I Can Do Better All By Myself

by E. N. Joy

  Before Paige could finish, a gentleman walked to the altar.

  “Yes, brother in Christ,” Paige said to him.

  At first he just stood there with his head down.

  “What is it you need prayer for?” Paige asked him.

  Again, he just stood there unable to speak. Then tears filled his eyes and fell. Next he began to tremble. Before Paige could speak again, a woman came and stood next to him and began to comfort him. “It’s okay, baby,” she began to cry. “It’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around him, and the two stood at the sanctuary and began to cry out.

  Without even having to give the congregation instructions, they all lifted their hands and began to pray for the couple that stood at the altar. After about five minutes, they got themselves together, then stood hand in hand looking at Paige.

  “Sister Paige, I’d like you to touch and agree that God is going to help me get better. That God is going to help me keep my hands to myself. I love my helpmate, and I want to be better. I don’t want to hit my helpmate anymore. I don’t want to hurt my helpmate anymore. That’s not why God gave me a helpmate.”

  The congregation began to pray harder as the woman continued confessing.

  “I love my husband, and he loves me. He loves me despite the fact that I’ve been abusing him for the last three years of our five-year marriage. But today, I’m seeking help. Whatever it takes,” the woman cried out. “I’m willing to do it, counseling, whatever. I know what I’m doing is wrong, and I need to stop it. But I know I can’t do it on my own because I’ve tried.” She looked at her husband. “He’s tried. He’s tried to love me through it. But I need more than his love. I need the blood of Jesus,” she wailed.

  “Amen,” some shouted.

  “Hallelujah,” others called out.

  After Paige touched and agreed with the couple, they returned to their seats and so did Paige. Sister Nita then thanked everyone for coming out and passed on one last nugget of information. “October is not only National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It’s also the month of the anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act in the U.S. This act has made significant statutory changes and provided a funding stream to support efforts to end violence against women. Money was made available to programs at the state and local levels. Faith Trust Institute, along with other national programs, was funded to provide technical assistance to those programs.”

  Once Sister Nita was finished, lastly, Pastor stood and informed the congregation as to what New Day would do and what other churches could do to address the issues of domestic violence. “We can educate the community through sermons, speeches, and prayers about the subject of domestic violence, healthy marriages, and relationships. For our youth, we can develop curriculum on bullying prevention, healthy dating relationships, and domestic abuse for children’s classes and youth groups. We can develop a resource list, and other churches can hang up posters and even create a SWATC Ministry like we did here at New Day and create a fund to help displaced domestic violence victims in the community.”

  After closing in prayer, everyone was dismissed to go. Margie had pulled the couple from the altar aside and offered information on counseling. Then she, Mother Doreen, Nita, Lorain, and Paige were the last in the sanctuary.

  “You did a wonderful job giving your testimony,” Mother Doreen praised Paige.

  “Thank you so much, Mother Doreen.” Paige kissed her on the cheek. “And thank you so much for coming out and showing your support.”

  “Don’t even mention it.” Mother Doreen shooed her hand.

  “I won’t,” Paige said, grabbing hold of the hand Mother Doreen had just flung in the air. “But I will mention this ring,” Paige examined the ring, “which looks a lot like an engagement ring to me.”

  “If it looks like a duck, and it walks like a duck ...” Mother Doreen confirmed.

  “I’m so happy for you, Mother Doreen,” Paige told her. “But I heard the Singles’ Ministry was about to start up again and that you were going to be in charge of it.”

  “Really?” Mother Doreen was surprised that Paige knew this information. “How did you find that out?” And then as if a light bulb had gone off in Mother Doreen’s head, she said, “Ohhhhhhh. The same way everyone was finding out about everything else around here.”

  “Now, now,” Margie interrupted. “Sister Vegas did come down to the altar this past Sunday and apologized to anyone she may have wounded in the church by her actions. That’s a start. Let’s give her some credit and support her issue just as much as we’d support any other issue.”

  “Amen, Pastor, amen,” Paige and Mother Doreen agreed.

  Even Nita and Lorain, who were making sure the sanctuary was back in order, agreed with a hardy “Amen.”

  “But back to what I was saying,” Paige continued. “If you’re about to be married off, Mother Doreen, then who in the world is equipped to be in charge of the Singles’ Ministry?”

  “How about me?” a voice rang out through the sanctuary doors.

  Mother Doreen turned around to see the woman dressed in all-white standing in the church doorway. Every ounce of color drained from Mother Doreen’s complexion; from Paige’s, Margie’s, Lorain’s, and Nita’s, for that matter too.

  The woman in the doorway ran her fingers through her short Afro. “What? I know I look different now that I have my sister locks cut off, but dang, you all act like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  All Mother Doreen could fix her lips to say was, “Sister Deborah, is that really you?”

  “Why, of course it is,” Deborah smiled. “In the flesh.”

  Chapter Forty-three

  “Sounds like some strange stuff happens in that church of yours. I’m going to have to visit it one day,” Nicholas said to Lorain as the two talked on the phone. She’d shared with him what had happened earlier at church, with Deborah showing up and all.

  “Yeah, fact is much stranger than fiction,” Lorain agreed.

