My mom has been a single mom since my birth and although she was Christian and I remember going to church as a young child with my family on Sundays, she never wanted to impose any religion on me. I remember praying and talking to God on my own ever since I was a child and I chose to get baptized twice: the first time when I was twelve years old into a Catholic church since I attended Catholic schools, and a second time when I was sixteen and wanted to be baptized by immersion into a protestant church. I love the fact that my mom let me choose my own belief and she never imposed it on me. God chose me first and I chose Him too.

I think God speaks to me on a daily basis and sometimes warns me. There are times when I can feel something is wrong even though I don’t know exactly what, but it drives me into prayer. When I was eight years old a friend of my mother came to our home very late at night and said he was in the neighborhood and just wanted to come say “Hi”. I instantly had a strange feeling. I was not at ease and told my mom that I didn't think it was a good idea to let this person stay with us. I didn’t have a good feeling about it but my mom insisted on letting this person stay since she knew him. The next day, he said that he would go out to get us something for breakfast. Again, I told my mom that he was lying, that he will leave but won’t come back and that he stole something from us. My mom was very upset and told me that I  should never say such things about people I didn’t know. He left and minutes then hours went by, and he never came back. My mom then discovered that her jewelry and watch were gone. She looked at me and asked, “How did you know?” I replied, “I don’t know mom, I just knew and I am sure that was the Holy Spirit.”

I will always remember every single time I needed a miracle and God showed up. So many times I take His grace and mercy for granted. I regret that but I have learned from it and today I do my best to acknowledge His grace and be thankful everyday. 

The verse I want to hold close to my heart is Ephesians 20:3, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” I choose to put this verse on my necklace because I want to remind myself of God’s promise when I face struggles in life. Sometimes we believe that God can do everything, but we don’t really believe it; we forget that God is able to do extraordinary things when we are in the most difficult circumstances. I want a reminder of the kind of God I have, the One who is able to do immeasurably more, and I want to touch this necklace, feel this necklace, and remind myself that with Him, anything is possible.

Shirley M.
Entrepreneur
NYC/Paris