Give the Gift of Joy this Holiday Season!

As you are enjoying the blessings in your life, don't forget that everyone doesn't have it as good as you at this particular time in their lives. Families are falling apart, married couples are at odds with each other, many are sad and lonely (especially this time of year), and someone is very, very sick.

Well, this exact time last year...that very sick person was me. Instead of shopping for the hottest toys for my kids or the latest gadgets for my husband, I was flat on my back in a hospital bed. Without health, we can't accomplish God's plans for our lives.

Step outside your gift-giving box this holiday season. Forget about the socks, ties, and the holiday sweaters. Bless your friends and family with the gift that keeps on giving. Purchase a copy of my debut release, Joy Comes in the Mourning, and you will give joy and hope to someone living with lupus, and give yourself a reason to smile. A portion of the proceeds from every sale will be donated to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA). I would like to raise $5,000 for the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) by May 2010 - Lupus Awareness Month!

Would you help me to help others? Simply BUY THE BOOK! Every bit helps.

Joy Comes in the Mourning is an inspiring tale of faith, friendship, forgiveness, and the challenges and struggles in the life of a lupus survivor. To learn more about the book, CLICK HERE.  CLICK HERE to learn more about lupus.


Thank you, and happy holidays!

Korika

Joy Comes in the Mourning Book Release...TODAY!

I am excited to announce that my debut novel, Joy Comes in the Mourning, goes on sale nationwide TODAY! This is a dream come true for me and I sincerely hope that my readers are blessed by the story.

Each copy of the book purchased helps those living with lupus because a portion of the proceeds go to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA). My hope is that I can raise $5,000 for the LFA by lupus awareness month, May 2010!

Would you like to help me help others? Simply buy the book.

A Good Day

I remember once telling another lupus survivor that any day above ground is a good day (when you have lupus). Because everyday something is uncomfortable. You just sort of get used to it.

When I called my doctor yesterday to let her know about my weekend and possibly get something for pain and to allow me to rest, the nurse answered and asked if she could pray with me. My response was, "Please."  I was surprised, yet thoroughly pleased. God never ceases to amaze me. After her prayer, I realized that I possibly needed prayer more than pills. And God, the lover of my soul, knew this.

I am still in pain today, but able to get out of bed on my own. Thank the Lord! My husband who has to miss work when I'm flaring is going back today. But I can't say that I'm on my own because the Lord promised never to leave me or forsake me. We're own our own.

Peace

From Tuesday

Making God Laugh

Someone once told me that God has a sense of humor. Well, if you want to make God laugh...plan!

This weekend I had big "me" plans. I planned to wash my hair and retwist it. (I currently wear two-strand twists). I planned to finish up my marketing pieces. I planned to get my brows done. (I'm hurtin' y'all). And I planned to plan girls' nights (Bible study at home) with my girls (daughters). That's the only thing that worked out because I could do it flat on my back.

Well, God must've been cracking his side laughing at me (definitely no pun intended) because I had a major setback with my health. It is true that a setback is simply a setup for a comeback? Hey, I have to look on the bright side of things. Darkness is not my friend.

All this to say that I had a really rough weekend. I was achy, swollen, and in so much pain that I needed assistance sitting down and getting back up.

It's a bummer, but my doctor has put me back on steroids to get through this flare. I originally thought I was flaring from sugar. But I am now convinced that lack of rest is the culprit. I'm out. I gotta catch up!

From Monday - Couldn't use my hands to post this earlier.

I'm Still Standing...

I'm still trusting. I'm still holding on to what I believe. The Word says I am healed, so that means I am healed.

That's my testimony and I'm sticking to it.

I really didn't know what this blog would shape out to be when I started it. But lately I've felt the need to tell the ugly truth about lupus.

I can't truthfully talk about today without mentioning yesterday. Yesterday was a pretty good day. Although I am an early bird at heart; my days used to begin somewhere between 3:00am and 4:00am. Well, when I am having a flare, I'm am so fatigued that I find it difficult to get out of bed before noon. What is a lupus flare? When symptoms of the disease appear it's called a "flare." A flare manifests itself in many different ways and for many different reasons. This morning I awoke and couldn't turn my head very far to the right because of pain and stiffness and my hands are so swollen and stiff that my husband had to prop me up on pillows and set the laptop in front of me.

I can't really say why I am flaring, but I have an idea. This is the weekend the world celebrates as Halloween. However, we always buy our girls candy. Well, that would be all well and good if I didn't partake. But I did. And then I baked brownies. I know. What was I thinking? I also sat in front of the computer for a couple of hours. I know. This is a simple task, but one I find hard to accomplish without consequences.

Well, that brings me to today. The Sabbath. A day of rest. I generally need plenty of rest to get through a flare. This is hard for me because I am a workaholic by nature. But a girls got to do what a girls got to do. I've got to rest and eat healthy. Because even though Satan wants to knock me down...in the words of the songwriter, "I'm still standing. I'm still trusting. I'm still holding on to what I believe. Still motivated. Fully persuaded," that I'M HEALED!

Peace...and Blessings!

I Choose to Live Life to the Fullest

In case you don't already know, Satan is a liar and a deceiver. His job is to steal, kill, and destroy.

I knew that the closer I came to the release of my new novel, Joy Comes in the Mourning, the angrier he would become. December will mark one year since my last hospitalization. Just to let you know the significance of that statement, I stopped counting my hospital stays somewhere around thirty.

