My Heart, My Love, My Life, My Lord

By valecia carter

“The harsh reality to living life is that there will be painful moments; some may last for minutes, and some pain may last longer. While enduring pain along with other emotions, you have to make a conscious decision to be strengthened and press forward.”

These words rang through the infant stages of this book; however, you will

• Language: English
• Publisher: KRL Publishing
• Release date: Sep 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781949176209

valecia carter

Minister Walter Carter, Sr. and Award-Winning Author Valecia Carter have been married since August 3, 1996. They have experienced Trials and Tribulations of life Fiercely and have beat the odds by Gods grace and mercy. They have been serving faithfully in the Marriage Ministry together since 2012. They are both Certified Marriage Coaches, Certified SYMBIS Coaches, Authors and Motivational Speakers actively working in their element since they launched their business, “Above the Heart, LLC” February 15, 2019. They continue to serve God and expand their business endeavors as they increase the growth and development of their Marriage Ministry.

Book preview

MY HEART, MY LOVE, MY LIFE, MY LORD

Living Life Past the Pain

Valecia G. Carter

MY HEART, MY LOVE, MY LIFE, MY LORD:

Living Life Past the Pain

Copyright © 2018 Valecia Carter

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

ISBN: 978-1-949176-14-8 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-949176-20-9 (e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018953922

Edited by: Wendy Cruz

Exterior cover design by: Money Graphics LLC

Published by: KRL Publishing

THANK YOU

Words cannot express how thankful I am to my Lord God for allowing me to write this book. It has been an extensive and worthy task. There were times I stopped for a minute to collect myself. While writing, there were moments I laughed, cried, reminisced and just reflected on all the experiences that have brought me to this point, realizing it all made me stronger. The path God set before me is not one I have always followed but, because of the relationship I have with him, he has given me his unmerited favor and laid a foundation for me that has given me another chance at life. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I love you Lord!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORWARD

INTRODUCTION

MY HEART

CHAPTER 1: UNEXPECTED UNION

CHAPTER 2: WEDDING BELLS

CHAPTER 3: PRISON RELEASE

MY LOVE

CHAPTER 4: ALL IN THE FAMILY

CHAPTER 5: DEJA VU

MY LIFE

CHAPTER 6: DARKNESS COMES TO LIGHT

CHAPTER 7: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

CHAPTER 8: HE GOT SERVED

MY LORD

CHAPTER 9: WE FIGHT FOR US

CHAPTER 10: WE WIN

CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

REFERENCES

FORWARD

Valecia Carter

The harsh reality to living life is that there will be painful moments; some may last for minutes, and some pain may last longer. While enduring pain along with other emotions, you have to make a conscious decision to be strengthened and press forward.

These words rang through the infant stages of this book; however, you will never understand the vigor behind this quote until you have read every word from the front to the back cover.

Valecia Carter takes the reader on a journey of life so colorful and vibrant the reader feels as if she is in the delivery room, or seated on the couch at her in-law’s home, watching the baby mother ordeal unfold. Perhaps the reader finds herself standing next to Valecia as she overhears the whispers in the other room amongst her friend (so she thought) and her friend’s cousins, discussing Valecia’s life and current condition. The reader experiences unimaginable accounts of hurt and anguish, but then the stories of triumph present themselves every time. The word of God reminds us in Psalm 34:19 that,

19 The righteous experiences many afflictions; but He will deliver us out of them all.

As I read page after page, I was floored to see this scripture being fulfilled and played out in the life of this resilient young woman.

I had the distinct privilege of walking Valecia through the steps of authorship. I read snippets and pieces pertinent to finalizing a manuscript, but this is no longer considered a manuscript. It is a body of work. This book embodies Living Life Past the Pain.

Within these pages, you will come to know the heart, passion, and smile of Valecia Carter. When you have the opportunity to meet Valecia personally, she will greet you with an infectious smile. Her smile is not counterfeit or forced, but is a testament to her triumphant victory over the troubles she has witnessed and overcome throughout her life.

Through this book, I encourage you to take the hand of Valecia Carter, who will help you navigate some of your pains, struggles, and challenges. May you find the strength necessary to live life past your pain as Valecia Carter has done.

Kimberly R. Lock

Author, Speaker, Publisher

INTRODUCTION

My Heart, My Love, My Life, My Lord: Living Life Past the Pain is a book about the life of a single mother who gets married and battles with the struggles of motherhood, marriage, and life itself. She loves her man, and he loves her, but that does not stop the chaos that is endured. This book is geared toward women who are mothers, wives or single and in a relationship as well as men who have children, are married, single and in a relationship or fighting an addiction.

