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Two Paths, One Savior: Conversations with Glory / Writing and Ministry Together, Week 5 by Patti Greene

August 12, 2026 Patti Greene Leave a comment

Welcome to my NEW Blog Series: Two Paths, One Savior: Conversations with Glory / Writing and Ministry Together, Week 5

If you are receiving this blog via email, clicking the post title will show the best version.

About the Series: This new series shares the story of my friendship with Glory. She is Nigerian, and I am from the United States, yet God tied our hearts together in a beautiful way. We met at a Bible study in Lagos, Nigeria, and her love for Jesus was clear from the very first day.

Glory later moved to Canada, and during a recent visit, I interviewed her about her life and faith. I’ll be sharing one topic each week:

Week 1 – Our Connection and Story greenepastures.org/two-paths-one-savior-week-1/

Week 2 – Early Life and Faith greenepastures.org/two-paths-one-savior-conversations-with-glory-early-life-and-faithweek-2/

Week 3 – Journey and Calling Two Paths, One Savior: Conversations with Glory / Journey and Calling, Week 3 by Patti Greene | Greene Pastures by Patti Londa Greene

Week 4 – Singleness and Ministry https://greenepastures.org/singleness-and-ministry/

Week 5 – Writing and Ministry Together – THIS WEEK

6 – Reflection and Encouragement – Be Encouraged: You’re Not Walking Alone

Week 7 – Friendship and Connection – Enjoy Christ-Centered Friendships

Writing and Ministry Together

Q. What inspires your writing the most?

A. What inspires my writing the most is the word of God. I love the word of God. I can spend forever in it. I never get enough of it. That’s the key thing that inspires my writing, because I take it in, I meditate on it, and I think about how to apply it in my life.

The second thing that inspires my writing is my walk with God. As I take in His word and walk it out, it becomes an adventure. My writing comes from the things I learn and the things I draw from walking with Him. I’m practicing His word and watching it work in my life, and I’m also walking with the people God brings into my life and seeing how His word works in their lives.

Those are the things that inspire my writing.

Q. How does Scripture and personal experience shape your voice as a writer?

A. My writing is primarily shaped by the word of God and my experience of walking with God. Most of what I write comes from what I draw from Scripture—what I learn as I sit with the Holy Spirit and He opens my eyes to the word. He connects the Scriptures to my walk and to my experiences.

One thing I work hard on is not making my experience a standard for anyone else, because I know that’s not how God works. I also know that God uses His word to shape our walk, so I am learning from the word of God, and I am learning to walk the word of God, talk the word of God, and share that word by the way I live.

The people God brings into my life get to witness how the word of God works and produces fruit in the lives of those who believe. The word of God is the primary motivation for my writing, and aligning my walk with His truth helps confirm how His word works.

Q. What message do you feel God is asking you to share in this season?

A. Considering the season I am in and what God is doing in my life right now, I’m learning to see Him as the God who rescues people from troubles that they cannot get themselves out of, who redeems them from the ravages of the situations they’ve lived through, and who restores what was lost in the fire of affliction. These are the three messages God is working in my life currently, and I am seeing them and experiencing them.

I’m experiencing God rescue me. I’m experiencing God redeem me. And I’m sitting in the place where I am watching and seeing how God is doing this work of restoration in my own life. That’s what God is doing right now, and that’s the message—because, like my writing, I speak from my walk with God unless He specifically directs me to speak into something else. Most of the time, I draw from how He is revealing Himself as I walk in His word in my life and in my circumstances.

So right now, I am experiencing God as the One who rescues, the One who redeems, and the One who restores.

Q. How do you hope your writing will minister to others?

A. I am hopeful that my writing will minister to those who want to see God walking with them through their day‑to‑day experiences. I want it to reach those who long to encounter God in the places and ways I have encountered His power—to deliver, to help, to teach, to enlighten, and to heal.

I drink from the well of God through His word and through my life experiences, and I share what He has taught me and is still teaching me. I hope that people who are going through similar situations will find hope and encouragement through my writing and preaching, knowing they are not alone. When God says, “I will deliver,” He is fully able to do exactly that.

If people can see that He has done it in my life, maybe it will help them believe and hold on in those difficult and dark moments, knowing that God honors His word—not just to me, but to everyone who believes and waits for Him.

FACT by Patti

During the years I’ve known Glory, one thing has never changed: the “word” is always on her mind. I’m not exaggerating. I counted how many times she answered my questions using the word “word” above. It was eighteen. Eighteen! And honestly, that didn’t surprise me at all. She LOVES God’s word—the Bible. It’s practically her native language. And her multiple books prove that. Yes, most are on Amazon.

