for Reader Views (02/07)

Who are you anyway? This is the question Ora Stearns Smith wants every woman to ask herself – and to be able to answer without hesitation by the last page. Her inspirational book “Divinely Framed” is a message of love, empowerment, and hope for those women looking to take their lives to a new, heavenly level.  She wants her readers to see themselves as worthy of God’s love, no matter what their background or prior behaviors. She notes that “the darkness of your past cannot extinguish the light of your future”, leaving no one in a fruitless, unpromising life.

Stearns Smith writes “Divinely Framed” with a sermon-like, gospel reunion feel. As you read, you can almost hear her strong, thunderous voice echoing off the walls in a spacious hall of worship.

Her contagious enthusiasm and excitement jump off of every page as she urges her fellow women to acknowledge where they’ve been and to leave it all behind for a life with Christ. “Oh yes I hear you, my sister, Oh, how I hear you!” “My sistah! My sweet sistah!” Stearns Smith successfully gets her positively beautiful points across in her book where even the page backgrounds ooze with femininity.

Unlike many other self-help books, “Divinely Framed” wouldn’t have the reader feeling besieged with thoughts of inadequacy. Instead, the reader comes away ‘framed’ in a much lighter spirit and a radiant outlook on her new life. With a backbone of Biblical scripture, Stearns Smith’s message weaves her energizing personality throughout as she praises her Lord and praises all women. “You are empowered to soar in spite of all the turmoil and confusion and devastation and threats of annihilation.” By the end of the book, she’s got her readers cheerfully shouting, “I am that I AM says I am!”

“Divinely Framed” is picture-perfect for adult women needing some motivation to make positive changes in their lives. Witty, electrifying, and overflowing with unadulterated joy, Stearns Smith really knows how to get her readers off their feet and yelling, ‘hallelujah!’ Can you hear the choir singing ‘O Happy Day’ in the background? I can! It’s time to testify!