Grace
Within
By Ralene Burke
Every now and then, we need
a ray of sunshine. A person who can lift our spirits when times are hard. A person who’s
warmth and love radiates to those around them, even through the computer lines. I found these traits in
a very special lady. I first met Sherry when I became an active member of Open Door to Grace, her WRITING.COM
prayer forum. Her compassion and excitement for her mission inspired me to pursue a more intimate prayer
life.
Sherry wasn’t always the charming lady we’ve
all come to love and respect. She was born in Maryland many moons ago, but was raised in the beautiful
state of New York. Along with her two sisters, they gave their mother more than a few gray hairs.
When she was in her twenties, her neighbor, Tom,
lost his father. Her dad took him and his brother under his wing. One New Year’s
Eve, her father invited Tom over. Destiny took over, and Sherry and Tom shared that first kiss when the
clock struck midnight, and that was that. A match ordained by God. This year, on August
18th, they’ll celebrate thirty-five wonderful years together. From that bond of marriage,
they have three children: David (33), Russell (29), and Irene (25). Now this Yankee resides in Kentucky,
where’s she’s lived with her family for over thirty years.
Sherry
was raised in the Methodist church, though she hasn’t always considered herself a Christian. This
psuedo-hippy actually claimed to be an atheist for some years. In her mid-thirties, God caught up with
her again. Her sister, Irene, and her family struggled in poverty, yet they had a mysterious peace about
them. Sherry sensed they had something that she didn’t, and they did—Jesus.
At
last, when she was thirty-seven, by God’s grace, she gave her life to Christ. Her brother-in-law,
Don, baptized her on a blustery New York day in fifty-five degree water. “I came up praising God
with goose bumps the size of footballs. Don't think it was all due to the weather, either.”
Today,
Sherry lives each day for the Lord. Her life verse is Habakkuk 3:18: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will rejoice in the God of my Salvation.” The cosmic effects of such devotion spread through all
areas of her life.
The influence of people like
her mother and sisters has made Sherry one of the kindest people a person would be lucky to know. In fact,
it’s because of her mother that she started writing.
Sherry
shared a story she’d written with her mother and her sister, who loved it so much, they requested more.
Sherry soon found herself amidst a novel trilogy, starring a feisty, old broad named Grace. That
trilogy is currently undergoing revisions, and she is working on a fourth book, but she hopes to have the quartet ready to
be published one of these days.
Cruising through Sherry’s
online portfolio at WRITING.COM, a novel series isn’t the only thing you’ll find. She’s
posted handful of short stories and poems. Her talent certainly shines in every corner of her port.
If you’ve got a hankering for some poetry, reading “The Rose of Sharon” will certainly whet your
appetite. On the other hand, “Do You Ever Dream of Me?”, is a short story that could bring
just about anyone to tears. Her pet project lately, though, is “Footprints in the Sawdust”.
Sherry sums up her writing philosophy in one sentence. “I write about the absurdity of life
through laughing eyes and, I hope, with a compassionate heart.”
One
would think with her writing to keep her busy, Sherry wouldn’t have time for much else. Oh, but this
retired woman does it all and more! By the time I post this article, she’ll have reviewed over 2000
items on WRITING.COM in less than a year. Her WRITING.COM anniversary doesn’t even come around until
August (the day after the anniversary of her marriage, in fact). She’s also a member of The Carpenter’s
Workshop, where they are dedicated to helping writers mold and revise their Christian novels.
She
is the founder of Open Door to Grace, a group that has really taken off since its conception at the beginning of 2008.
God gave her a vision and she ran with it. The group has its own prayer hotline as well as a constant
flood of prayers from its members.
Sherry has chosen to remain
faceless to the masses on WRITING.COM. I’m sure, though, that with a heart that resonates with the
love of Christ—she is as beautiful on the outside as she is within.