For some reason, about two weeks ago I began recalling a visit I received while in the hospital last December. The visit wasn't from a friend or family member, but rather the hospital chaplain. I can't remember our entire conversation, but one thing that she said to me really stuck out. "Maintain your healing." That's the only thing I can really remember her saying to me. Well, to my dismay, about a week or so ago I became symptomatic with joint pain and swelling to the point that I had to call on my oldest daughter to help me with dressing because I couldn't raise my arms to dress myself.

The difference with this week's experience and going through a rough patch with lupus the first time is that I know without a shadow of a doubt that ALL things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Satan's job may be to steal, kill, and destroy, but because of Jesus I can and will live life to the fullest.

I WILL NOT DIE, BUT LIVE TO DECLARE THE WORKS OF THE LORD.

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Joy Comes in the Mourning – Available for Pre-Order Today!

Great news! The release date of my debut novel, Joy Comes in the Mourning has been moved up! The book will be available through your local bookstores and online book sellers December 1, 2009. However, you can pre-order your copy from my website or directly from my publisher.

Joy Comes in the Mourning - Book Trailer

Just finished the trailer for Joy Comes. Take a look and tell me what do you think?

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Just Like My Father

“Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:4-8)

Though I was raised by a very caring man who spoiled me rotten, my heart’s desire has always been to reunite with my birth father. Well, approximately 30 years and many tears later I received an e-mail from him.

The separation of my father and I is a long story and was of no fault of his own. Even though my father had no alternative, he felt terribly guilty for not “being there.” Well, I had to let him know that he has been here. Right here in my heart. And I knew that at the appointed time, we would be together again.

Since the day we reconnected, we have resumed our roles as if we’ve never been apart. More shocking to me than learning that my father had been looking for me just as long and hard as I’d looked for him was talking to him and spending time with him and realizing that we are just alike. Just alike! It’s funny, but my husband says that he understands me a lot better now. See, he knows my family very well and was always saying that I was so very different from them. Now, he laughs, shakes his head and says, “You are just like your father.”

I simply smile, because isn’t that what we really want? To be just like our Father. How loving and caring is the heavenly father to grant us our heart’s desire?

If you are a believer and your request is within God’s will and the bounds of Scripture, TRUST and BELIEVE that if you pray for the desires of your hearts, God will do it. Even after decades!

Meet Tawnia L. Ramirez, author of Something More Than This

Tawnia L. Ramirez is Christian Storyteller's Best New Christian Author for 2009. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Tawnia has had a lifetime passion for reading, writing, and all things creative.

As a child, her favorite pastime was talking. It was only natural that her gift for gab resulted in her becoming an author. After giving her first oral book report in middle school, she developed a desire to tell stories - her stories. Believing that reading a book should be an unforgettable encounter, Tawnia has the innate ability to reach people on a personal level by transforming her readers so that her characters' experiences become their own.

In her debut novel, Tawnia skillfully takes her readers on Janaye's tumultuous journey to find Something More Than This.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Janaye Perkins has reached that sweet spot in life. She has a good job, purchased her first home, and is dating a man that she believes will be the perfect husband and father for her young son. With the undying support of her mother and knowing that her girls always have her back, what more could she ask for? That is until the worst day of her life causes her to question everything, as her life, love, job, and friendships are tested. Can the worst day of her life propel her into the best time of her life?

For more information about Tawnia, visit her at: http://www.tawniaramirez.com/.

Joy Comes in the Mourning: A "Novel" Approach to Raising Awareness of Lupus

List Price: $23.99
Paperback: 332 pages
Publisher: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC (Dec. 2009)
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-61566-111-4




I had a two-fold mission in mind when I began writing my debut novel, Joy Comes in the Mourning:

1. To raise awareness of a real and serious chronic autoimmune disease, and
2. To encourage readers that God has purpose behind, presence during, and preservation after EVERY storm that comes their way.

Dealing with the death of a loved one is never easy, no matter how old you are. But when you are a child, and the surviving parent chooses to express their grief by "checking out" and becoming emotionally unavailable, life is made that much harder.
Joy Comes in the Mourning focuses on Tonya Monroe, a young woman who lost her mother at the hands of a drunk driver when she was only 14 years-old. Tonya's tragedy was compounded by the revelation that a close family friend, Carolyn Wright, was responsible.
Tonya's father expressed his grief by drinking and becoming emotionally detached from her. Subsequently, she grew up believing that she didn't need anyone. It's not until Tonya is diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Eerythematosus that she realizes life is beyond her control.
Carolyn has problems of her own. She is faced with drama, drama, and more drama. She walks in from work one afternoon to find a female church member, who has been after her husband for years, "helping out" in the kitchen. She and Tonya have a knock-down drag-out at work. And she becomes the subject of scandal at church when her Friday night intercessory prayer meeting goes off course.
When Tonya's health rapidly begins to deteriorate, she feels that Carolyn is the only one she can turn to. But where does she find solace when, on the morning of her kidney biopsy, Carolyn feels the need to come clean about what really happened the night her mother was killed?
Well, you have to buy the book to find that out. However, know this: God's Word is true! ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.
I don't care what seems to be going wrong in your life. It's just right for you. Accept what God allows because He knows what HE's doing. If you TRUST and BELIEVE that the outcome will be in your best interest because it's to serve a purpose, God can turn your mourning into Joy...in spite of your circumstance!
On His Time, In His Name, For His Glory
You're more than welcome to read an excerpt of my debut novel. Click here to learn more about lupus.