BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS

By Amelia Richardson

In this book, you will read about a female who experienced rejection that caused her to become rebellious. As she ages, she faces some very difficult challenges that caused her to make some deadly choices. When she became a mother, she began trying to find her purpose, sadly thinking she had it all figured out. As she walks through the darkest journey of her life, she didn't realize the choices she made caused her to lead down the road of destruction. As she walked through this dark valley, her sinful ways caused her to strike a match to a deadly fire that only God could put out. Thankfully, she had a praying mother and connections with praying warriors that literally saved her from premature death. Once she made the right choice and cried out to Jesus, gratefully He heard her cry and walked her through the dark valley until she saw the light. As she sees the light, she surrenders her all to Jesus Christ, who granted her wisdom and knowledge, and she understands only God has the master plan. As she built a relationship with God and allowed Him to lead her path, she discovered who she was and what she was created to be. She now stands bold and courageously knowing she is the bloodline breaker and the generational shaker and will always stand on God's word, understanding her purpose is to win souls for the one and only Messiah, Jehovah Jireh, who set her free, as the word of God (Bible) declares in John 8:36, "Who the son sets free is free indeed."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781638449348

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BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS

Amelia Richardson

ISBN 978-1-63844-933-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63844-934-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Amelia Richardson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Childhood

Chapter 2

High School

Chapter 3

Graduation

Chapter 4

Motherhood

Chapter 5

Obstacles and Challenges

Chapter 6

Overcoming Obstacles

Chapter 7

I Am Free

Chapter 8

Be Bold and Courageous

About the Author

Introduction

Hello, kings and queens of the most high living God. So the reason my title is bold and courageous is because in life, we often get complacent. We become comfortable with working a typical job and forget to invest in ourselves. I believe once you become bold and courageous, it wakes up your ambitious insight that allows you to stay consistent. Even when facing adversity. In life, we all have our individual journey. The best thing I've come across was reading. For me, reading allowed me to become a much wiser and open-minded person. The most recent authors I have come across allowed me to become bold and courageous. Some authors' names were Jonas Clark, Apostle Melvin Thompson III, Sophia Ruffin, T. D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Tricia Seaman, and many more. I believe after reading, it gave me a boldness to break out of a complacent mindset and be courageous.

I decided to start writing, praying, and fasting. I have learned as a writer that writing about your experiences allows you to gain inner peace. Excessively, I began writing in 2017 which allowed me to tap into a lot of pain, ignorance, and blindness about myself that I didn't understand until I began to write. During this time, I was finally breaking loose from the bondage I allowed myself to hold on to from past trauma and hurt that was weighing me down. As I would write often, I found myself crying, angry, and enduring pain wrongfully. At that particular time, I was unaware of transparency. Though I heard the word, I had no knowledge that until I own up to my mistakes, I would continue not only hurting myself but others as well.

As you continue on reading, I gracefully encourage every reader to write. I understand you may not want to write a book; however, it naturally helps to manifest understanding about whatever it may be that causes you inner pain, tiredness, and becoming complacent. I, as the writer and author of this book, applied writing to my life, and not only did it help me to see things much clearer, but it also set me free. Freedom is where I believe when you are no longer controlled by others. Freedom is when you understand and have self-control. Which allows you to have knowledge of who you truly are. Truthfully speaking until I became open-minded, to a much greater understanding, spiritually I didn't realize I was still not living out my life to the fullest potential. Realizing a lot of times I wasn't taking spiritual authority that is freely given to us.

Luke 10:19 (AMP) states, "Behold I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and (physical and mental strength and ability) over all the power that the enemy (possesses); and nothing shall in any way harm you." That was the most important source I wasn't applying to my everyday life because though I was a believer, I strayed away from truly living out the word of God. I believe everything that we do here on earth should always be reconciled with Jesus, recognizing we are not the creators. How can we understand something that we didn't create? As we should believe in order to understand, you must first read the book of knowledge referring to the Bible. I would like to come to the conclusion, declaring after reading this book, you will be set free and delivered and be bold and courageous, putting God first in literally everything. Mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

I would like to encourage all my readers to quote these scriptures: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son Jesus Christ that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 AMP).

