Also by Vanessa Davis Griggs
The George Landris/Johnnie Mae Taylor Series
The Rose of Jericho
Promises Beyond Jordan
Wings of Grace
Blessed Trinity Trilogy
Blessed Trinity
Strongholds
VANESSA DAVIS GRIGGS
This book is dedicated to God. You woke me at 4 A.M. one morning in July 2004 and told me to write a book and to call it Strongholds. My heart and prayer is that this book is all You desired it to be.
Acknowledgments
When God told me to write this book, I was instructed not to deal with it from a sin standpoint but from a stronghold standpoint. I wrote the first chapter that same day and put it away not knowing what God’s plans would be in delivering this to the people. I fasted and prayed and listened to the voice of God as I proceeded to write it. My prayer now is that it will be a blessing to millions.
I have acknowledged people in previous books, and truthfully, I wasn’t sure whether I would do the same in this one. But I must send my eternal love to my mother, Mrs. Josephine Davis, who has faithfully been in my corner, praying for me, believing God’s best for my life from the time I was in her womb until this day. Thank you, Mama. To my father, Mr. James Davis Jr., who continues to teach me what perseverance really is about. He is a man who refuses to let obstacles or setbacks (namely a stroke in 2000 that left him with limited use of his left side) stand in his way of doing what he sets his mind to.
Editor Rakia A. Clark: You came onboard at Kensington/ Dafina as my editor well after I had turned in this book. I want to thank you for your attitude and the work you have done, having inherited an author (me) that you honestly didn’t choose. Rakia, you made this process one I could feel good about, and I thank you so much for that.
To my family and friends: husband, Jeffery; children Jeffery Marques, Jeremy Dewayne, and Johnathan LeDavis Griggs; grandchildren Asia and Ashlynn; sisters, Danette Dial and Arlinda Davis; sister-in-law, Cameron; brothers Terence Davis and Emmanuel Davis; cousin Mark Davis; and friends Rosetta Moore, Vanessa L. Rice, Zelda Oliver-Miles, Linda H. Jones, Marilyn Davis, Stephanie Perry Moore, Bonita Chaney, Pamela Hardy; and the members of The WBRT Society book club in Gadsden, Alabama, please know that I love and appreciate all of you more than words can ever relay.
To those of you who are blessing me by choosing Strongholds, I offer you a heartfelt thank you. I’ve said this before and I’ll continue to say it: Without you there to receive it, what I do as a writer really doesn’t matter much at all. As always, I do love hearing from you, and I appreciate your continuing to spread the word about my books. May you walk in God’s exceedingly, abundantly, above-all-you-can-ever-ask-or-think blessings!
Vanessa Davis Griggs
www.VanessaDavisGriggs.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
A Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
Chapter 1
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
—Psalm 28:2
Fatima
There comes a time in your life when you just get tired of pretending. Get tired of wearing a mask. You know the mask I’m talking about. The one you put on to make people think you’re fine when you’re not. The mask that helps to cover parts of the real you—the you that you don’t want anyone else to even know exists.
Fatima Adams is my name. But I have a feeling I could easily substitute your name for mine and you’d know the story. That’s if you’d be honest and fess up. Now tell me this doesn’t sound familiar to you: you live your life hoping no one discovers the real you, because if they did, you figure, they might surely not care to know you. Or worse: you’re afraid someone is going to find out you’re a fraud…a fake. That you’ve been acting out a script (oh, we all have individual scripts created just for our character) that no one forced upon you, except you.
Sure, you want to tell me right now that that’s not you. You’ve always had it together. Or better yet: the way you are is actually someone else’s fault. Now if you are one of those rare folks who happens to be perfect and always has been, then far be it from me, this imperfect being, to say anything to you. But as I stand here at the altar on this sunny Sunday morning in March (although it’s not a true altar like in biblical days), I see at least four other people I personally know who had the guts to come forward when the pastor called for those who wanted to break the strongholds off their lives.
“Take off your mask today, won’t you?” forty-five-year-old Pastor George Landris pleaded. “God already knows the true you. Don’t be so caught up in what other people think that you miss your opportunity to be set free. For whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.”
I knew he was talking to me. As I glanced at the crowd surrounding me, it became quite apparent that I was not the only one he was speaking to either. Who would know that I-got-it-all-together Fatima Adams—a thirty-one-year-old Christian woman with a knock-out body; perfect hairdo every single time I step out of my three-story, brick house; designer labels gracing me from head to toe; incredible-paying job that affords me the kind of money where I don’t even need a man to take care of me—who would know that I am deeply and hopelessly in love with a married man.
“You don’t have to tell me or anyone else what you’ve done or are doing right now that has caused you to come up here,” Pastor Landris said as he bounced on the balls of his feet. “God already knows whatever it is. But this…this is about you getting things right between you and God.”
Yes, Pastor Landris is right. God already knows. And He knows that I’m not just in love from a distance with a married man; I’m committing consistent fornication while my Mr. Right is committing