By Christina Donohue-Williams

Hey everyone!!  Well, we have moved into another season in our lives…fall!  It’s a beautiful time of year when the leaves turn into a deep golden color and fall along the streets and sidewalks.  My son, my Mother, myself and our friends recently visited an apple orchard nearby.  As we walked through the orchard, I noticed the leaves falling along the paths and it reminded me of the beautiful fall scenery in Kentucky.  It also reminded me that it’s all of God’s creations!   It’s time to start baking all the fresh apple pies and pumpkin goodies and spending more time with the ones we love.  The peacefulness that accompanies this time of year helps with the renewing of our mind, body and soul.  It’s so important that we have this renewing to ensure that our relationship with God is a ‘right’ relationship with Him.
In this life, we have options when trials pass our way.  The options we have are either to curl up and give up or we can move forward with more power and spiritual guidance inside of us than ever before.

I recently watched an interview of Wynonna speak out about her life, trials and more during an interview. I was completely amazed by her willingness to speak out about what she has been through in her life, including her many struggles.  She is a woman who has been through trial after trial, but has come out victorious and stronger than ever. Not only is she stronger as a person and woman, but her relationship with Christ is stronger than ever and more solid than ever before.  She is an inspiration to me, and I’m sure to other women as well.  At times, we have to step out of ourselves and listen to what another person has experienced to help us put our own situations and life into perspective.  Wynonna has connected with her inner spirit as well as with God and that gave me hope as well as it reminded me that we are all human, whether we are living in our everyday lives as celebrities or not.

We can’t be afraid or ashamed to talk about where we have been and where we are going in our lives.  Every trial we have been through is for a reason and only makes us that much stronger.  If we take the time to testify about our own experiences in this life and talk about our trials and what God has done for us, we can be a blessing to others.

With that said, we have to understand that choosing the positive, optimistic choices in life, this doesn’t guarantee us an easy life.    The paths will not always be easy, as a matter of fact, the positive path is at times, the most difficult of choices, but that is what empowerment of  ourselves is all about.  We have to be ready to move forward with God as the foundation in our every aspect of our lives, with no exceptions.  After speaking with many women, it’s apparent that especially in our relationships as women, we have to ensure that we believe that GOD is with us no matter what we have to endure.  HE will never leave us nor forsake us, but He will be with us until the end.  I am not singling out just women, as I believe that everyone can relate to these words, but through my different discussions with both men and women, it seems as though women are much more emotional than men.

Fear has a way of taking over our lives and at times, before we even realize it.  God tells us to fear not because He is with us.  Those words alone are powerful!  We are never alone in this walk in life.  We are God’s children and He doesn’t want us to fear anything in this life.  Fear takes away our joy, our smiles, our positive thoughts and can begin to affect our everyday lives.  It’s crucial that we begin to speak fear out of our lives in a strong and mighty way.  We are all over comers in this life, who have been made victorious through the blood of Jesus Christ!

I shared this with you because I believe it’s crucial that we all believe in ourselves and have a positive image of ourselves, especially for women in this crazy world we live in.  Confidence, self-esteem, love, creativity, life experiences, inner spirituality and most importantly…God, is what can empower us as women.  I have recently had women ask me about some of these topics and while in prayer about my column, God gave me these words to share with all of you.  I pray you are all blessed abundantly!

Fear Not

~Fear not…For I am with you
Fear not…For I am with you
Fear not…For I am with you says the LORD…

I have redeemed you …I have called you by name
And child you are mine
And when you walk thru the waters…I will be there…and thru the flames…
And you will not…no way be drowned
And you will not…no way be burned
For I am with you…

So Fear not…For I am with you

~

When I was a little girl, I had a pink and white bedroom set that had bedposts and I would use the posts as my microphone and sing for my brother; he was my first audience! I took piano lessons for years (thank you mother!) and totally enjoyed it. I look back now and it is amazing to see that even then, the Lord was preparing me. Growing up in a Christian home, I was blessed to have a mother who prayed for me every day. We were in church every time the doors were open and would sing our hearts out. I know that somebody did some praying for me and it was my mother; my prayer warrior.

I have a very handsome, talented, smart and totally amazing son, Cayden. He is nine years old and my little man! He is a merit student at school (he has been throughout his entire school days)! Cayden takes piano lessons weekly, along with voice lessons. He is my little angel from heaven! Cayden is totally cool and is following in my musical footsteps not to mention he has the biggest heart and is such a little caretaker! I have an awesome mother, who is my angel here on earth and I love her so very much! I have one brother, Daniel, who lives in South Dakota with his two little girls that I miss so much! God has continued to bless me throughout my days here on earth and what a journey!

I spent a few years singing with my parents at different churches and it was an awesome experience. I started to learn so much more about what it truly meant to sing for the Lord! After that, I took my own paths (some of which should have been less traveled), but my mother never stopped praying for me! I always knew the Lord had a purpose for me; that my calling was with Him, but I had to be patient.

I sang with another group that still included my parents for a few years and we had the opportunity to record and have our own cd projects. I am very grateful for that experience.

Since then God has given me the opportunity to move forward with my own music ministry along with my writing ministry. My son Cayden is also singing with me, along with singing on his own and playing the piano! I am Blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to sing with my son and to have him be such an amazing piano player. I am very grateful to the Lord for giving me the gifts and talents that I have so I can share them with others and spread tHis Gospel through my music and writing!

Fear not…For I am with you
Fear not…For I am with you says the LORD…
Many Blessings!
♥~Christina~ ♥