Can you imagine being a single mother of one little girl and after committing to a relationship and getting married, you become the mother of many? As you read each chapter, you will see the drama unfold. Reading the ups, downs, ins, and outs of this couple will take you through an emotional whirlwind.

Reading this book will help those who struggle day to day with mothering, marriage, blended families, emotional distress, addiction, betrayal, commitment, faith, trust, love, and the Lord. There will be moments you may laugh, cry, or get upset, as some events may be very relatable.

I encourage anyone interested in building a relationship with a positive outcome to read this book. There will be drama-filled specifics, serious issues, and a spiritual connection with the Lord. The harsh reality of living life is that there will be painful moments; some may last for minutes, and some pain may last longer. While enduring pain along with other emotions, you have to make a conscious decision to be strengthened and press forward. How many times have you asked the Lord for something, but once you got it, you were not sure you really wanted it? Many times, we ask the Lord for things, but we are not specific. There are times we ask the Lord for something, and because he does not give it to us when we ask, we feel he will not give it to us at all. The Lord gives in his time, not ours. Why delay by doing things your way? Do things the Lord’s way, in his time, and trust the process.

MY HEART, MY LOVE, MY LIFE, MY LORD

Living Life Past the Pain

MY HEART

UNEXPECTED UNION

It was a warm day in April, and since it was casual Friday, I had on shorts and a T-shirt for work. When I got there, the receptionist told me Walter and Darnell would be late. They were the two guys who were supposed to start remodeling the conference room. I was a little frustrated with the information and felt my day was already off to a wrong start.

It was 11:00 am when two men came in with equipment, wanting to set up. I introduced myself and showed them where they were going to be working. They set up their work area, and things were finally getting started, but at noon Walter came to the office and said, We’ll be back in about an hour! I was already feeling skeptical about these two, and this irritated me even more, but I calmly went to them and said excuse me, you’ve only been here for an hour, so why are you taking a lunch break already? You were supposed to be here at 9:00 am, but you didn’t arrive until 11 o’clock, and you need a break already? Walter said, Yes, we take lunch at noon! Just because we weren’t here doesn’t mean we haven’t been working. We were at another work site since 8:00 am, so we’ll be back in an hour! I thought to myself, this guy has a slick mouth, but I just let it go and went back to my desk. Now it was 12:30 pm and of course, they were late coming back, but at least they started working. As the days went by, the more Walter and I communicated, it got better than how we started out, even though it was work related. I still was not a fan, but he was tolerable. Walter and Darnell had been working here for about a month, and the conference room was really looking great. Throughout the month, Walter constantly asked to use my phone to check his messages; he claimed his pager was going off. I didn’t hear his pager beep not one time, but I went ahead and let him use the phone at my desk. I believe it was just a ploy to be in my space because every time he used my phone, he would ask me to go out with him. After several failed attempts to ask me out, I decided to ask him to go to lunch with me and Constance, the Receptionist. I invited her just in case he was crazy, plus I didn’t want him to think it was a date. So, we all went to Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet. We hung out and ate good. When they brought the check, Constance and I looked at Walter, and he said, You asked me to come to lunch, I didn’t bring my wallet, it’s in my glove compartment back at the job site. Constance looked at me and said, you run out the front door, and I’ll run out the side door, but first let me get another soda. Walter said, I am not running out on the bill! Constance looked at me and said, If you let me use your car, I can go get the money from my husband at his job. I gave her my car keys, and she left. We waited until she came back to pay for lunch and when it was all over, we drove back to work in silence. A couple of weeks later, Walter asked me out on a real date. Since the conference room was complete, and I wouldn’t be seeing him at my job anymore, I agreed to the date. I asked him if we were going to dinner and out dancing because I love to dance, but he said he didn’t like dancing, so we were going to dinner and a movie. I told him I would meet him at his house because I wasn’t sure if this would be a one-time thing or if we would be seeing one another on a regular basis. He was not going to know where I lived until I was sure about him. Since I agreed to go out with him, he told me to call him Bo, and I told him he could call me Buffy. I went to get my nails done, my hair done, I put on a nice outfit, some eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara and lipstick then went to his house, so we could leave from there. When I arrived, his roommate Gene, who was also his godbrother, told me he went out with The Click, which meant the fellas, or his homeboys. I asked him if he forgot we had a date and Gene said, He probably did forget because they went to the strip club. I was shocked that after all these weeks of