God Directed Revelation, Redemption, and Recovery

Gail Daphney Ricketts

Description

Here is an unsung hero like many black girls from the ghettos, who tell their truth and life lessons, like Cicely Tyson's "Just As I Am" and Viola Davis' "Finding Me: A Memoir."
I have traveled from a place of unforgiveness, adolescent anger and resentments and overcoming temptations of the streets to a path to forgiveness, healing, confronting family of origin issues and childhood traumas by way of therapy, twelve-step co-dependency recovery program, prayer, and meditation.

Sujets

• Santé et bien-être
• Relations interpersonnelles
• Relation interpersonnelle
• Recovery
• Self-help
• Spiritual
• Codependency
• Healing
• Espiritual
• Inspirational
• Adult Children of Substance Abusers

Informations

• Publié par: Balboa Press
• Date de parution: 05 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798765230510
• Langue: English

Extrait

God Directed Revelation, Redemption, and Recovery
Trilogy Parts 1, 2, 3
 
 
 
 
GAIL DAPHNEY RICKETTS
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Gail Daphney Ricketts.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
Balboa Press
A Division of Hay House
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.balboapress.com
844-682-1282
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
ISBN: 979-8-7652-3050-3 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-7652-3052-7 (hc)
ISBN: 979-8-7652-3051-0 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022911854
 
Balboa Press rev. date: 06/30/2022
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®). Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Contents
Dedication
Preface
Trilogy Part 1 – God Directed Revelation
Ancestral Roots
Legacy of My Biological Father
Journey to Father Forgiveness
Death Aftermath
Legacy of My Mother
Journey to Mother’s Forgiveness
My Brother’s Legacy
After Death Insanity
Trilogy Part 2 – God Directed Redemption
He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother
Extended Family Memories and Legacies
My Life, Legacy and Pursuit of Happiness
Sexual Assaults and Offenses
Self-Loathing
Twelve was a Tumultuous Year
Change Gonna Come
Gets Worst Before It Gets Better
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
God’s Intervention
Growing Up at Sixteen and Seventeen
A Fork in the Road
Freshman Orientation
Unanticipated Setback
Pitfalls and Life Lessons
Another Unanticipated Setback
Trilogy Part 3 – God Directed Recovery
Bare Foot, Unemployable, Pregnant
Dreams Deferred But Not Denied
God Divinity, Karma, or Yin Yang
Season of Depression
Strong Woman are Vulnerable Too
God’s Perfect Timing
Broken But Not Defeated
Unsuspecting Surprises
Blind Sided or Blinded by Denial
Impediments to the Marriage
Separation to Persevere Sanity
Journey toward Wholeness
Legacy of Naranon 12 Step Recovery
Love Like No Other
Spiritual Awakenings
Colloquy to Myself
Dedication
To my Ancestors who made the ultimate sacrifice to survive slavery and migrate to America and my biological parents, surrogate and Guardian Angels forever grateful.
To my sisters, brothers, other family members and Friends thanks for your support.
Special thanks to my sister Cheryl for your support no matter the circumstances.
To my son, Khary, grandsons, Tyler and Taylor the torch has been passed to you to continue my legacy and create your own.
To my two soul mates Irvin and Ray, Rest in Heavenly Peace.
To my inner child you are the reason I survived childhood, teenage and adult traumas and ultimately ascension from dark places to deliverance to a better way of living. Thank you for your openness and willingness to change and heal. I am in awe of your courage no manner how difficult and frightening the pathway from dark places to peace and serenity. You are my greatest hero. I pray you are protected no matter the situation or circumstances and that your love of God, Self and Others is strengthen.
To my heavenly father, forever grateful for your grace and mercy because without your direction and guidance all the days of my life I would be loss.
Thank you for laying me down on the green pastures, leading me beside the still waters, restoring my soul, leading me in a path of righteousness for your name sake, walking me through the valley of the shadow of death, and comforting me and preparing a table before my enemies. I am because God loved me.
Preface
“If the Shoe Don’t Fit Don’t Wear It.”
I had known for many years this book needed to be written. I had scribbled notes, quotes and biblical scriptures and thoughts on scraps of paper and on notepads throughout the years. Finally, I transcribed them to word perfect files in my computer and the book draft sat for several more years. I became inspired to complete this book and tell my story after I realized unconsciously, I feared sharing my story and what I had achieved. The question became my reluctance and procrastination was the manifestation of not knowing my worth, and reflection of not knowing my value.
The answer was a resounding - “I know my value and my experiences are worth sharing.” For those who can identify with my experiences take what you can and leave the rest. This was my story. This was my truth. I decided it needed to be told and let the chips fall and just do it.
I knew my life journey needed to be told, because it mattered. My story is a testament of the many poor young black girls from the ghettos of New York City, such as myself, who took a different path, other than one that lead to a life of crime, prostitution, drugs or a statistic. Many of us never reached the upper echelons of society or became celebrities or reality TV stars. Yet, we black women were unsung heroes, whose inner strength and courage were beyond measure or comprehension. We struggled daily to become productive members of society, regardless of the obstacles.
Some of us suffer with undiagnosed depression, anxiety and post-traumatic-stress-disorders and feelings of inadequacy. Never-the-less we were always good enough.
I hoped my life journey inspires young and old women who hide in the shadows unaware of their worth. We have lived hidden in the shadows, unappreciated and unknown with thoughts that we never mattered. We mattered. We always mattered. God said we mattered.
My joy was uncovered in the journey from dark places into the light. I was transformed from a life of despair into a life of abundance intellectually, spiritually and financially and into recovery from co-dependency. I started this trilogy as a testament to the many young black ghetto girls from New York City, who became strong black woman despite the odds against them.
As I came to the end of the trilogy, I realized the message of recovery and healing was universal, without boundaries or borders limited by race, ethnicity or color. The recovery from the effects of mother’s drug abuse and father’s abandonment to healing and self-love was a universal message.
I found a pathway to hope, healing and recovery after several decades of living in denial about the reality of the effects of my childhood experiences. I thought my childhood traumas had minimum impact on my adult life. This was the farthest from the truth.
I was stuck in a web of personal dysfunction. The pathway to peace began when I confronted generational legacies, past and present attitudes, my own behaviors and personal shortcomings. God directed my path from dark places to a spiritually abundant life filled with light and love. Those childhood experiences and trials and tribulations were purposeful, because without them it was impossible to become the person I am today.
I traveled an unhappy road, but found serenity and peace of mind and a new spiritual way of life with the tools of a twelve-step fellowship. The pathway to a new spiritual way of life was available to anyone who wanted it.
My divine purpose has been to share the message of hope, healing and recovery to all those sick and suffering and in denial. I invite all to come along with me on this journey.
TRILOGY PART 1
GOD DIRECTED REVELATION
Ancestral Roots

My ancestral foundation and existence in human form was ordained by God way before my father conceived me and my mother gave birth to me. I was formed in the spirit and entered the physical wor