Blossom: Making Sense of Your Life Journey

By Lena Edwards

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. "

1 Corinthians 10:31

Tell your story, the survival and salvation for many lives can be found in our story. 

We who have experienced the Lord's mercies, grace, and power have a story to tell. We are like a flower garden God has plant

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Nov 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781637696033

Book preview

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Blossom

Making Sense of Your Life’s Journey

Lena Edwards

Trilogy Christian Publishers

TUSTIN, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2021 by Lena Edwards

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Public domain. Scripture quotations marked AMPCE are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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

Scripture quotations marked GW are taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God’s Word Mission Society.

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.™

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-63769-602-6

E-ISBN: 978-1-63769-603-3

Contents

Dedication vii

Endorsements ix

When the Last Raindrop Falls xi

The Purpose of Blossom 1

The Ten Basic Commandments 8

God’s Children Are His Garden 10

Spiritual Rose 11

In Honor 12

Prayer Today 13

Purpose for Testimonies 15

The Unexpected Visit in 1974 17

What the Enemy Tries to Stop, God’s Grace Makes

Happen 22

How to Produce Fruit 27

Producing Fruit 27

What Are Poetic Testimonies? 33

A Victim of Abuse 38

Red Pointed Arrows 39

Ten Basic Commandments for Spiritual Writing 43

Write Your First Experience with God 50

Toothache and Car Problems Testimony 51

Contract with Man versus Covenant with God 55

Covenant with Jesus 58

The Birth of a Poetic Testimony Called "The Greatest

Part of Me" 62

The Greatest Part of Me 64

A Song That Reminded Me of My Sister 68

Free Love 69

A Hearing Exercise for Writing 70

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places 72

A Love Search Testimony 74

Love Search 75

Birth of the Poem I Desire You 80

I Desire You 83

Smelling Exercise for Writing 85

Spiritual Vision 87

Misty Gold 88

God is the Mastermind of Everything 90

Mastermind 91

His Plan is Far Greater than Our Plan 95

Birth of a Poem Called A Hole in Our Soul 97

A Hole in Our Soul 98

Crucifixion of Jesus 103

Mission Accomplished 105

What Has Salvation Saved You From? 109

Our Responsibility is to Feed the Sheep 110

Spiritual and Natural Gifts Are from God 112

What Talents or Spiritual Gifts Do You Have and

Use to Glorify God? 114

Testimony: a Bar Experience Out of Obedience 115

The Beast Who Was Out of Control 118

Testimony: the Car Accident 121

Women Are Special to God 125

Enmity 126

Walking by Faith Testimony 132

Faith Is 136

Debt Came Knocking at My Door Again 142

A Two-Way Conversation 147

The Final Hour 151

In His Presence is Everything We Need 153

In His Presence 156

A Childhood Testimony (the Sound of Barking) 158

Childhood Testimonies (Give Me a Quarter,

Please?) 161

Exercising Your Memory 163

Imagination Comes from God 164

A Crystal Holiday 166

The Snowy Testimony 169

Fluffy Confetti 172

The I Am Experience 173

Who is God to You? 176

I Am 178

The Late Walk Under the Viaduct 180

Praying for a House 184

God is Involved in Every Deatail of Our Lives 189

Small Problems with Big Frustration 192

My Brother Larry’s Toe 193

About the Author 196

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all the people who helped me in my spiritual walk with God. To my mother, Sally, who has always been the rock in my family and was a dedicated prayer warrior. I also dedicate this book to my precious daughter, Sharon, who has always made me very proud. Sharon has always been an encouragement and inspiration, starting from the time she was born. I thank all the people in my life the Lord placed there for a season of encouragement. I am thankful that the Lord walked with me through many storms, which allowed me to see how awesome and powerful He is. Storms are an essential part of every good story, even in the Bible. Without my past experiences, good and bad, this book would not have been possible. The last dedication is to my brothers, Lanny Stevenson (nicknamed L. S.), who was also a poet, and John Lee, Jr. (nicknamed Duke), who was an amazing artist. Unfortunately, they both died at the young age of thirty-five, and like many others, died without ever knowing their purpose in life. Through the grace of God, Lanny gave his life to the Lord shortly before his death. I was blessed with an opportunity to talk with him for several hours before he died. I will never forget when he told me that if he were given one more chance to live, he would enjoy the simple things in life. L. S.’s last wish was that it would rain. He loved the rain, and amazingly, at the moment of his death, it started to rain. I believe God was listening to his final request. After L. S. died, I wrote the poem When the Last Rain Drop Falls about him. He has also inspired me to enjoy life while life is possible.