We have all said, thought, or indulged in bad things that caused us to sin. The Bible says, All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23 AMP). I also encourage you to get a Bible and continue on reading John 10:10, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, John 14:6, Psalm 91, and Psalm 23.

After reading some scriptures, pray. Understand that there is no special way to pray, but it is important to be specific, so I have a prayer that I believe will help the reader by God's grace and you will be saved, set free, and delivered. I encourage you to be born again.

Dear God, I know I'm a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness, I believe Jesus Christ is Your son, I believe that He died for my sins and that You raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do Your will. I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus, amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, as I continue on writing and giving the reader some insight boldly out of obedience, I pray that You use me and allow the reader to hear what You are speaking through me as Your servant. God, I ask that You allow the reader to be set free from anything that is not of You and meet every need of their life immediately, as well as mine. God, I thank You for being in my presence and giving me Your word so that I'm not leaning on my own understanding as You declare in Your word in Proverbs 3:5–6 (AMP). God, Your word is true. I love what is happening in and through Your people. Continue to lift every leader, servant, child, and elderly up and beyond. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, amen.

Hallelujah, glory to God. I am forever grateful to share boldly and courageously my journey with people all around the world. Confidently knowing that this book will change lives. Bringing every reader into a place of spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional freedom. God, I trust You. I trust Your word. Let Your will be done, Jesus.

Honorable moment: I honor You, Jesus Christ, for giving me the knowledge and understanding of who You are. I thank You for raising me up and adopting me into Your kingdom. I will praise and worship You, Jesus, for the rest of my life. God, I give it all to You. I also want to honor my natural mother and father for joining as one to make a beautiful, intelligent person as myself to share this life with teaching, praying, and helping me become who I was created to be, truly living out the word of God through Proverbs 22:6. I love and appreciate you both. I'm truly blessed to share my life with my two strong, beautiful, and loving children who help me mature, encourage, love, and aspire me with no limits. I am forever grateful to be their leader to help lead, protect, and guide. I honor them with every breath I am given through Jesus Christ. Even through every challenge of motherhood, I apply the true living word referring to Philippians 4:13 as a family: We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Gracefully honoring my leader in Christ, apostle Melvin Thompson III, I thank God for him daily. He doesn't just preach or teach, but he also impacts lives through his sonship, and I am very honored and grateful to be under great leadership that allows you at all times to focus on Jesus Christ.

As a firm believer, I truly believe freedom starts within. Why? Because what's in you must come out. The most important thing is to come to a place of understanding. My opinion starts with self. Simply because if we don't have an understanding about ourselves, how can we understand the things we speak about or even indulge ourselves in? It wasn't until I began reading the Bible that I came to a much better understanding of myself. I found so much value reading the Word of God, to be specific John 3:6 (AMP), that I gained a much clearer view of knowing we are what we operate out of. In this particular scripture, I understood when we feed our body, minds, and souls with things of the flesh, then those things of the flesh will manifest, and when we feed ourselves things of the spirit, then those things of our spirit will manifest and again that is mental, physical, emotional, and verbal.

Chapter 1

Childhood

At the age of nine, my mother finally moved out of the projects. We relocated to a beautiful home in the state of Pennsylvania. Around the time, my mother was going through much stress. As a child, I never understood exactly what she was going through. All I know is she was definitely a fighter dealing with a divorce from my father, the bitterness of her family, and her relationship with my grandmother. She still taught us how to love anyway, even though she wasn't being treated the way she deserved. She then received her GED, on top of receiving her ministry license in the year 2000. Once she completed that journey, she attended HACC, which is a local college where she attended daily, majoring in culinary arts. She also attended a neighborhood church where she became a minister.

