Sheila Adams has been performing Appalachian ballads and telling stories for over twenty years. A native of Madison County, North Carolina, she was introduced to the tale-telling tradition by her great-aunt 'Granny,' well-known balladeer Dellie Chandler Norton. This collection of Adams's stories provides a rare portrait of a distinctive mountain community and charts the development of an artist's unique voice. The tales range from stories of heroic, sometimes fierce, mountain settlers to the comic adventures of local drifters and tricksters, from magical childhood encounters to adult rites of passage. We meet Bertha and the snake handlers, local preacher Manassey Fender (who 'looked like a pencil with a burr haircut, in a suit'), and Adams's beloved grandfather Breaddaddy, who taught her about life and death with an enchanting graveyard dance. But perhaps the most powerful character depicted here is 'Granny,' whom Adams calls 'the most exciting person I have ever known and the best teacher I would ever have.' By weaving these remembrances into her stories, Adams both preserves and extends a rich artistic heritage.
They Took Them Wives of All Which They Chose" reveals the revelation of God's word and is designed to offer assistance in understanding the Scriptures more clearly. Author Sheila Adams cites the appropriate Scriptures to explain that Angels did not mate with mortal women. She has outlined this volume for easy searching so that anyone can find the answers with ease. The practical guide uses an interpretation of the text of the King James Version (KJV) Bible with the goals of properly aligning them with the Scriptures and making them easier to understand. Author Sheila Adams has drawn from a selection of verses primarily from the Old Testament and several verses from the New Testament, as a result of consulting God, the only true source. "They Took Them Wives of All Which They Chose" seeks to share God's word in such a way that people can grasp its meaning and connect biblical lessons to the correct Scriptures.
My Old True Love sings and lives and breathes with joy and sadness and every emotion in between."* The Stantons and the Nortons were family in the truest, oldest sense: an extended network of kin stretching across the Appalachian mountains, their ties to the land as strong as their ties to one another. So when Larkin Stanton is left parentless at birth in the 1840s, he is taken in by his cousin Arty Norton, and true to the family way, Arty teaches Larkin the old Appalachian ballads the family has sung together for centuries. But when Arty's brother, Hackley, leaves to fight in the Civil War, Larkin finds himself drawn to Hackley's wife, the woman who has held Larkin's heart for years. What Larkin does about that love defies all he has learned about family and loyalty--and reminds us that those mournful mountain ballads didn't come just from the imagination but from the imperfections of the heart. "Something ancient and wonderful resides in Sheila Kay Adams's heart, and we are lucky indeed that she has chosen to share this knowledge with us through the words of this fine, beautifully wrought novel." --*Silas House, author of Clay's Quilt and A Parchment of Leaves "Deeply satisfying storytelling propelled by the desires of full-bodied, prickly characters set against a landscape rendered in all its beauty and harshness." --Kirkus Reviews
This book is inspiring. The things that happened to Victoria shows us that even though we go through many struggles, we can be encouraged in our spirits to continue in the faith. Every thing that looks bad is not always bad, for all things work together for our good. After reading this, you're encouraged to continue to pray, to stand, and to hold on to God's unchanging hand. Thanks for your words of encouragement that were birthed out of your discouragement. Eleanor Pressley After reading the book, it appears that you were destined to go through much pain, but with each occurrence, the Lord pulled you out. Destined to carry the crosses and yet you've made it (suffering for His name sake). It's not a bad thing; it's a good thing. He has given you the anointing and grace to overcome every challenge in your life. For His glory - others have seen and felt your need to carry crosses but few have helped you to carry them. Jackie Garland Jerrod E. Ragins is a man of God first; then, he is an accountant with Jones Lang Lasalle in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is 30 years old, is married to Jessica, and loves the Lord. Cecil Bradley, Jr. is a man of God first; then, he is a student in his first year of college in Atlanta, Georgia. He is 24 years old and single. Cecil also loves the Lord. Shiela Adams is a woman of God first; then, she is a Juvenile Correction Officer in Charleston, South Carolina. She is 35 years old and a mother of 4. The Lord is the head of her life.
It is a pleasure to learn from this very readable book that two of our Founding Fathers, John Adams and Benjamin Rush, were reflective. It gives us hope that our own leaders who claim to be guided by our historical past will rediscover the virtue of looking back upon one's self. Moreover, these Founders reflected upon their dreams and had opinions about them. The author assists their efforts by dreaming their dreams onward, providing insightful interpretations that bring us into the present. The book makes a powerful point that for guidance today we can turn to the 'history' of the nation that lies within the dream life of each of us." -George R. Elder, Ph.D., Jungian analyst and writer, coeditor of An American Jungian: In Honor of Edward F. Edinger "So much is fascinating about the birth of America, but nothing more so than the dream life of our founding fathers. Zarrow, in this captivating account of the friendship between John Adams and Benjamin Rush, reflects how the inner life of the psyche was also present at the creation of our nation. In doing so, she engagingly deepens our notion of 'collective consciousness.'" -Dr. Stephen Martin, cofounder and president emeritus of the Philemon Foundation and a graduate of the Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland Sheila Zarrow writes: Dr. Joseph Henderson was mentor to me for many years until his death in 2007 at age 104. He felt a deep connection to American history, was most interested in John Adams, and had spent some time on Benjamin Rush's farm. When I told Henderson about how I had spent three years meditating at the foot of Adams's statue in Worcester, Massachusetts, he enthusiastically encouraged me to study Adams, a study that led me also to Rush. My journey into their world ran parallel to my journey inward and the many synchronicities that came together with the writing of Friendship and Healing are testimony to the eternal nature of the living psyche. The letters of John Adams and Benjamin Rush depict the friendship that grew between the two as the course of history brought change into their lives and forced them to change themselves. Of particular interest are the dreams both men described in their letters and the evidence Zarrow has uncovered about how they considered the effects of their dreams. Rush, in his seminal text on medicine, wrote that dreaming is "as much a native faculty as memory or imagination." Dreams have meaning well beyond the personal and the present. They have roots and tendrils that stretch throughout the unknown inner world of our psyches. While we sleep, they make connections between our lives and the lives of others throughout history, back through mythology, and out to the eternal. Friendship and Healing explores one bright thread in the history of our country through the letters and dreams of two men who were there at the beginning.
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