Dear Reader: What is the agenda that God has set for your life? How does one retain one's faith while facing life's vicissitudes? I received the answers to these questions in a unique way that I now share with you, praying that these messages will also enhance you spiritual growth. As a child I had little religious upbringing. However, I was always drawn to God's words, strengthening my spiritual beliefs on my own by reading the Bible and praying. After my mother's death, I joined a Methodist church and its college youth group where I met my husband. We raised three children, then after living on a sailboat for three years, my husband and I divorced. I returned to California to be reunited with our three children, seven grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and my twin sister. I continued my spiritual growth by joining a church and two prayer groups. But extraordinary help came to me as I slept. I believed the Holy Spirit sent me the words to these poems, thus strengthening my faith even further. I now share these poems with you, praying that they will also enrich you faith. With God's blessing, Joanne Stocker Stephanie Ponce lives in San Diego, with her family and pet chinchilla, LeeLu. She is currently attending Palomar Community College in hopes of becoming an illustrator. Although she has lived in California her whole life, she wishes to one day travel and study art around the world. These are her first published illustrations.