My mother loved to pray. She would often invite people over to worship and have devotion. Watching my mother in those moments, I knew prayer changes everything. She had such a humbling spirit that kept us from noticing her troubled days. Her confidence and faithfulness remained in the house of the Lord. Prayer was a part of her daily routine. She was well loved and well-known for her cooking.

From time to time, we would eagerly sell dinners out of our downstairs windows that faced toward the alleyway, making it convenient for people to walk through and purchase their prepared and ready-to-serve orders. Our dinners consisted of two choices of meat, some good old crispy brown fried chicken or golden brown tilapia with sides of the cheesiest mac and cheese, fresh-cooked collards with smoked turkey, and a slice of well-buttered corn bread.

Sometimes, Momma would add her delicious, moist pound cakes and slices of coconut cake. Yes, Momma knew she had skills when it came to the kitchen. Food was good ole finger-licking. Momma hustled on top of taking care of three children including myself, Isaac, and Shelia. We were all two years apart, and I was the youngest. My brother Isaac was the oldest. Raising us, on top of working and going to school, she still made a little time to sit down with us. Teaching how important the word of God was mainly focusing on our Ten Commandments. Our table talks involved multiple questions concerning the Bible and the way we understand spirituality.

At the end of every session, we were given the opportunity to pray. One day, it was my turn to pray. I began to pray, Dear Lord, thank you for the crackheads, prostitutes, druuu… Momma yelled, Hold on, that is not the way you pray. Miranda, you are quoting that wrong, baby. As Isaac and Sheila began to laugh at me, Momma shouted with trembling in her voice, Stop laughing, you two. Isaac, go ahead and close us with your prayer! Isaac began to pray, Thank God for this day, thank you for my family and friends, continue to help us each and every day, lead our footsteps into the place of righteousness, help our learning ability, and allow us to be closer to you, amen. Momma said, Now, Miranda, that is the way you pray. So at this time, I became a bit confused on how to pray or even assure Momma I understood Jesus the way my siblings did, but I thought to myself maybe I was understanding things wrong. After that very moment, I began to discredit myself. Believing something was wrong with the way I was perceiving the teachings.

In the next Bible study, I was more observing than usual. My main focus was trying to gain clarity of how to pray for people in sin. However, I decided to stay quiet instead of speaking up at that time. After the teachings, I would still be confused as to why we shouldn't thank God for people in sin. It wasn't until I became mature enough to understand.

However, being young without clarity, I allowed other's opinions to determine my lifestyle. Most of the time, I would ask my siblings what was wrong with thanking God for people in sin. But they would mainly joke around, or we had different perspectives, which led me to thinking something was wrong with me. My point of view was that though people were in sin, God didn't love them no less than a person who wasn't. Having this mindset, I took it as not understanding properly.

Dealing with this confusion as a young female, it was very challenging. Moving forward, I met a childhood friend by the name of Leslie. Leslie only lived around the corner from me. We met through one of my mom's good friends from back when she was growing up, who was married to Leslie's uncle. She had a big family, and some of them lived together. In one big house that her grandparents grew up in. Her family was inspiring to me. They were always happy and loving on one another. Of course, they had their good and bad days, but no outsider could come in and change anything about their relationships. No matter what, it was always love, laughter, and happiness in my eyes. We were only one year apart and also shared the same birth month with our birthdays being seven days apart. As soon as we discovered that we would celebrate that whole week, from that point on, we remained friends. We both began to share our personal lives with each other. We vented, laughed, cried, and discussed things we didn't understand about our families.

Each of our parents was not living the best life. They dealt with similar addictions. As children, we never understood their choices. All we knew was we loved our parents unconditionally in spite of what they were into. Naturally, some days, we would be upset over hearing people make fun of our parent's bad habits.

Honestly, I was in denial when it came to the things they would say about my father. I surely didn't want to believe the things I would hear. I definitely didn't play about my father. I was a daddy's girl. I didn't want to hear anything bad pertaining to my father. In my eyes, my dad was the best man I ever knew.

