Barbecue: Hard Thing Becoming Soft

By Amelia Boggan

“Anytime you go on this journey and blanket of darkness overwhelms you as though you are in a tunnel, don’t be afraid. Just march on in spite of the darkness. You will see that at the end of that dreadful tunnel is light!”
—Late Paradise

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449774288

Amelia Boggan

Amelia Boggan is a testifier of God’s faithfulness to the downtrodden. She uses her firsthand experiences as a mother of two slain daughters, a survivor of domestic violence, a survivor of a complete lung collapse, a prey to conmen, and a loser of many valuables of life that culminated in a success story after all, to minister to the weary and the weak. She holds an associate degree in social work and admin and is currently studying for her BS in business management. She worked with Nigeria Customs Service for over two decades and had an early retirement as an inspector of customs. She is a mother of two young adults. She lives in Maryland, USA and is a caregiver.

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Endorsements

Feeling Rejection, Agony, Failure or Defeat?

Breathe in the sweet aroma of life in barbecue.

As God uses Ruth to share her daunting life as a recipe of beauty.

Follow the pages and cherish every word to discover God’s ingredients for your very own life.

To ultimately know the perfect life that is yet to come.

Dirk Lieb

Pastor and Friend.

Barbecue is an account of a life journey of incredible hardship and of survival. Although the story has a Christian setting, it portrays an extensive sampling of human experiences that apply to people of all religious persuasions. The author reveals to the reader, through first hand personal experiences, numerous openings for connecting with the Divine as the ultimate controlling force in human affairs. This book will inspire ordinar#y people having extraordinarily painful life experiences to move from despair to hope.

I am delighted to endorse this memoir because I can relate to many aspects of the painful journey from which the author has emerged victoriously and thankfully by the Grace of Almighty God. I strongly believe that this work will give voice and provide spiritual anchorage to those who believe their traumas are unspeakable.

Maria E. Okwara, Director

Marie Kiddie Family Childcare.

Norcross, Georgia.

BARBECUE

Hard thing becoming soft

Amelia Boggan

(with foreword by: Mrs. Calista Uzuegbu

BSN; B.Ed; M.Ed. Pastoral Studies;

Washington Theological Union).

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Copyright © 2012 Amelia Boggan.

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.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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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.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7429-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7430-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7428-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012922790

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/07/2019

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chosen in the Furnace Of Affliction – Isa 48:10b

Health

Suicide Mission changed to life one

Widowhood while husband lives

Confirmation of Faith

The Unknown Little Soldier Paradise Ngozi Momsy Nwokosi

The Last Words of the Queen of Kindliness – Paradise

Write the Vision

Mourning Into Dancing – Ps 30:11

Afterword

Dedication

For late Paradise Ngozi

Late Precious Nma

To Minnie,

Mother,

Audience and

ALMIGHTY God.

Epigraph

Don’t be jealous of sinners: Instead, always fear the Lord. For then you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.

– Pr 23:17-18.

Foreword

As the voice of the Psalmist echoed in Psalm 118, verse 17, I will not die, but I will live to tell what the Lord has done. So Glory’s voice echoes today: I did not die, but I live to tell what the Lord has done and is still doing. And though many are the afflictions or the troubles of the righteous, the Lord God rescues them from each and every one (Psalm 34:19). Many were the troubles and the afflictions Glory endured—physical, spiritual, emotional, social, marital, professional and otherwise—but the Lord delivered her from each and every one of them, for he who has called her is faithful and will not allow her to be subjected beyond what she can’t bear, but with every situation, he provides a way of escape (1Cor. 10:13).

For truly we do not wrestle, struggle or fight against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12). And the purpose of these wicked authorities in the unseen world is to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus Christ, our mighty Savior, comes, and his purpose is to give life, that we may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). The plans God has for us are plans for good and not for disaster, to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

The deliverer of mankind from the power of darkness, the giver of abundant life, the hope restorer, the way-maker, provided a way of escape for Glory from failures; encounters with the evils of polygamy, abused wife, bereavement of children, life-threatening health issues, failed marriage, prey to professional conmen, wavering faith, lack, and many more, as she testified in this book. The life-giver restored her life from the devastation of near-death sicknesses and suicidal ideation. In her bereavement of her children, he comforted her. Our Lord and Savior, the lover of her soul, did not walk away during her seasons of wavering faith, for He is the good shepherd and diligently seeks and gently restores the wandering sheep back to the fold (John 10 & Luke 15).

In the pages of this book, may you find hope and faith for a way of escape from whatever nagging, heartbreaking, energy draining, hopeless, life threatening and suffocating situation you may be going through. Glory lived through it and still lives to declare the goodness and deliverance of God Almighty, that you might find hope for your escape from daunting situations. For our freedom from the power of darkness and its intimidating and humiliating influences was paid in full by Christ on the cross at Calvary when God canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ (Colossians 2:14-15). Alleluia!

Call upon the name of the Lord, therefore, you tormented, abused and used precious one in Christ Jesus, for they that call upon his name shall be saved (Romans 10:13) and behold your way of escape and live and join Glory in declaring the deliverance and goodness of the Lord our God! Glory to God, who brought us out of darkness, out of deepest gloom, out of the shadow of death, snapping off our chains; he broke down our prison gates of bronze and cut apart our bars of iron; praise to you, mighty God, for your unfailing love and wonderful deeds for us (Psalm 107:14-16).

Mrs. Calista Uzuegbu, BSN; B.Ed.; M.Ed.

Pastoral Studies: Washington Theological Union

Preface

I have been saved to testify about the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. I am a mother of two slain daughters, Paradise (fourteen) and Precious (one), who suffered terrible abuses in and out of marriage that almost culminated in my early grave. Twice was I almost pronounced medically dead by doctors but miraculously pulled through. Overwhelmed by a multitude of life-threatening issues and harassments, I had seriously contemplated suicide as the most palatable option but again, God Almighty turned it around. My ex-husband keeps announcing my obituary (twice last year alone), even almost two decades since our separation, but to God be the glory I am bouncing in the LORD.

Succinctly put, I have been cooked and baked like barbecue, fully equipped to share my ugly and heart-breaking experiences in life, using them to encourage and strengthen others who are perhaps treading in paths such as mine. I am commissioned by God Himself to let you know that as the barbecue becomes yummy after the cooking and baking, so He purifies us to make use of us – which is a blessing. That is why James says in James 1:12, "Blessed is a