  “So let me get this straight,” Nicholas decided to recap what Lorain had just told him. “This Deborah woman left and went off to Chile with this Elton cat? Y’all thought Deborah had married him, come to find, he already had a wife in Chile when she got on the plane and left with him.”

  “Uh-huh. That’s what she told us,” Lorain confirmed.

  “So unfortunately, dude and his wife did end up dying in that earthquake, but it was his real wife; not Sister Deborah, who you all just assumed had married him and was his wife?”

  “That about sums it up.”

  “And you see why I don’t fool with church folks?” Nicholas laughed, and even Lorain let out a chuckle on that one.

  “Hey, church folks, Christians, whatever; we’re just like regular folks.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, because I’m regular.”

  Lorain smiled, “Sure, you are,” she said, but not for long, she thought. Lorain ended the call with Nicholas shortly after and thought about the words her pastor had shared with her. Lorain had been concerned about the fact that she was a practicing Christian and Nicholas wasn’t. She had asked her pastor’s thoughts on it.

  “Let me tell you something,” Margie had told Lorain. “You don’t know how God is going to use you to witness to that man. You never know; he may have a calling on his life that is bigger than anything you could ever imagine, and you, Sister Lorain, could be a part of that calling. Now when I say you are going to be a witness to him, I’m not talking about deliberately Bible and Jesus bashing the man.”

  Lorain had laughed.

  “If the man asks you how you’re doing, don’t reply with all that ‘blessed and highly favored’ stuff. Just say you’re doing fine, for crying out loud.”

  Again, Lorain laughed.

  “And don’t invite him to church every Sunday. You can extend an invitation, let him know the doors of our church are open, and we would love to have him visit anytime he gets good and ready. That’s it. And, honey, please, don’t give him scripture for ever
ything under the sun. The Bible has sixty-six books, but you are book number sixty-seven. He’s going to read you every day. So let your actions say it all. Amen, Sister Lorain?”

  “Amen, Pastor,” Lorain had said, giving her pastor a great big Holy Ghost hug.

  “Oh, yeah, and don’t worry about what other people think either. Do you think I’d be pastoring today if I worried about what folks thought? Some folks think I shouldn’t be doing this. Some folks think I shouldn’t be doing that. Some folks think I should be married. Some folks think I should be single. Some folks even think I’m single because I’m gay.”

  “Stop it, Pastor,” Lorain had said in disbelief.

  “It’s true. But all I do is turn to the Father and say, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ Just like in Acts 7:60.” Margie looked at Lorain dead in her eyes. “When God first spoke to me that I had a calling as a pastor on my life, do you know the first thing I did?”

  Lorain shook her head.

  “I had the nerve to run to man for confirmation. ‘What do you think about this?’ and ‘What do you think about that?’ I asked folks. She looked up and with a smile on her face recited Galatians 1:15–17 from the New King James Version. ‘But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.’ I had to remind myself of that scripture. I had to remind myself that when God spoke to Paul, not even he ran to seek counsel on what God had said to him.”

  Margie took Lorain’s hands into hers. “When it comes to you and this new man in your life, you have to trust God to guide you, and not man.”

  And that’s exactly what Lorain intended to do. “A doctor’s wife,” Lorain said to herself as she sat there with stars in her eyes. “Someday, maybe. Someday.”

  Chapter Forty-four

  Mother Doreen was in the living room of her completely unpacked house. Deborah sat next to her nursing her little bundle of joy.

  “I can’t believe you ran out of the country and was knocked up.”

  “Mother Doreen,” Deborah stated. “I guess for a lack of a better term, that is about right, though.”

  “And he’s just the cutest little thing.”

  “Yes, he’s Mommy’s little angel,” Deborah smiled, looking down at her bright-eyed son who was the spit-tin’ image of his now-deceased father. “Because of him, I want to keep on keeping on, Mother Doreen. Because of him, I don’t want to make the same old stupid mistakes anymore. You know?” Deborah looked up from her baby at Mother Doreen.

  “Yes, I know,” Mother Doreen assured her. “Lordy, do I know.”

  “Uh-huh, and what do you know about making mistakes over and over again? You’ve got it all together. You’re even about to get married and become a first lady. Praise God,” Deborah cheered, celebrating Mother Doreen’s engagement. Mother Doreen, though, wasn’t joining in on the celebration. “What’s wrong?”

  Mother Doreen sat up straight. “There’s something I need to tell you, Sister Deborah. It’s something about me. It’s something that I should have told you a long time ago, but I just thank God that He has afforded me the opportunity to tell you now.”

  “What is it, Mother Doreen?”

  “Remember when I told you how I used to catch Willie in hotel rooms and whatnot with other women?”

  Deborah nodded, recalling such conversations between her and Mother Doreen. “Yes, and you said you used to pray for them. I’ll never forget it. You’re such a better Christian than I’ll ever be.”

  “Well, I didn’t always used to pray for those women,” Mother Doreen told her. “You see, one time ...” Mother Doreen proceeded to tell Deborah about the incident that landed her in prison. Deborah listened intently, astounded that Mother Doreen had carried such a past with her. “I wish I had shared my testimony with you long before. Perhaps it would have saved you from some heartbreak.”

