God Gave Us Wings by Connie Rankin

There are some people who will breeze through life with little or no help. Others will need additional nurturing to reach
the other side. For some, insurmountable fear of falling will require greater assurance from us for them to even try to fly!

These are the stories of just a few of the amazing women who have created lives of grace, service and success in
spite of facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their lives.

You know the amazing journey of Oprah’s ascent to star, community conscience, philanthropist, and best friend to the world. It may take on a different meaning when viewed through the lens of family – the Winfrey family. It is a story that began many years ago with her great-great grandparents who used education to achieve equality for all and helped her to clear a pathway to success for future generations. How much do our ancestors impact the ways our lives unfold? The choices we make? The values that shape us? Any search for a deeper truth should first look backward to see what we might learn from past generations. That certainly is the case with Oprah. Her dramatic family history seems to have left an indelible mark on her psyche. The hopes and dreams of Oprah’s ancestors are being played out  in her life as the “Queen of Queens!”

Lilly’s is the story of 3 generations of abused women and their ultimate survival. It will show you how each woman
dealt with the devastating effect of abuse in her life and how it affected her children. It will show you how the learned behavior of physical abuse has a lasting effect that is often passed from one generation to another, until a courageous soul can put a halt to it. In this story, Lilly decided to take control of her life, lifting her face upward and declaring, It stops here!

Donna was born to Japanese-American parents right after WWII in Denver, Colorado, in a climate of mistrust that took years to overcome. Her father, a brave man who fought for the United States in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II, regretfully was perceived by most people to have fought for the Japanese. Can you imagine how the girl’s father and mother must have felt, let alone the daughter? How terrible to be viewed as the enemy and taunted by others who tried to make this good family ashamed of their heritage and their very identities. Donna especially hated going to school on December 7; on that day, the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing, the taunting was at its worst. Her favorite days at school were those featuring show and tell, which gave her the opportunity to show off her father’s 442 Bill and tell of his presence in the U.S. Army – proving they were Americans, too!

Keo’s story begins in 1973 in Laos, a country left in tatters after the Vietnam War. When she was but two years old and
before forming a bond she could remember, her father, a freedom fighter, was captured and imprisoned by Communist soldiers. During her father’s imprisonment she lived with her mother’s parents, an experience that shaped fond childhood memories. It follows her narrow escape under the cloak of darkness with her mother and sister in the bottom of a small boat, and their long trek through 3 refugee camps before they finally found their father and were sheltered by an Amarillo, Texas church group. She and her minister husband have dedicated their lives to helping others bring the grace of God into their lives.

Connie’s early life of turmoil, pain, and loss actually cemented her lifelong faith and empathy with the pain of others.
As a five-year old she got her first lesson in faith and endurance when she almost severed her leg in a freak fall onto a
half-buried tin can lid. As she was rushed, bleeding profusely to the hospital she cried out her love to God (and her mother) and God heard her plea. When Connie arrived at the hospital in her blood-soaked clothes, the emergency room doctor
found a miracle – no tourniquet, and the bleeding had stopped. The child did not die.

Rather, she lived knowing God performs miracles every day in people’s lives, if only they believe. That day, her faith saved
her life and her limb. (The doctor later explained that the fact that no tourniquet had been applied in the first place was a miracle; a tourniquet cuts off circulation to the entire limb, and if one had been applied Connie would almost certainly have
lost her leg.) Her faith gave her a lifelong gift, too: the strength to endure.

My prayer for you is that reading this book will prompt you to move past your fears into flight.
Let God lead you into great heights ... hear Him clearly and follow His every prompting.