From Tragedy to Purpose True Story

By Lois Uziel

I could see no hope for a better tomorrow—only more pain-filled days and more tragedy coming down the line. It wasn’t until I cried out to God in total despair and began searching the scriptures for comfort—and perhaps just a glimmer of hope somewhere in the pages—that my life took on a radical change. For slowly, but ever so surely, my life went from tragedy to purpose.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638851073

Book preview

cover.jpg

From Tragedy to Purpose True Story

Lois Uziel

ISBN 978-1-63885-106-6 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63885-107-3 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Lois Uziel

All rights reserved

First Edition

The characters and events in this book are true only names of certain individuals that have been changed to protect their privacy.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Lois Maxine Uziel’s Testimonial, June 2020

In loving memory of my son Cary Steven Pankey and to my children Cindy, Daniel, Debra, and John III who I had shared my difficult times with

Two spectacular supernatural

events are revealed in this book.

One of which you’d probably

never heard of before.

Violence and death and the

grave never reach the point

where they don’t claim more

victims.

There are only two things we

can do with our past: focus

on it or leave it behind and

move on.

But how can a person leave it

behind and move on when her

son’s killer was never brought

to justice?

Abandoned, afraid, and in total

despair, there was no one to turn

to but God.

Lois Maxine Uziel’s Testimonial, June 2020

My message today is about hope and forgiveness and how God can overrule evil for good. In my case, for that to happen, God had to turn me upside down so I could learn to live right side up.

Years ago, when I had lived independently from God, my life had spiraled down so deep into darkness I couldn’t see my way out. It was because of this disconnected state with God that I couldn’t see, or rather, I chose to be blind to the awfulness of my ways.

Little did I know at that time, my unhealthy choices would evidently come to head to where it not only affected my welfare but also the lives of my children.

But then sin has a rippling effect to it. In my case, I didn’t realize just how far that rippling effect would grow until two homicides occurred in the living room of my house in less than thirteen hours apart.

Before I go into the latter part of my testimony, it might be understandable if I were to give a brief summary of my life starting with my early childhood. For a person doesn’t turn for the bad all at once. It’s during the early years of a child’s life that their character begins to form, which brings me to this: there are three specific needs in which God had intended for each of us to have in order to have a healthy and productive life. These needs are: significance, security, and love.

And each of us are born not only to belong to God but to be nourished and loved by earthly parents. As far as my father, Lortan Drewery Smith goes, he was friendly natured and very charismatic. He was a skillful violinist and banjoist and enjoyed entertaining his guests. I loved hearing my father’s music and boisterous laughter during the time he would spend with his friends,.

Yet how I wished he would also find the time, some quality time to spend with me. Sometimes I would feel as though he didn’t see me, although I was right there in his midst. As far as my birth mother goes, I didn’t have a chance to know her. Nor did my father permit me to bring up her name, Marie. I could only think the reason for it was he must really hate her. Nevertheless, I did learn some information about my mother while eavesdropping on a conversation between my stepmother, Ruth, and her lady friend. At that time, I was eleven years old, and my heart sunk when I heard Ruth tell the woman that Lortan had informed her that Marie had tried to kill me before I was born on February 23, 1938. Then, with a chuckle in her voice, Ruth went on to say, Can you believe that crazy woman would go so far as to drink Turpentine in order to get rid of her kid? Then they both laughed. After they composed themselves, Ruth went on to say that when I was two years old and my brother, Gerald, was three years old, my newly divorced mother had placed the both of us in an orphanage in Saint Louis, Missouri. When my father got word of it, he took us from the orphanage and put us under the care of different women until I was close to the age of ten. During those early years of my life, I never saw much of my father. But then, he worked nights at the Anheuser Bush Brewery, slept during the day, and his free time was spent on gambling and womanizing.

One of my earliest caretakers stands out above all the others so much that I can even remember her name: Margaret! I can only describe her as a sadistic monster.

Lois Maxine with Brother Gerald while under the care of an abusive woman named Margaret.

For no sane person could beat a young child with a wide leather strap while telling the child she’d better not cry. From the age of three to six, I would hear her say, You’d better not cry!

Strange but true, my fear of that woman must have overridden the physical pain I’d suffered under her hands because I can’t remember crying, which makes me wonder if God, in his compassionate mercy, would place a protective mechanism in an abused child in order for the child to withstand overwhelming abuse.

I was around seven years old when my father placed me under the care of another woman. Under her care, she would allow me to play at a nearby playground without supervision.

On one of those occasions, an old man enticed me to enter his car by telling me he had binoculars to show me, and he’d let me play with them.

After I entered his car, he grabbed ahold of me and sexually assaulted me.

After my release and