God gives second chances and we can't be afraid to take the opportunities we're given in life. That's the message a former collegiate basketball star, Dr. Tamica Smith Jones, presents in her memoir, A Ball and Dream.
Circumstances, choices and missteps along the way seem poised to make life difficult and threaten to derail dreams, but instead Jones finds that when one path closes another opportunity presents itself.
"You must believe that you can overcome any situation or circumstance. When you fall, never stay down," Jones writes about the obstacles she encountered and the turns her life took while pursuing her ambitions. "Get back up, and go in a different direction. It is also important that although stressed, distressed and sometimes depressed, you acknowledge that 'greater is He that is within me then he that is in the world' " (1 John 4:4).
Her parents' divorce when she was young leads to the blessing of a blended family. Losing a college scholarship forces her to find work to pay for her education - a job that leads to her meeting her future husband.
Jones writes about her life's high points - success on the basketball court, marriage, the birth of her son - as well as the lows she goes through - lashing out at a fellow student and having to change schools as a result, and later, bouts with unemployment and struggles in her career. Jones' course in life is anything but a smooth journey, but she has faith that God is guiding her.
God gives second chances, Jones writes, and she advises readers not to shy away from pursuing new opportunities so long as the effort is made to stay in His will.
She writes: "Throughout my life, I have learned that there are two wills of God, His permissive will and His perfect will. I think that with permissive will, He allows us to make choices that are based on our own command. These choices and experiences could prove to turn out bad, but God allows it. However, I think that opens the doors of opportunity at every step. Even if things look like they are not going well, I like to say 'it is working for your good' (Romans 8:28)."
A Ball and a Dream will be available in paperback online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and wherever books are sold.
"[Jones'] frankness about the choices and consequences she made along the journey frees one to move in faith not fear," said Bishop Ruth W. Smith of Light of the World, about A Ball and a Dream. "God proves through Dr. Smith Jones' story that He is the God of another chance. This book is a must read for anyone who has a vision and need to be inspired to keep going."
