Blues To Blessings

Suzette Webb helps readers deal with fear, abuse, indecision, and shares the strength and guidance given to her by her faith over the years.

By her late thirties, Suzette Webb appeared to be living the dream - a husband she loves, three great kids, a beautiful home and a decent corporate job where she can retire comfortably, but instead of feeling satisfied, she felt trapped between portraying the appearance of success and actually being fulfilled by purpose. On a quest for life's deeper meaning, she risks traveling a new path - overcoming personal, professional and self-imposed obstacles to achieve transformation and success. This spiritual memoir is her step-by-step journey towards self-discovery, but it doesn't come without her having to confront the painful complexities of her past. Humorously honest and shockingly transparent, Blues to Blessings is an interactive spiritual odyssey in which each chapter leaves you craving for more.

From the beginning, as written in Genesis 8:22, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." Described by many as the two faces of fortune, it is the blues and our blessings, one causing much heartbreak and the other providing immense joy. The Fortunes of Blues and Blessing is a historical American saga telling the story of a black family in America beginning in 1849 that spans more than 100 years and five generations. The family tree takes root in Sierra Leone with the capture of a young African named Zokaya, he's carried across the waters and sold as slave in Charleston, SC and then taken to a rice plantation on Ossabaw, a sea island off the coast of Savannah, GA where he is renamed, Hercules. Rice driver for the Bailey Plantation he takes a family for his own, Rachel, and then her daughter Maia. As Richard Bailey's obsession, Maia grows up in the big house until the start of the Civil War. When Richard flees the plantation she returns to Ossabaw pregnant with her daughter Diana where she meets and marries Aaron, a man skilled in construction taking refuge on the island. As the years run on the family prospers and moves inland. Maia becomes a writer and Aaron a man of business in construction. Diana goes to college in Nashville and becomes a Fisk Jubilee Singer and travels the world. She struggles with her ambitions to be a famous singer. Maia struggles with her grief over lost children. Aaron struggles with his desire to make a difference for his people. Through their fortunes and misfortunes of life it's evident how moments of chance and decision can affect the direction of our lives. Described as a cross between Roots and Forest Gump the story carries the reader on a journey with this family where they encounter actual black people who have made significant contributions to African-American History.

"I am a fanatic about freedom. And I'm fanatical about coming at you hard in this book." Maybe you're not as free as you think you are. Even worse, you may have been duped into believing that a "balanced" life is the key to happiness (it isn't) or that a relationship with God is about layering on rules and restrictions (nope). Whether it’s media-fueled fear, something a parent or teacher said that you just can’t shake, or even the reality of dark spiritual forces bent on keeping you down, something is holding you back from the full-on freedom God intends for you. The Bible says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Not fear. Not guilt. Not morality. Freedom. You can have the sort of joy you thought only kids could have. The day of freedom is here.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. A New Season begins with Diana attempting to revive her singing career. She has a son, Caesar, who she leaves in search of her dream. She dies and her mother, Maia, takes Caesar to Nashville to live with his father a former Fisk Jubilee Singer. The story continues in Nashville with Caesar caught in conflict between his father, David, and stepmother, Grace. After high school, Caesar travels to New York where he gets a job in a hotel and learns to cook. He joins the National Guard and becomes of member or the Fighting 369 regiment in WWI. After the war is over her returns to Nashville and marries the sister of one of war buddies. They eventually have a set of twin boys they name, Caesar Blue and Caesar Bless. The story follows the brothers as they grow up near the thriving Jefferson Street attending Fisk and Tennessee A& I.

What would it be like to share all your possessions and live in Christian community? In Hutterite Diaries, Linda Maendel offers a rare glimpse into the daily routines and communal faith of her people, the Hutterian Brethren. From stories of working together to bring in the fall potato harvest to laugh-out-loud tales of sisterly love laced with revenge, Maendel invites readers into her Bruderhof, or colony, nestled on the prairie of western Canada. Here children and adults work, play, eat, and worship together, crafting a community of goods and living out an alternative to the individualism and consumerism of mainstream society. Few outsiders know anything about the Hutterites, a Plain Christian group related to the Amish and Mennonites. Maendel’s story invites readers into deeper understanding of this community of faith, calling us to take seriously the example of Jesus and the early church in our daily living. Hear straight from plain Christians as they write about their daily lives and deeply rooted faith in the Plainspoken series from Herald Press. Each book in the series includes “A Day in the Life of the Author” and the author’s answers to FAQs. Plainspoken series—real-life stories of Amish and Mennonites includes: Book 1—Chasing the Amish Dream: My Life as a Young Amish Bachelor by Loren Beachy Book 2—Called to Be Amish: My Journey from Head Majorette to the Old Order by Marlene Miller Book 3—Hutterite Diaries: Wisdom from My Prairie Community by Linda Maendel

"This anthology collects articles, interviews, fiction, and poetry from the Original Chicago Blues Annual, one of music history's most significant periodical blues publications. Founded and operated from 1989 to 1995 by African American musician and entrepreneur Lincoln T. Beauchamp Jr., OCBA gave voice to the blues community and often frankly addressed contentious issues within the blues such as race, identity, prejudice, wealth, gender, and inequity." "BluesSpeak includes key selections from OCBA's seven issues and features candid interviews with many artists. Also featured are heartfelt memorials to bygone blues artists, insightful observations on the state of the blues in Chicago and beyond, and dozens of photographs of performers, promoters, and other participants in the worldwide blues scene." --Book Jacket.

"When it comes to the J.A./J.S. Craig Fenton is the source." Signe Anderson original J.A. member and part of the J.S. 93-94. Have You Seen The Stars Tonite contains 179 photos, the singles and albums the Jefferson Starship and J.S. The Next Generation released, a healthy dose of the solo projects, and the dates of service for members of the band past and present. There is much more. You can find documentation on the players that filled in for the regular members, special guests, and setlists either whole or at least partial for 703 concerts. There is no reason to stop there. The first time a song appeared, alternate versions, excerpts, poem titles, and a year-by-year breakdown of the tunes performed are all included in the flight manual. Finally, you can see which Jefferson Airplane titles were performed, an entire list of documented songs played 1974-1978 and 1992-2007 as well as an extensive listing of many of the cover tunes performed and the artists that made them famous.