Read Online The Eleventh Commandment by Lutishia Lovely - Free Book Online

in constant contact with your cousin, I’m hoping that she and Stacy will also be able to participate. If possible, a highlight of the final service would be an appearance by our former minister of music and Stacy’s baby daddy, but I know his schedule stays booked.”
    â€œI’ll be talking to Stacy later today and will definitely mention it. No promises on whether or not Darius can show up, but hey . . . nothing beats a failure but a try.”
    â€œI’m so proud of you, Hope. It seems like just yesterday that you showed up at our church as Cy’s fiancée. And now here you are a wife, mother, and mover and shaker in your part of the world. Yours is a prime example that dreams can come true, and that God does answer prayer. That is why I’d like for you to be one of the speakers on Saturday. Have you share your story to the extent you feel comfortable. When it comes to the theme, The Woman I Am, you are an embodiment of an answered prayer.” Vivian continued, sharing in more depth how she’d like Hope to contribute to the conference. “Do you and Cy have plans for the fourth?” she’d asked, when finished.
    â€œWe’ve talked about going to LA,” Hope answered. “With the holiday falling on a Tuesday, I’d like to get into town that Saturday, hopefully spend time with Frieda and Stacy, attend church on Sunday, and then play both Monday and Tuesday by ear.”
    â€œPerfect! Then I can go ahead and pencil in you two to attend the barbecue we’re planning. Very casual, and the only thing you need to bring is yourselves.”
    â€œThat sounds great, Viv. I’ll run it by Cy and confirm later this week.”
    â€œAnd if Frieda and Stacy want to join us, either with their husbands or alone, they too are welcome.”
    â€œI’ll be speaking with both of them this week if not later today, and will let them know.”
    â€œIt’ll be good to see everyone again.”
    â€œI agree, Vivian. See you soon.”

10
    The Woman I Am
    H ope finished checking her e-mails and, instead of balancing the household checkbook as she’d planned, then looked up the foundation scripture to the upcoming conference. It was an interesting one, taken from the third chapter of Exodus when God commanded Moses to go before Pharaoh and demand that the children of Israel be let go. When Moses had asked God what his name was, and who should he say had sent him, God answered, “I Am that I Am.” He told Moses to say that I Am had sent him. Vivian had told Hope to study the Hebrew word for this passage. She’d been the one to suggest that Hope purchase a Hebrew-Greek Bible. It had been the best study guide Hope could have imagined, had helped her deepen her understanding of the scriptures and in doing so, to strengthen her relationship with God.
    â€œHayah.” Hope practiced the Hebrew word on her tongue as she read its literal meaning: to breathe. Immediately she began to get excited. God was her very breath? She continued reading aloud, literally feeling the Spirit as she did so. “This verb means to exist, to become, to come to pass, to happen, to be finished.” She stopped, pondering that definition. It came to her that what God had spoken was already done, that the end was known from the beginning. She also felt that God was saying that whatever Moses needed God was, and by default, since humans were made in the image and likeness of God, that whatever people desired was inherently already inside them. The revelation sat Hope back in her chair. Could that be true? Could the power to realize all of her desires have existed inside her all along? If so, why had it taken so long for it to happen, for her to meet Cy and have children? And what about all of the single women out there, good women who wanted marriage and motherhood, yet found it so difficult to find the right man? As more questions than answers came to her, she kept