Unmasking The Many Faces of Love

By Sandy Minardi

When you release the ugliness of your past, it loses its power and
control over you. A deep healing can begin. Admittedly, revisiting
the past can be devastating, but in God’s unfathomable love and
mercy, you don’t have to stay there. We need to show other
women how to move beyond today and look toward tomorro

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Apr 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781640880580

Book preview

By baring her soul and sharing her sins, struggles and God’s redemptive love, Sandy shows us that there is a path out of the darkness. Her book is engaging, encouraging, inspiring, and filled with hope and love for all of us.

—Pattye Moore


Chairman of the board, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

It is an honor to know Sandy Minardi. Her book speaks volumes as to the genuine concern she has for women to be able to examine their lives candidly and ask for forgiveness, as well as to empower each one to live a truly authentic life. The freedom embraced by experiencing God’s forgiveness is a hallmark of Sandy’s book.

—Kathy LaFortune, JD, PhD.


Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau Psychologist

In a world of masks, where so many are afraid to share their true selves for fear of judgment or rejection, Sandy shares her story of pain, sin, tragedy, hope, redemption and joy. She reminds us that God is in the midst of all of our stories and through Jesus brings hope and redemption for all.

—Janis Sharpe


Counselor, Pastor and Co Author of The Making of A Marriage

Unmasking

THE MANY FACES OF LOVE

SANDY MINARDI

Unmasking the Many Faces of Love

Copyright © 2017 Sandy Minardi

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.TM

ISBN:
9781640880580

A product of the United States of America.

Cover design by Elizabeth Bechtel

DEDICATION

First and foremost, I thank Jesus, my Lord and Savior, whose redemptive power raised me up from a life of sin, transformed me and made me into a new being. I dedicate my life to one of serving the great I AM.

Secondly, I dedicate this book to my loving husband, Joe. His birth name is Emanuel Joseph. To me, that pretty much sums up all he has been and continues to be in my life—my encourager and confidante through life, and particularly through the long process of writing this book. He gently and lovingly encouraged me to write this story because he knew I was called to undertake this task. Babe, I love you, and you’ll always be my Number 2!

And where would I be without my sister, Linda? She and I truly live out one of my favorite sayings—Linking arms with other women and climbing that steep mountain, we call life...together. Thank you, sis, for always being by my side with love and acceptance.

My children—the love for my children and grandchildren keeps me going. My prayer is for each of them to step more fully into their own relationship with Jesus and serve the kingdom with fervor according to God’s will for their lives. I pray you will each know God intimately and live lives filled with blessings from God.

My friends, okay, all my girls! I love you all dearly. Where would we be without each other to cling to, laugh with, cry with and do life with? I pray for each of you to grow with godly confidence in your purpose—each uniquely and beautifully made by our Master’s hand.

MY WHY

I was told I needed to know my why...why was I writing this book? What difference do I hope it makes in your life as you read my story?

This book has taken years to write. Along the way, I’d meet people who said, God just gave me this story I had to tell, so I sat in a coffee shop every Saturday for 3 months, and here it is. Not me. I fought, procrastinated and loathed writing my story. As I reflected on the journey, I’ve often asked myself—is this going to honor God? What about my children and other family members?

I finally wrote down and admitted the reason I have procrastinated and feared completing this book. The ugliness sin represents in my life would be exposed. Period. The past I have to recount isn’t pretty. As I shared this with Joe, he said, That’s why I don’t want to write a book about my life. I don’t see that it would honor God. I totally appreciate what he is saying. A wonderful woman years ago shared some amazing wisdom I’ve always remembered. She said, Always give your testimony in a way that honors God. You don’t have to be horrifically colorful telling your story. Usually, people get it.

The goal is to accomplish God’s kingdom purpose through your story in a way others can relate. Quite honestly, we can all relate in varying ways to divorce, illness, alcohol and/or drug abuse, loss/grief... the list goes on. It’s best to tell the story, paint the picture, but allow you, the reader, to insert your experience here. Your story is often the same, but different.

The sooner you realize you’re not alone, we all have our crud and our victories and defeats in life, the sooner you’ll begin to overcome your past. God can begin to clean out your heart, mind and soul and free you from the bondage the enemy has held you captive to over the years. There is nothing more the enemy would love than to hold your past over you, holding you hostage to your failures so you wouldn’t be effective living out God’s kingdom purpose for your life.

We all need to write our stories. I’m not saying everyone needs to publish their life story or even stand up in front of a group and share their testimony, unless, of course, you are being led to share. But we need to write it down. We need to put it on paper, even if when we’re done, we burn it. Because when you write your story, it transforms you. When you release the ugliness of your past, it loses its power and control over you. A deep healing can begin. Admittedly, revisiting the past can be devastating; you don’t want to go there. But if you do, Satan will lose his grip on you. Be prepared, if you need to seek counseling, do it. In the end, you will be able to be used for a higher purpose, God’s calling on your life. Likewise, when you write about victories and successes in your life, you will recognize the Master’s hand upon your journey and be able to proceed with joy, confidence and assurance of God’s plan for your life. Remember, you can be transformed and made new in the image of Christ.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

So, if I’m asking you to write and possibly share your story, I have to be willing to do the same thing. It is hard and sometimes painful. But in the end, worth it.

At the end of each chapter, you will notice a short devotion and scripture followed by a blank page. Take stock of your life as you read about mine. Think back on your childhood, teen years, heartaches and celebrations. As you read, write. Contemplate. Pray. Ask God to show you how you can be used for kingdom purpose by thinking through the following: What is my kingdom purpose? Show me, through my life’s experiences, how I can be used.

I pray as you read this story, God will be glorified. You will know you are not alone. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But through salvation, Jesus made a way for us to be redeemed, transformed and made new.

Pray with me please—

Lord, here I am, willing to open the wounds and victories of my life, not only in hopes of bringing healing and revelation to my soul, but also to glorify You, Father. I pray as women read these stories and struggles, they will see we all suffer from the same human condition of imperfection, and we will be able to acknowledge our Creator, who knitted us together in His image, is pleased with us and loves us more than all of this. Amen.

As you read, please don’t judge me. I’m not this person anymore. I hope as you grow in your relationship with Jesus, you too will be transformed. You will discover the passion to serve others that is placed inside of your heart and spirit by our Lord Jesus Christ. I know I have.

God Bless You!

Do not confirm to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will

(Romans 12:2 NIV).

CHAPTER 1

THE FACE OF A CHILD

I was the youngest of three girls. Yes, the baby. Okay, just go ahead, hate me now! I embraced the entire role of being the baby! Was I spoiled? Yes. Did I love it? Yes. Do I still bask in the glory of being the baby? Yes. Even though I’m now a grandma, the whole concept of being the baby still thrills me. Too bad! The title is taken...it’s mine!

I had a great childhood. I think back on the innocence of it all with pure amazement. My mom was always home, cooking and taking care of home stuff. She was always sewing for my two older sisters and me.

When the weather was nice in southern Oklahoma, which it was most of the year, I would ride my bicycle home with my best friend after school. We’d ride through the rat tracks as fast as we could. It was actually a field, which over the years, kids had mounded up the dirt to create hills and banks and worn trails throughout the entire field. We would race home from elementary school, or grade school as we called it then. I don’t know why we called it grade school, but we did. When I got home, my mom would be busy at the sewing machine working on a project. She would take a break to quiz me about my day, fix me a snack and send me straight to the piano to practice. Ugh, even though I was pretty good, I hated practicing! My friends would be outside, in front of my house, taunting me to come out to play. My mom, seeing how anxious I was to be free and run outdoors would set the timer and make me practice. But as soon as the timer went