The Secret Is

    From The Secret Is by Kathleen Stauffer:

You've read those stories that begin with, "Once upon a time.. . "  The kind that usually end with, "They lived happily ever after."  This is not that kind of story.  Let me explain.

     I knew from the beginning that I was different.  I've never been able to put my finger on all the reasons; it's just a feeling I have.  . . . I grew up with my Mom, Mel, in a little town in the Midwest.  I don't really know much about my dad.  Mom said he named me Ledea because I was a girl, and Ledea sounded like lady.  . . . He was real excited the  day I was born according to Mom but left town before my mom even came home from the hospital.  Guess he had other plans.  . . . Our house was in an area of town with no sidewalks, but we had lots of grass; Mom called them weeds. . . . The house was gray and small.  A coat of paint would have improved it, but paint and brushes cost money.  

Growing up on the wrong side of
town with a single parent,
Ledea Jenkins, protagonist, also struggled with a learning
disability. A devastating accident
in high school, falling in love
with the wrong man, moving into
the little brown house by the
lake, and discovering the box room
in her grandparent's house
all held secrets.

Ledea understood God's unconditional love as a child.  Now, as a young adult, she struggles with

the real meaning of "the secret is."  With the love of a new best friend,
a persistent pastor, a secret
admirer, and her always-there mother,
will Ledea survive what life has thrown at her?

Having worked with students with learning disabilities, I desired to write a book using one of their voices--in this case, Ledea's, a girl who grew up in poverty.  It seems easy for some who are fortunate to be educated and have good paying jobs to be judgmental of those who do not.

How often do we hear. . .

They need to get a job.

They should have gone to school.

They're just lazy.

Unless we walk in their shoes, we do not know.

    

In Ruby K. Payne's book, A Framework For Understanding Poverty, she expressed the major differences between generational poverty and middle class were not just about money.  A working definition of poverty is the "extent to which an individual does without resources."  Payne lists the resources as:

*financial

*emotional

*mental

*spiritual

*physical

*support system

*relationships/role models

*knowledge of hidden rules

Due to Ledea's naivete, she found herself in situations and relationships that were not healthy for her.  However, her mother had always taken her to church and Sunday school as a child, and Ledea felt supported and loved in this environment.  She even practiced, practiced and practiced memorizing her favorite verses and hymns--recitations that stayed with her into adulthood and sustained her.  So that when Star, her new husband, took her away to a remote area to live, she carried the seeds of faith from her childhood years.

We learn in this inspiration fiction novel that a child born into poverty, a child with a learning disability, a young woman taken advantage of by others perseveres because of God's love.

For whatever is born of God

overcomes the world.

And this is the victory 

that has overcome the world--

our faith.

1 John 5:4

Ledea was created by God, as we all are, and saved by Christ, as we all are.  Whether you are rich or poor, we need to understand our differences and care for each other.

The Secret?

God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples.  And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.

Colossians 1:27

If you read The Secret Is, you will discover that the last chapter is written by Ledea just for you!