Day One – Part One
“the story of WITH: A Better Way to Live, Love & Create” has three parts with eighteen chapters in part two. The first and last part are commentary. This review will cover these twenty parts and how I was impacted by this story that Allen Arnold wrote with God for our good.
Allen exposes his story, where he has been, and how God has taken him to “pursue the hearts of those living like orphans and awaken them to their core identity as His sons and daughters.”
Allen reminds us that our great Creator “wove into each of us a specific set of interests, passions, and curiosity – which holds clues to our greater destiny and our truer selves.” God infuses into all of us dreams. However outside influences deter us from those dreams to achieve in ways that might be productive, might be wonderful, but not what was meant to be through God. We allow the world’s standards to guide us to what is best and how to get there.
In this book two realms are revealed: the Orphan and the Freedom Realm. The Orphan Realm is based on our own strength. Our successes and failures materialize through what we do alone, yet not satisfied. The Freedom Realm relies on our dependence on God and living a life with God, not alone and full. According to Allen, “Your realm is the place where you exist. It colors how you interpret everything in life.”
Reading Allen’s story and being reminded of how our Lord created us to be vibrant, creative beings with Him makes me think about how I had to cling to the dreams God revealed to me when I was young before I came to know Him as my God. I am so grateful that God gave me parents who allowed me to follow my dreams despite the fact that the world wished to keep me in a certain mode because of my race and sex.
Come back to hear more of these two realms through a story – our story.
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Juel A. Fitzgerald has a degree in English and is a Toastmaster trained public speaker, loves to travel, and walk long distances with friends. She writes in four blogs and is the author of “Lives of a Gem! God’s Treasured Possession”, “Bible Trek: Reading the Bible in Thirteen Weeks”, and “The Twelve: Fishers of Men”.
These are her four blogs:
- Heart Emissions – weekly spiritual devotionals.
- Juel’s Travel Beacon – travel information and tips.
- Walking For God Challenge – one year blog to raise funds for HOPE worldwide.
- Writer’s Blog – writer’s journey, news and other information
©2020-2022 Juel’s Creations, LLC
Hey Juel, I’m reading along WITH you! At first I thought that this author could be clearer in his writing. He tries so hard to come up with ethereal, phrases when really he could hit the bulls-eye and get his point across much more directly and effectively. But, having said that, I do love that he’s going to tell us a story to teach us about using the gifts God had given to each of us. This allegory is a great way to show as well as tell what creativity is all about! Let’s read on! Eileen