Author’s Story
Vera L. Smith
Grew up in the projects of a Midwest town, and as a youth, she dabbled in writing and creative art. Later moving to the West Coast, as time passed, her passion for writing reawakened, and she realized that God had a plan during the many years she experienced spontaneity with writing. Given many opportunities to express her creative side, Vera enjoys helping to awaken the hope and consciousness of those desiring to be whole.
Over the past 25 years, Vera has been involved in an inspiring and growing career as a motivational speaker, poet, author, and playwright. She graduated with Highest Honors from a junior college and went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude from a Bachelor of Science Degree program. Using her love for positive change, biblical knowledge, writing, and speaking skills, she has taught Bible classes, written and directed plays that inspire change, and skits that introduced Sunday morning sermons. For a brief but rewarding season, Vera hosted an inspirational radio vignette to encourage Bay Area radio listeners, which proved to be a life-changing opportunity for her as well. When her sons were small, performing puppeteer routines and making frequent hospital visits to encourage and support military patients was a part of their life journey.
Vera has interviewed live on Comcast television and held book signings throughout the Bay Area and in other states. She has taught writing classes to help attendees reach back to a sometimes unpleasant past to bring forth an extraordinary and emotional releasing life story. Some of Vera’s work has been published through the International House of the Poetry-United States and Nobel House-London, U.K. She has received various awards and certificates as a result of her writing skills. Currently, Vera has completed a second and third book. Her second book has a two-fold purpose. One goal is to help establish more people that can look at life as an adventure rather than a long and arduous struggle. A second goal is to strengthen those who desire to live life smarter by learning from relevant life stories and applying practical life principles. The real-life stories included in her second book also help to guard those whose steps are already firm. Her third book is to delight the heart of the reader with laughter and to bring a gentle reminder that laughter is good medicine.
For anyone reaching for change, Vera remarks, “Keep fanning that small flicker of hope because dreams can be born at any season of life. Some will birth dreams in the fall of life, and they are just as beautiful as the dreams birthed in the spring of life. Birthing dreams take a lot of hard work and perseverance before they become a reality.”
A Personal View
An interesting thing began to happen on many of my early morning walks -- God began to speak divine messages to my heart as I stood in awe of His creation. All that He created around us is more than just for our personal enjoyment. It is also for revealing His glory, His righteousness, and His presence as He teaches us about ourselves and our relationship with Him. Throughout the Bible, He uses simple things around us to bring understanding to us about spiritual truths at a level that we can comprehend. From each breathtaking moment that we may take for granted, God speaks to us about who He is. In my book, He has used my admiration for His heavens and earth and many of my personal life experiences and observation about nature’s ability to reveal man’s disposition to make known divine principles which I talk about in this book. When several of my friends saw the many green plants in and around my home, they told me they understood why God would choose me to be one that He would speak to about nature. Nature points to God, God points to His Son, and His Son points back to Him. My book is a heart book and a book that I believe you will enjoy.
Initially, when I began writing this book,
I thought I had only a collection of poems. It would be a few years later when God would begin to use friends to nudge me about writing a book. At first, I didn’t move to write a book because I didn’t think I could, but when I did move, God moved again as well. He impressed upon my heart to write a special message from each real-life story for every inspired poem. This is because He had a story He wanted to be told, and the poem introduced a specific message. God is a Poet and an Author, and He had me include both writing styles in my book -- prose and poetic form. Some of my stories teach, while others simply reach out to heal. And then there are some that draw the reader into adoration and praise for the One who created it all. As a poet, I have been reminded the Book of Job and the next four books of the Bible, including Lamentations, fall into the category of poetry. As a student of the Bible, if someone would have told me that I would end up writing a book involving God’s creation, I would have shook my head, “No,” because I didn’t know a thing about creation back then from a spiritual perspective and still only know that which has been revealed to me. Yet, God used me to write this book. And if I would have told anyone growing spiritually with me at that time that I was writing a book that entails nature, they probably would have wondered-Now how did that happen? When I look back, I see that God plants a seed in us--a tiny spark of His desire for our lives, and then He waters it and allows it to grow. He takes note of our longings, our hopes, our experiences, both good and bad, and our personal and spiritual growth, and then He weaves a life story -- His story that is because He is always the real author of any inspired work. In the beginning, God created creation. That’s where it all began. And that’s where my book begins too, and it ends in praise for His Holy Name. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
According to Romans 1:20,
God is revealing His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature to us through creation. From the very moment we step outside and behold His glory, He is saying to us through His creation, “I fashioned all that you see.” The raging waters proclaim His power, the majestic mountains proclaim His splendor, the calmness of the wind proclaims His peace, and the heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1). Creation invites us to be still and to commune with the heart of God, and that’s what you’ll see in my first book. Used by God in the plan of salvation of man, used to describe man’s attitudes and behaviors and to bring spiritual principles to light for our understanding, creation does a marvelous job of glorying God.
You know , some time ago...
A friend of mine told me that she heard Dr. Charles Stanley say -- “We must become people who habitually look for evidence of God’s nearness. We can look for it in creation... “God has interwoven creation on the pages of the oldest and most profound book known to man -- The Bible. With all that said, go ahead now -- take a moment and breathe in the beauty and serenity of nature’s splendor that lies around you and take note of God’s presence, and then begin a journey with me to learn from nature as well. Enjoy my book! You can purchase my books on my website and also at: Trilogy Christian Publishing website in the bookstore section, Barnes & Noble, Walmart.com, Amazon & many other online book selling sites.