Glory and I met at a Bible study in Lagos, Nigeria, and we bonded immediately. One of the first things she shared with me was her poetry. I offered to help edit her poetry, not realizing I was about to enter a whole new world. You see, I’ve never been a big poetry person—but I didn’t tell her that. Then came the moment I sat down with her poems. Oh my. After going through a multitude—and I mean a multitude—of poems, I started to understand how Glory thinks, how she writes, and how deeply she listens to God. Somewhere between poem number twenty and poem number “I’ve lost count,” I realized she wasn’t just a good writer. She was a gifted one.

Over time, we’ve helped each other with our writing. But the funniest season was when I wrote three Bible Word Search Puzzle books. I had a program that created the puzzles using words I found in the New Testament. The problem? The program didn’t weed out bad words. Yes, you read that right. Bad words. In a Christian word search puzzle. So before publishing, I had to go through EVERY puzzle and hunt for anything inappropriate.

Naturally, I called on Glory. There aren’t too many friends one feels comfortable saying, “Hey, can you look for bad words in my book?”

At first, I asked her to look for twenty bad words. Then I narrowed it down to the worst five. That’s the kind of friend she is—she will sit with you, laugh with you, pray with you, and help you make sure your Bible puzzles don’t accidentally turn into something you’d have to repent for.

We help each other do good works, and we have fun doing it. And honestly, if you’ve ever wondered whether Christian word search authors go buggy searching for bad words—yes, we do. And Glory helped. She always helps. And her writing shows that same heart: steady, faithful, thoughtful, and full of God’s truth.

Bible Verse: “My heart is overflowing with a good theme… my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Psalm 45:1

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for friends who encourage, love, and help us with our needs, whether big or small. Let us love your word so much that it is always on our mind, guiding us how to live, write, or whatever we do. Let us see You as the One who rescues, redeems, and restores us, as we follow You in our lives. Amen.

Next Week: Reflection and Encouragement

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Books by Patti Greene

Coming Soon: Luke 2: The Christmas Story: Discover the Birth of Jesus in Scripture

Unstoppable: Go the Distance with God ISBN: 979-8284335017

Answer Me: Developing a Heart for Prayer ISBN 978-1512760453

Bible Word Search Puzzles: The Gospels ISBN 979-8218070465

Bible Word Search Puzzles: Acts and Epistles ISBN 979-8218092696

Bible Word Search Puzzles: Epistles and Revelation ISBN 979-8363612046

Christian Caregiving: Practical Advice for a Happy Ending ISBN 978-0692115381

Awaken Me: A Devotional Prayer Journal ISBN 978-1490893181

Anchor Me: Laying a Foundation in Prayer and Bible Study ISBN 978-1490893174

Christian Living, Life Issues

What is God’s Purpose for You?

December 8, 2015 Patti Greene

What is God’s purpose for YOU?

I can’t say it any better than Gus Yepiz!!!

“…I will use you according to your designed purpose.” This is profound and one area that God had to work on in my life. When we become Christians, Satan comes along and gives us this horrible assumption that God will turn us into “supermen”, able to leap tall building with a single bounce so to speak. We assume H…e will change our personality, give us new giftings, and replace our old talents with new ones. God never intended or promised any such thing! He never intended to take our broken pot made of clay and turn us into a vessel of gold, he only promised to take the pieces of the broken pot, turn them back into clay, and then remake the same pot using the same clay. The difference is that He has removed the dross and contaminants that caused the pot’s uselessness in the first place. It is like the master craftsman who cuts down the big oak tree on his land and makes from it a beautiful chair. Everyone is in awe of the woodwork and carvings of such a beautiful chair. Old women now sit on the chair and rest their weary feet, young men stand on it to reach the fruit from the orchard, a mother rocks and feeds her baby from the comfort of that chair. Such magnificent beauty, strength, and usefulness are now that oak chair’s portion! And that, of course, is exactly the point…, it is still by its very nature oak! The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. God doesn’t give us new gifts and personalities when we become Christians. He won’t turn our clay to gold or our oak to ebony in order to perform His work…, rather He says, “Stand back and watch what I can do with clay and oak!”

By Gus Yepiz
(Reproduction permission given by Glory Odemenene)

Awaken Me on Amazon.com and BN.com

God, It’s Me – Coming Soon!

Guest Bloggers, Life Issues

Depression by Glory C. Odemene / Dedicated to Robin McLaurin Williams

December 8, 2015 Patti Greene

Have you ever met someone and you instantly knew you liked that person. You just clicked! That happened to me not long ago – I met Glory and we instantly bonded. We have a lot in common, but we also knew we had a lot of differences. But, what’s this got to do with depression? Let’s see!

