a better life and My Current Situation will help to reveal those gifts that God has equipped you with to overcome and Defeat every Giant, and the evil plans the enemy has formed against you while building your Faith and Trust in God!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664192348

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Copyright © 2021 by Velda M. Knauls.

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.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are from The Amplified Bible, Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright © 1954, 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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

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Rev. date: 08/27/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1Where It All Began

Food for Thought: Reality Check

Fear, be Very Afraid

Chapter 2When Change is Inevitable (Living in a Maze)

Chapter 3Who Moved My Change?

Chapter 4Beautiful Chaos

Chapter 5Big Secrets, Little Lies

The Sound of Love

Chapter 6While God was Watching

Chapter 7When Midnight Comes

Chapter 8I Didn’t Come this Far to only Come this Far

Chapter 9Dedicated to my Destiny

Chapter 10Understanding God’s Purpose: GPS (God’s Purpose System)

Chapter 11Dig Deeper . . . God is Waiting (It’s a Family Affair)

Chapter 12God’s Got Something for That Too

Seven Days of Inspiration and Prayer Good Morning, God . . . Here I am

Conclusion

About the Author

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this book to two people that supported me and my family in ways unimaginable. Through your support, love, and the audacity to step in and help me and my children we were able to get to our Next! Albert & Ulysia Castleberry, thank you for helping to rescue a family from an extremely volatile current situation. Sacrificing for others in need, we will be forever grateful for your love and support, stepping in when others stood by. God bless you Man and Woman of God; we love you dearly!

FOREWORD

By Matthew N. Carter

There are numerous sources from which brokenness could enter into one’s life. For some, brokenness could look like a failed relationship, or friendship. For others it could be abuse, or even just the normal hardships we go through in life. For me, there were multiple situations and scenarios that left me feeling broken, as well as forgotten on some occasions.

My Current Situation was written by a woman who undoubtedly suffered with brokenness more than any person I know. As a child, it is often difficult to recognize the signs, but as I got older, I knew that I never wanted to see my Mom Velda Marie struggle with anything ever again.

Velda Marie in her current situations went through a lot, and is now taking her pain, and putting it on paper for the world to see. Whether it was not being able to afford the electric bill with four young kids in the house, or going without meals to keep those children fed, Velda Marie has been no stranger to brokenness.

Our pain makes us who we are, just like your pain has made you who you are. Pain and failure can be our worst enemies, while simultaneously being our greatest teachers. My Current Situation contains a lot of pain, and a lot of failure, yet I believe that there is something that we can all grasp and learn from inside of these pages. Be blessed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

No matter how independent we think we are, there are some things we can’t do without the help of others. My life has been blessed and graced by so many that have prayed for me, encouraged me, and inspired me to become the woman of God that blazes a trail for others. I am so thankful for so many voices that had a hand in My Current Situation process. Without your love and support I would not be in a position such as I am right now.

To the Most Important in my life, All the glory, honor and love belongs to God! Thank you, Father, for always being a father, a husband, and my Best friend! Thank you for breathing into my life and giving life to the words in this book. You are My Current Situation every day!

To the Her Shelter Administration and staff, thank you for helping me get my life back.

To Ramona (Miller)Shelton, your support has meant the world to me…we go way back, and I thank and acknowledge!

To Dr. Shawn Lett, aka Dr. Pain I thank you for helping me to recover my functionality and my sanity from the pain that had overtaken my life. Not just physical pain but mental pain through my recovery process, before, during and after my surgeries. Your dedication to excellence and the kindness of your spirit helped me to laugh, live and to breathe once again!

To my Super Friend Sister Helen McClendon for all the early morning prayers, reading and listening sessions, thank you for being a battle axe... you’ve already read the book from beginning to end. I Love You!

To my big brother Elder Lester Ray Knauls Jr; thank you for towing the line through your prayers and support and accountability, always there to encourage your sister.

To my other big brother James D. Knauls (JD) and his wife Ava, you guys have sacrificed and helped me when I couldn’t help myself over the years. I will be forever grateful!

To my little sister Carrie Lynn Tacinelli, thank you for keeping me accountable to myself, always telling me the Truth, allowing me to be myself when others would not, and you know what makes me laugh really hard. Thank you for helping me to move forward through the pain and allowing me to know that through thick and thin I can count on you. Love you Sis!

To my friend and mentor Judy Bolin, since I was a young girl, you have been my other Mother. God sent you as my guardian angel to always protect and love me from the depths of your heart. You have taught and mentored me to be a better woman. Laughing at all my silly stories while encouraging me along the way. Thank you for your guidance, love, and support all the way through my life.

Thank you to the loves of my life, my children. William James II, Matthew Nicolas, April Nicole, and Jeremiah Stephen for the awesome privilege of being your mother! What a journey we have been on. You all are my pride and joy and I can hardly wait to see how God will bless your life better in the coming years. I Love you so much and words could never express enough how much I love you!