Endorsements

"It is an authentic book with non-fiction testimonies of God’s miraculous powers when you trust and believe in God and His Son Jesus.

"Blossom is truly a must-read book; it will definitely increase your belief in God!"

—Vera Ward,

California

"When I first read my mother’s book, Blossom, I knew it would be powerful because I had heard her poems and writings before. I never imagined that this book would give accounts of her life experiences and that poems written in this book would be just as impactful and moving as they were when I had the privilege of hearing them before they became a well-composed piece of literature. I believe these writings will be and are a blessing to everyone who reads them. It will spark a fire in people who are called to be writers to begin writing. It pricks the heart of the reader, motivating them to want to come to know Jesus."

—Sharon Ako

Authentic is one word that Lena Edwards really embodies. She has always been an ‘open book,’ sharing her life experiences and lessons she has learned along the way to inspire and encourage so many. Lena is a woman of great faith and has discipled as well as been a mentor to many. Her passion for God and writing can be seen in every piece that she creates. As a creative writing teacher, Lena has made it her mission to awaken that same passion in others. Seeing her perform live on stage, I know for sure she is able to bring her words to life in a way that is energizing and inspiring.

—Robin Shannon

We had the opportunity to teach a class together, and the topic that she taught on was confidence. The thing with teaching a topic like that is everyone knows they should be confident. So, you can’t just tell people to be confident. The speaker had to inspire confidence in the listener. From the looks and responses of the audience, it was plain to see she did just that. She caused those that were listening to her to know that they could accomplish their goal and whatever it is God had called them to do. And at the same time, she commanded them to go and do it. It is a delicate balance. She did it well.

—Pastor Eldridge Ford

When the Last Raindrop Falls

His name was Lanny Stevenson, L. S. was his nickname.

He loved laughter but hated playing games.

He was down and real; no matter what happened, L. S. would stay the same.

He loved the rain and old-fashioned kinds of things.

His character was much like my mom’s, but he looked like dad.

I often wondered what made him so sad.

Sometimes having fun was pretending he could sing.

He never asked for much and was satisfied with just a few things.

I Wish It Would Rain was his favorite tune,

Yet whenever the raindrops fell, his heart would cry with doom.

He had many talents that surprised me: one day,

He wrote a beautiful poem about life in a special kind of way.

But life never dealt him a fair hand,

Regardless of his problems, he tried hard to be a man.

I guess his heart was too big for this old world,

He never really looked to find that special pearl.

So he ran, he ran and never said, I can.

He ran to a bottle called Wild Irish Rose,

He drank away his worries because life was just too hard, I suppose.

He started manhood as early as sixteen.

He walked a rocky road, and the grass was never green.

He swallowed a lot of his anger, and his bitterness was unseen.

I do remember one proud day: he and his buddies got dressed up.

They were all superfly clean.

That day I saw L. S. at his best; he wasn’t quite like the others

and never tried to be like the rest.

There was something inside of him that had the potential to be the best.

But his thoughts of himself were much less.

Finally, one day when he decided to live like he should,

He found himself thinking, If I could have only thought of this a lot sooner,

But now it’s too late; my body needs a new shell and

fine-tuning.

Later, Wild Irish Rose took him away.

His family suffered a lot of sorrow and dismay.

We often said he did not have to go out this way.

If he were still here, these are the words I think he would say:

"If