  “Maybe,” Deborah agreed. “But I thank you for that word now. God restored your life, Mother Doreen. I got delivered from a lot of demons from my past, but after hearing your testimony, I’m not going backward. I’m going to walk in my deliverance ... for real this time,” Sister Deborah winked. “Because see, Junior, here, he’s going to be protected from all of that mess. Not to say that he won’t have trials and tribulations, because he will.” Deborah kissed her son on his forehead. “But he’s going to have a mother,” she looked at Mother Doreen, “and a godmother who’s going to be real and honest with him. Who’s going to raise him up in the way in which he should go. And you know what? If we can do that for just this one little boy, he can change the entire course of the world. And I mean that,” Deborah said with conviction.

  “And I believe it,” Mother Doreen affirmed, standing up, then walking over to Deborah and her godson, “and I receive it, in Jesus’ name.”

  Deborah held her hand out for Mother Doreen. Mother Doreen reached out and grabbed it as they both stared down at the sleeping baby. And with a tear strolling down her cheek, Mother Doreen looked up and whispered, “It is finished,” knowing that this time, it really was.

  Reader’s Group Guide Questions

  1. In books one through four of the series, the pastor of New Day Temple of Faith was not described. Were you surprised to discover the race and the sex of the pastor?

  2. Why do you think God chose Nita to stand in the gap for Paige and not her best friend, Tamarra?

  3. Considering how Paige was set up with Blake, do you feel Margie was correct in choosing not to go out again with Lance?

  4. Do you feel that the way Paige dealt with Tamarra after confirming what had gone on between her and Blake was believable? Or, do you feel that for the sake of “keepin’ it real,” she should have acted a fool, called Tamarra out of her name, and went upside her head?

  5. “God hates divorce” is what most Christians learn in church. So do you believe Paige should or should not divorce Blake? Why?

  6. Paige claims that she has forgiven Tamarra, yet she does not want to be her friend anymore. Do you feel she’s being a hypocrite? Why or why not?

  7. Mother Doreen drove back to Kentucky to “get her man.” Do you believe she should have waited to see if he would have come back to her?

  8. If you’ve read the other four books in the series, do you feel book five wraps up the lives of all characters involved? Are there any characters you’d still like to continue to read about?

  9. Lorain and Unique decided to go along with their plan concerning the twins. Do you think they are making the right decision, or are they still somewhat living a lie? Explain.

  10. Do you think that there is a chance that Blake could ever get delivered from the spirit of domestic abuse? If he does, do you believe there is a chance that he and Paige could work things out?

  11. What do you think about Deborah’s return?

  12. Of all the New Day Divas, which character did you find to be most intriguing?

  13. Nicholas admitted to Lorain that he did not attend church and was not a practicing Christian. Should she or should she not consider forming a relationship with him? Explain.

  14. Deborah had made the same mistakes over and over when it came to men. Do you think someone like her is a good candidate as a leader for the Singles’ Ministry? Why or why not?

  15. The New Day Divas series has been nicknamed the “Soap Opera” in print. Did you enjoy the soap operalike writing style (an array of characters and multiple scene changes), or was it confusing, making you feel as though the story lines and characters were all over the place?

  About the Author

  E.N. Joy is the author of Me, Myself and Him, which was her debut work into the Christian Fiction genre. Formerly a secular author writing under the names Joylynn M. Jossel and JOY, when she decided to fully dedicate her life to Christ,
that meant she had to fully dedicate her work as well. She made a conscious decision that whatever she penned from that point on had to glorify God and His Kingdom.

  The “New Day Divas” series was inspired by her publisher, Carl Weber, but birthed by the Holy Spirit. God used Mr. Weber to pitch the idea to E.N. Joy. He planted the seed in her spirit, and she prayed about it. Eventually the seed was watered and grew into a phenomenal five-book series that she is sure will touch readers across the world for ages to come.

  “My goal and prayer with the ‘New Day Divas’ series is to put an end to the Church Fiction versus Christian Fiction dilemma,” E.N. Joy states, “and find a divine medium that pleases both God and the readers.”

  E.N. Joy currently resides in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where she is continuing work on her next series, “Still Divas,” as well as finishing up her “Street Preacher” series.

  You can visit the author at:

  www.enjoywrites.com

  or e-mail her to share with her any feedback at:

  enjoywrites@aol.com

  You may also visit www.swatcministry.com to learn more about the ministry.

  The “Still Divas” Series

  Coming 2012

  Readers, you spoke, and I listened to you. More importantly, I listened to God as I wrote the final book of the “New Day Divas” series, and He kept saying, “You’re not finished.” Well, guess what? I’m sure not, and neither are these divas! Some of your most loved (and not so well liked) characters from the “New Day Divas” series will have their own book. Yes, that’s right, and Unique starts off the show in book one of the “Still Divas” series titled And You Call Yourself A Christian (March 2012). Then, after that, you’ll get to read Mother Doreen’s story in The Perfect Christian (July 2012). Wrapping up the three-book series is Deborah in The Sunday-Only Christian (November 2012).