INTRODUCTION

As I began the research to write this book, I found myself reflecting on the past misfortunes of my complicated life. This is what we usually do when we are faced with something we really do not want to face. My Current Situation had finally gotten my attention to the point that I had no choice but to confront my past and my present if I intended on making it to my future. Reflecting, no matter how far back it takes us, usually brings us right back to our Current Situation. Those unhappy times, those embarrassing moments, and especially the occasions when we felt lost and alone, ready to give up—those are the times that we can never recover from.

Over the past several years, months, weeks, and days, all I have done on most days is reflect. Some of my reflections were good, many were bad, most were difficult to confront, and we will not talk about the ones that were so cringeworthy that I can’t even bring myself to speak about it. Nonetheless, they were reflections on a life of worthlessness, shame, and brokenness. That was my belief back then, and the sad part about it is that I had no idea how bad it was until I was old enough to understand that those were very dark moments for a girl of my age to overcome.

In hindsight and plenty of perspective, I now know that God was protecting me. He guided every step of this painstaking journey; I genuinely believe He was preserving me for such a time as this to help build the faith of the people reading this book. As He did for me, God desires to give you the strength and courage to defeat those Big Bad Wolves and Giants in your life that have constantly burdened and tortured you. Through my testimony as an overcomer, I think that God is positioning His people for victory in the everyday battles of the believer.

Like most people, I have faced countless uncertain moments that broke down my faith, which made me very vulnerable to the giants that came to challenge my belief system and my relationship with God. You see, my current situation seemed to last longer than most people’s situation, especially when it was bad. I feel this way because I have this little problem that I don’t like to talk about called waiting. With all my heart, I detest waiting; it is one of my biggest pet peeves. Even though it has been proved through my own experience that waiting on the Lord builds faith, it establishes trust, and it constructs your character, I still have an issue on waiting for my breakthrough to come.

I guess God was serious when He said in His Word, [B]ut you must not forget this one thing, dear friend: a day is like a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 2:8, New Living Translation). It was in the moment of reading that scripture that I had a light bulb flash. God is so funny and at the same time profoundly serious about His Word. Some of my moments felt like a thousand years to me (LOL). I, to a fault, have the tendency to forget that because I am experiencing a technical difficulty that is uncomfortable and sometimes foreign in that moment.

I don’t always want to wait for the result. I have the inclination to take matters into my own hands. Why do we always try to bypass God’s timeline? It doesn’t change His mind or His plan; it just creates a longer waiting process.

While taking a hard look at myself, I know that God is right in the middle of my life, and that’s why I’m here today, because God’s plan works. It certainly worked for me back then, and it is definitely working for us right now. He has brought me through some really tough spots, and He is always directing my present.

He and He alone holds the reins to my potential, and I have become a well-balanced Woman of Faith because of the many trials, trespasses, and failings throughout this lifetime. I have awakened to a new perspective with a God’s-eye view of my direction. This is only the beginning of what is in store for me and my family.

I have suffered a great deal at the hands of myself, others, and the enemy. Even though there are lots of giants that have been defeated through my faith and trust in the Lord, there have also been quite a few that have gotten the best of me in the battle. Life is an extremely uncomfortable place for those that are Believers in this world, but I can only imagine how uncomfortable life is and will be when you don’t know or accept Jesus Christ as your Personal Savior. Without that knowledge of Him, I know I would not have made it through some very harsh conditions that were thrown my way in my survival-mode moments. That’s why I’m writing this book, because I now have a renewed, restorative strength that I never knew I could have through Jesus Christ.

I have experienced total life-changing faith, and my confidence, my true confidence, gives me the courage to go through my next current situation to come out unscathed, fully intact. In spite of my experiences, I can finally talk about my past without breaking down in tears every few minutes. I’m a survivor, and no one can take that from me because I have paid the price to be in this position. Even though I abhorred the waiting process, I have learned to wait and embrace the current situations as they make their way to me.

I have also established in my mind and heart that if we are servants of the Most High God (El Elyon), we really have no choice but to wait. God’s time is His time, and He is always on time with His plans. We must, by any means necessary, trust the process of God’s plan. If we don’t support the process of God’s plan, we—through our self-inflicted wounds—will repeat the test that has been set before us. Some call it the delayed-but-not-denied conundrum, but I call it rebellion at its best.

The Word of God encourages us. But they that wait up on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). God has a plan for my life as He does for yours; our friends and our families are also included in His scenario.

Let me assure you, He has a blueprint for everything in this universe, and we are all a part of His project. I write about My Current Situation as a reminder of the things that God has brought me through. The faithfulness of His love, grace, and patience truly baffles my mind. When I have been down to literally nothing, God is always up to something. He has inculcated faith deep down in the heart of a woman who was broken down