Excerpts from How Strong Women Pray Print This Page

Excerpt from Chapter about Maya Angelou

In that instant in my life I knew that I was a child of God... and knowing it then, I know it all the time, fresh. Just saying it makes me thrill, in the classic sense. I mean, my body - Wheeew!

At that moment, I had to leave the room. I started weeping... with the knowledge of it. And I could do it again right now. That which made the seas and mountains, made stars and moons, and goldfish... That loves me?!!

It was a freedom... a relief... a license to try to do all the good in the world. If That loves me, then I can do anything good. You see?

Now I pray all the time. I pray when I'm walking from here over to the chair. I pray at any time... when something crosses my mind, I have a prayer. Mostly I'm thankful: Thanking God for God, thanking God for Jesus, and thanking Jesus for Jesus. I am thankful for the idea of love, the idea of forgiveness, and the offering of peace and joy two thousand years ago.

Excerpt from Chapter about Ann Marie Moloney, NYPD Detective and a first responder to 9-11

NYPD Detective, Ann Marie Moloney, was alone in a section of the city that she had never been to before. Still a rookie and wearing her brand-spanking new cop uniform with a nice, shiny radio, she walked down Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York, a predominantly black, working class neighborhood. While she felt right at home where she grew up, just a few subway stops away in a predominantly black and Hispanic area of Jackson Heights, here, with her never used gun holster and her high-gloss shiny shoes, residents eyed her with suspicion.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. She could hear a woman screaming at the top of her lungs. Everyone wondered... what will the rookie woman cop do?

Excerpt from Chapter about Kathy Ireland, super model turned CEO

So I prayed and I prayed and I prayed: "God, please give me the words to say because I can't do this on my own. I need the words."

In my own words, it would have come out either mean and accusing, or more subtle and clever, but with a dig. Yes, probably mean and clever with digs is the route I would've gone.

I prayed, "God, help me deliver this message in the way You would want it and I will be the vessel." I surrendered to Him and let Him give me the words. It was amazing! When we talked, the outcome was beautiful. It just changed the whole day. It could have been a really yucky day, and instead, it was a beautiful day.