Chasing Undeserved Grace

By Ivory Mystique

This book is about my life struggles, what I’ve been through and how I came out of the fire to the other side. It portraits me struggling in adult relationships, in daily life, and the undeserving grace I have received from God. Mercy and grace had gone hand in hand in my life to form a vessel of belief. There is hope, but only one answer, one way. Walking hand in hand with Jesus is the only way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532097836

Ivory Mystique

I am living proof of grace in the line of fire. My life has been a series of miracles since birth. God has made the impossible possible for me. I want this book to form a bridge from the lonely and depressed to Almighty God.

Book preview

Chapter 1

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L IFE DIDN’T START out for me as a cataclysmic hole where I was drowning in a great abyss. I was born in 1957 to a hardworking Christian mother and father who took me to church, taught me right from wrong, and invested hours in my well-being and education.

Originally, my mother was told she was carrying twins or a very large baby. I was neither. I weighed six pounds, fifteen ounces at birth. I was born at a later time in my parents’ life, and I now believe there was a godly reason for that. My sisters were ten and twelve years my senior, and my brother was eight years older than me. As a baby, I was cared for by my older sisters.

When I was about six months old, my oldest sister was caring for me outside by our cistern. A cistern is an open well with a lid on it, which my parents dipped water from. The well held clean water until something was dropped into it to make it unclean. The cistern was used to wash clothing, to fix meals, and for bathing water. My sister had me in her arms as she was walking around the cistern. She tripped, and I was grabbed by another sister before being dropped into the well.

When I was a little older, my arm was burned on a stovepipe. These childhood accidents are nothing that others have not gone through, but they illustrate God’s grace for me. Even though I was too young to know it at the time, He was in control. He had my back. I definitely believe I have a guardian angel because my first memory was of a time when I went walking with my father. I was about four years old. We were going about a mile down the road to a neighbor’s home. We lived on a gravel road, and at that time, nobody worried about walking from house to house.

My father left me at the house while he went out to the field with the neighbor to look at a bull. There were newborn puppies under the crawl space of the house, and the neighbor asked me to take them out. I took the puppies out and played with them for a little while. When I became bored, I began to wonder what was taking my dad so long to return. I’m sure it was only a few minutes, but to a four-year-old, it was a long time. I became restless and decided to walk home on my own. I made the mile trek back home by myself and did just fine. I was really tired and took a nap. When I awoke, my father was standing over me and watching to make sure I was okay. He couldn’t believe a young girl could make that trip home alone. That was the beginning of my independence!

My parents were well thought of in the community. My father had a reputation for being honest and hardworking. People respected him for his integrity. When he gave his word, it was gospel, meaning it was something you could trust and depend on. He respected the Word of God, and he loved his family.

My father’s family was from England and migrated to the United States. He was one of ten children and was raised to work in the fields with the family.

Cars were just coming into existence when my father was growing up, but there was no money to buy one. The family walked everywhere they went. I can’t imagine walking as many miles as he did. I can’t imagine not having transportation. If you didn’t walk, you didn’t go. He told me stories about walking many miles just to attend a dance or a pie supper, dancing, and then walking your girl home before going home yourself. No wonder his feet had no arches!

My father was a very handsome man. Both my parents had been raised close together, and my father was seven years older than my mother. There were many women who chased him, but only one woman got him. Maybe my determination comes from a seed planted inside of me by my mother. I understand the story about the mustard seeds. My mother made trees out of those seeds!

My parents always made me feel special. For as long as I can remember, I knew I was loved by my earthly parents and my heavenly Father. At the tender age of eleven, I accepted Christ as the Savior of my life.

Chapter 2

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G ROWING UP IN the early years was not like it is now. My parents were committed to giving me a stable home with lots of love, but they also chastised me when things went awry. I grew up in the country, and back