As I was putting the final touches on my recently released devotional book, God, It’s Me: 181 Days for Young Adults to Become Passionate About Prayer and Bible Study, I prepared myself to ask Glory if I could use some of her poetry excerpts in my own book. I made up a folder showing her exactly how her poetry would be used in the book along with her excerpts that I matched to my already chosen pictures. You know, after 18 years of being a librarian, I felt like I knew how possessive writers/authors/poets could be about their work, so I was understandably nervous when I asked her that one Sunday morning at church at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. While I was anticipating a possible “No” or a “Let me think about it,” I remember Glory’s big, brown eyes opening as wide as a raccoon. She was amazed that I was even asking her at all. She immediately said, “YES!” I was thrilled.

You see, Glory is the type of person who writes for the Lord. She gives him the credit and all the “glory.” She even encourages people to share her God-inspired poems.

It is in this spirit, I am sharing Glory’s most recent poem titled Depression. It is written for all who have or will ever encounter depression in their lives. As you read this poem you will see that the catalyst for this poem was the recent passing away of the well-loved comedian Robin Williams.

—————————————————-

Depression

by Glory C. Odemene

Dedicated to Robin McLaurin Williams

Out there, it’s labeled bane of geniuses, cross of the consummate

Price for being bequeathed with exceptional talents: folks jump

As judges on the reckless wagon driven by this accomplished

Fellow who should know enough to be a role model but that also

Is an affliction; perpetual pressure to always smile, act nice and right

But hello this is reality not Broadway! Yet he contends crushing guilt

In lonesome cell whose innards scream, “Turkey!” at a dignitary.

Drained of joys for stellar feats, the global champion is whipped

A wimp in his own universe and unknown to the all-knowing world

The remote control is beyond his reach: he can’t predict how

His channels switch; no idea when dark days descend or duration

Of his sentence in that gloomy jail where struggle and strive all he

May, it seems he never can wear out that awful, unwanted skin.

Triggers range from tragedies to nothing, the sun suddenly goes south

In the middle of his day and like rag, the jewel is tossed into a hole.

He may appear surrounded and smiling but within he’s achingly alone

Flailing like a drowning man whose gasps show up as deviations on

The chart of trendy expectations. He grapples whatever his hands

Can find, seeking a reason, a means, to hope or not. A kind word

Could be the lifeline that keeps his head above, respiring when he

Would have been expiring, if aid’s arrival proves timely.

A bland-cold stare, mere rebuff that ignores his silent cries

Of desperation are sharp enough to cut that rope of hope.

It is not about privileges, positions, and possessions

It is a dreadful suit he wears all his life. Though glamor shields it

He yet feels it in those places where no other can see or tell.

Desperate for escape, he courts drugs, marries alcohol

Even changing locations appeal but fleeting thrills wane too soon

And he wakes to the revulsion of complicated addictions.

Experts and the ignorant diagnose and prescribe, tagging it

With tongue twisting labels that promise him no ease so alone

He either silently battles the monsters until end pays him a visit

Or he goes the way of bizarre and the world is shocked, more

By its perennial indifference than the fruits of his queerness.

The least to do today is exit the judges’ hub, extend kindness

To all you meet: you don’t know the monsters they are battling:

Just one word, one move, can make that difference between life

And death: everyone you meet is in warfare, your vote counts.

(Dedicated to Robin McLaurin Williams)

Glory’s Comments:

I remember growing up. I used to have dark days. It carried labels like, “Melancholy,” “Depression,” among others. It is considered the blight of the talented and a norm. You didn’t have much choice but to live with it. And I did for many years until the LORD broke through and delivered me. Sometimes, it just happens and down you sink. At others, it may be just a look you are not comfortable with, an unkind comment, or even being ignored, that triggers it. You have no control over when it descends and how long it lasts. Until you wake up one day and the sun is up, and following that lead, you crawl out to discover that all around is cheery once again.

Recently, I went through tragedies and instead of the typical accusers that make you feel wretched despite your achievements or tend to strangle you with guilt for errors, I was invaded and besieged by fears. They showed up in everything, every time, and everywhere I turned. I looked like I do every day, smiled as usual but deep down were cries no ears could hear. My world was crumbling but to everyone else, I was the same. God helped me walk through without hitting that dreaded bottom. It has been 14 years now and counting and I have never set my foot in that pit of a prison.

We are often so consumed by our personal pursuits that we become inured to the travails of those around us. Just like love and encouragement have helped many conquer their battles, our indifference and insensitivity can complicate matters for the weak. If only we can learn to stop and think again before we shoot. Imagine how much difference that will make in a world where the broken are trampled on every day? From experience, I know of only one cure that delivers without side effects, no relapse, and not at bank-breaking cost: Jesus: And whoever the Son sets free, is free indeed.

Glory!

Please feel free to forward/share this blog with your friends and family. And, we would love you to comment!

To read more of Glory’s poetry excerpts, check out . . . http://amzn.to/1o4cm8x

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Greene Pastures by Patti Londa Greene

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