A Gift of God...just the way we are created✍❤️🙌🏿
A Black Girl’s Memoir ✍🏿 2025
The Journey of a Little Black Girl from Rural South Carolina
Table of Contents
- Introduction: A Life Ordained by God
- The power of knowing we are gifts from God
- Before birth, He knew our purpose
- Act 1: Created to Praise God
- The meaning behind my name, Dorthea
- Growing up in a loving, faith-filled village
- Early encounters with church and worship
- Act 2: He Is a Miracle Worker 🎶
- The childhood accident that tested my faith
- God’s healing power: learning to walk again
- How miracles shape our journey
- Act 3: When I Can’t See Him…He Is Still Working 🙏🏿
- Growing up in rural South Carolina
- Defying statistics through faith and perseverance
- School, leadership, and discovering my gifts
- Act 4: A Living Testimony
- First-generation college graduate
- The journey of marriage and growth
- How faith carries us through every trial
- Final Act: My Destiny Is in God’s Hands
- Jeremiah 29:11—God’s plan for my life
- Walking by faith and embracing my divine purpose
- Encouraging others to share their stories for God’s glory
- Conclusion: It Is Well with My Soul 🎶
- Reflecting on God’s continuous blessings
- Writing my legacy for future generations
A Living Testimony: The Journey of Dorthea
The Beginning: A Life Created with Purpose
I was born into a world that often tried to dictate my future before I could even take my first breath. A little Black girl in a small, rural community in South Carolina, raised in a single-parent home, surrounded by the weight of statistics that said my life should follow a predictable course of struggle. But God had a different plan.
From the moment I entered this world on Independence Day—July 4th—my life was marked by miracles. My grandmother, a woman of unwavering faith and wisdom, raised me with love, ensuring that my foundation was built on the Word of God.
I learned early that faith wasn’t just something you spoke about—it was something you lived. Church became my safe haven, my place of worship, my place of growth. The songs my grandmother sang at home weren’t just melodies; they were declarations of hope. Shine on Me! she would sing, and even before I understood the depth of its meaning, I knew I wanted that light to shine on me always.
A Test of Faith: The Miracle of My Leg
At the tender age of four, my faith was tested in ways most wouldn’t imagine for a child. A tragic accident—a shotgun wound to my leg—threatened my ability to walk. The doctors doubted, but God had already written a different outcome.
Through His healing grace, my leg was saved, and I learned to walk again. That experience became more than a childhood memory—it was a testament to survival, to divine intervention, to the miraculous ways God moves in our lives when we trust Him.
Growing Up: Walking by Faith, Not by Sight
My childhood was filled with lessons—some taught by experience, others instilled by the faith of those around me. Raised in a low-income household, I lived the reality of scarcity. Free lunch programs at school reminded me that poverty wasn’t just a statistic—it was something I felt, something I saw. But through every challenge, God provided.
I immersed myself in learning, in leadership, in service. In school, I found purpose beyond academics. I joined the Beta Club, served in student council, played in the band, cheered on the basketball team—all while finding my voice in church, singing in the choir, and encouraging others. God had given me gifts, and I was determined to use them for His glory.
I clung to Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. And He did.
Breaking Barriers: A First-Generation College Graduate
For a girl from a single-parent, poor household, statistics might have predicted a different future. But I refused to let numbers dictate my destiny.
With determination, scholarships, and the grace of God, I graduated with a Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Carolina in 1998. I became a first-generation college graduate, proving to myself and to every little Black girl who shared a similar background that their dreams were valid.
Education was more than a degree—it was a declaration that I could rise above limitations. And I did.
Love, Marriage, and Growth
Through every chapter of life, God continued to shape me. I met my husband during my time at USC, never imagining that years later, we would share a life together. Our marriage, built on faith, has been a journey of love, endurance, and trust in God’s plan.
Life brought joy, trials, lessons—but through every moment, God’s presence never wavered. He held us through storms and lifted us in triumph. We learned together, grew together, and worshiped together, knowing that our relationship was not just about us—it was about Him.
Destiny Unfolding: A Future in God’s Hands
Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
My journey is still unfolding, revealing the divine path God set for me long before I was born. Each moment is an opportunity—to praise, to serve, to love, and to uplift others.
Through this memoir, I hope to inspire others to write their own stories, to embrace their faith, and to trust that no circumstance can dictate their destiny when God is in control.
It is well with my soul.
