RevLady on HubPages

Happy greetings to all!

I enjoy writing articles and poems that I believe will be meaningful, inspirational and helpful to others. It is a favorite hobby and I derive much pleasure from it. Though I am by no means a "writer" in the true sense of the word, I take what I have and do the best I can with it.

Whenever I write, the image of me as a child sitting at my little desk in my room spending countless hours "scribbling," and then taking it to my mother to read comes to mind. She always commented on the "stories" I had written with positive, encouraging remarks. Today, over five decades later, I still remember this childhood experience and my mother's comments still spur me on.

Nevertheless, my passion addresses issues related to death and dying, grief and bereavement, loss and separation. In fact, my parents thought I would grow up to be a funeral director, as I always wanted to accompany my father, who was a deacon in the church, to funeral homes whenever someone died. I would roam the home looking at all the bodies, touching them and wondering if one would wake up. For two years, until my father died when I was seven, I was his funeral home "partner" so to speak.

Well, I did not become a funeral director and do not therefore, embalm bodies. The assignment God gave me instead was to the Christian ministry; rather than embalm bodies, I inter them.

The Lord enabled me to procure education in the area of social work, and advanced degrees in clinical counseling, and theological studies, thus equipping me for the task He assigned. Most of my career life has been extensively dealing with death and dying, grief and bereavement, loss and separation issues as experienced by the community.

I worked for eight years in the child welfare arena helping children separated from their families, either temporarily or permanently, adjust to out of home placements and manage the grief precipitated by this painful disruption in their young lives.

In addition to being senior pastor, assistant pastor, associate pastor, and thanatologcal chaplain, for three decades, I also worked for seven years with hospices in both Michigan (where I directed their spiritual care/bereavement department) and Florida where I educated minority communities about end-of-life-services.

Though it is not feasible to write all my experience in the aforementioned areas, one of the most challenging was my two year research work with Wayne State University's Department of Community Medicine, Infant Mortality program. In my role as research assistant, I interviewed and ministered to mothers who suffered the loss of infants' dues to SIDS or homicide.

Since relocating to Florida in 2001, I founded AMEN Ministries, devoted to providing Christian ceremonial services to the un-churched in our local community, spiritual care to our online family, and our passion is providing effective and sensitive help to the bereaved and those who care for them. Our Grief Help Center offers a wealth of resources and services for those suffering the loss of loves ones. Our Bereaved After Care Ministry assist the bereaved friends, co-workers, club or church members etc. with a meaningful method of expressing ongoing support beyond the funeral rite.

I am the author of two soft copy coffee table books, Room Beneath the Snow & Other Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances & Other Homilies that Teach. They both sold out. Room Beneath the Snow is available in electronic format. Negative Disturbances is being revised. 

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Thank you for viewing my profile. I would be privileged to be included in your circle of Christian fans.

May our Lord shower you with His rich blessings from on high.

Love and hugs, Saundra

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