I remember when he took me to the movies to see Dangerous Minds. Ever since then I fell in love with that movie, and it really gave me a better perspective to my understanding and how to treat my family through my confusion. I was empowered by the message to help uplift others. Showing and allowing them to believe in themselves. Even though deep down inside, I barely knew how to receive the good things back. Oftentimes, I would get great advice in return, but instead of receiving, I reject it. I was more concerned with uplifting others overlooking myself.

Even though Leslie and I attend different schools, we hung out on a daily basis. Almost every day, together, we built an unbreakable bond. Our friendship was more like sisters. When you see her, you see me, and when you see me, you see her. Most people could not understand our friendship. They would always point out the negative they may have seen and rarely the positive about us hanging together. They had no idea what insecurities we were dealing with at a young age.

As for me, I disliked the way I think, my short coarse hair, and my big ears, and once I started getting pick on about how my toes were long and skinny, I started to dislike my feet as well. In addition, I couldn't find anybody to do my hair the way I envisioned.

Dealing with similar insecurities, we both grew to help encourage one another. Picture day was approaching, and Leslie explained to me why she never really like taking pictures because of her forehead, so I convinced her to allow me to braid her hair so she can participate. At this time, I already discovered that I could braid because my sister used to struggle with depending on people that wouldn't show up. So I was fed up with seeing my sister struggle, and to put a smile on her face, I convinced her as well by asking her to believe and trust me I can braid. Sheila's response was if you mess my hair up, I am not going to be happy, so I better know what I'm doing.

I assured Sheila, I'm telling you, I got this. Let's go get some hair and show me your style so we can get started. As we both were walking, she was explaining to me how she wanted medium slanted braids all going back, with a bun. While she's explaining, I was envisioning it in my head, so by the time we got back home, I knew exactly how I would part her hair to give it the slanted look and pin the bun so it's steady and wouldn't come out. I began braiding, and because I knew I didn't want to disappoint Sheila, I made sure I did my best. So at times, I would start over. It took me about two hours, and sure enough, it came out better than we both expected, and from that point on, I was ready to expand.

On the other hand, Leslie didn't like straight back braids. So I had a hairstyle in my mind. To avoid the self-consciousness, I became creative and braided her hair just like she wore her ponytail parted down the middle, and she would apply gel to swoop her natural hair around her forehead. At first, Leslie did not believe in me. She was a bit skeptical about the idea. Until I said to convince her, Please let me do this. I got you. Now in order for my swoops to go right, you had to hold each braid one by one together in order for them to stay close together. I would start parting from the middle top of your head, braid down to your side burn and connect it to the side of your head so that way it could stay in place. I could not believe that my vision came out so neat and perfect just the way I pictured it. Since then, my creative braiding became a hairstyle called swoops. I was so joyful inside and happy that I made her day. She was so proud of me that day, she could not wait to go home and brag about it, and she made sure she brought me with her so her family could see just who sparked her day up.

Besides, for once, nobody had the chance to make fun of her forehead because it was covered with neatly done braids. Her family was so surprised that she had braids and a friend who put a smile on her face. Our friendship looked beyond flaws and struggles of everyday life. Leslie suffered from sickle cell that caused her to be hospitalized at times. Sometimes, she would cry to me about how much she was aching and in pain. As her friend, I made a promise that I would never leave her but give her every hope she deserves and pray every dream come true for her. She would also say things like she wished she could have children, and so forth. I as a friend would always tell her great things like Leslie, you are a fighter girl, don't let the doctors determine your life because God has the last say. Therefore, from that point on, I would ask her to come to church with me and pray with me. So sometimes she would come to my house, my sweet mother would always tell us how beautiful we are, and not to allow anyone to take advantage of us, stay pretty and strong, and keep focused on school. Furthermore, she would always pray for us before it was time for Leslie to go home.

Another thing that we both struggled with was a good relationship with our older sisters. Well, Leslie had two sisters, but there was one she always seemed to bump heads with only because she was a