Practicing What You Preach. Vanessa Davis Griggs

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      KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

       www.kensingtonbooks.com

      Dedicated to those who know but just need to be reminded

       of God’s love and forgiveness and that there really is nothing

       too hard or too big for our God.

      To the memory of my grandmother Peggy Jane Wiseman,

       my aunt Naomi Session, my uncle Henry Davis,

       my cousins Valerie Randle and Joseph “Lil Joe” Lee III

       —forever inside of my heart!

      Acknowledgments

      All that I am and all I ever hope to be I owe to an awesome and great God who truly loves me. Thank You, Heavenly Father, who gives me the victory and always causes me to triumph. To my mother, Mrs. Josephine Davis, and my father, Mr. James Davis Jr., who celebrated fifty years of marriage on November 23, 2008. You both have loved me and my siblings with an everlasting love, while having enough love to share with others who are blessed to know you, as you make them feel they’re just as special.

      Love to my family: my husband, Jeffery, of thirty-one years; my children, Jeffery, Jeremy, and Johnathan Griggs; grandchildren Asia and Ashlynn; sisters Danette Dial and Arlinda Davis, sister-in-law Cameron Davis; brothers Terence and Emmanuel Davis. Oh, if there were only words to express how much I love you all. My life is so much richer because of all of you.

      To those in our family who carry the history and memories of our past and to those who push us toward our future. My aunts: Mary Mack, Rachel Shockley, Ruth Washington, and aunt-in-law Clara Lee; uncles Joseph Lee Jr., Abraham Lee, and Daniel Lee; nieces and nephews Bart, Alexis, Ariel, Chantelle, Charisse, Christopher, Arionna, and Rechelle. The memories we make together no one can ever take away. Let’s hold the good things close to our hearts to warm us on those days when it may feel a bit cold and to hold them high to light our path when we need to see our way just a little bit better.

      I am so blessed to have friends who continue to encourage me on this journey: Rosetta Moore, Vanessa L. Rice, Stephanie Perry Moore, Irene Egerton Perry, Zelda Oliver-Miles, Linda H. Jones, Bonita Chaney, Ella Wells, Pam Hardy, Shirley Walker, and Malinda Millings. There are many who read my books, and I thank you so much for that. Two people I’d especially like to acknowledge: Regina Biddings and Gregg Pelt.

      To my editor, Rakia A. Clark: Do you have any idea how much I truly appreciate you and your wonderful spirit? I appreciate you! I am so blessed to know you and to be able to work with you. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. To the staff of Kensington/Dafina: thank you for all that you do when it comes to me and my books. One plants, one waters, but God gives the increase.

      To those of you who have honored me by choosing to read Practicing What You Preach: I love you much! I’ve said this before and I mean it: I don’t and won’t ever take you for granted. Many of you may know by now how much I pray about what I do before I ever begin. I know how much God loves you and how much He wants the best for you. I just want to be obedient to what God gives me to do. God told me to write this book because He cares about those who feel bound and are hurting. It’s not I but He that dwells within me. I thank God for caring so much about us the way that I know He does.

      I love hearing from you. Thank you for spreading the word about my books. May you continue to walk in God’s exceedingly, abundantly, above-all-you-can-ever-ask-or-think blessings. Now, let’s get started! It’s good to be blessed, but even better to be a blessing.