Hi! 👋
I’m Jeanita, and I’m pleased to meet you. I would like to first start off by telling you a little bit about me, my background and my books.
First, about me. I am a writer, author, entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Nayla Book Publishers.
I grew up in the Midwest where my parents raised my siblings and I with a solid Christian foundation, a strong work ethic, and respect for life and humanity.
I am a proud introvert. Growing up, I was always a shy kid. As such, I would often prefer the sanctum of my room where you would find me reading or listening to music. 📚
I absolutely love peace and quiet to this day!
My parents raised my siblings and I up in the church. We were part of the Apostolic faith. Some may also know it as Pentecostal.
When we were coming up in church women were not allowed to wear pants, makeup or jewelry.
Why? We were always taught that we were supposed to be and look different from the world. And that there should be a separation from the world after salvation.
This separation, according to the teachings of the Apostolic doctrine of the day, required the women to shed their worldly garments and put on garments of holiness and righteousness.
These holiness teachings resulted in women only being allowed to wear skirts below the knee, no makeup whatsoever, and no jewelry (you were allowed, however, to wear a wedding band). This was all supposed to make us look holy. ☺
After college, I met and married my husband, Ahmed. Ahmed and I were in love and very happy together. These were some of the best days of my life! ❤️
We built a wonderful life together, and were looking forward to the future.
Shortly after Ahmed and I had celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary we got some devastating news from his doctor. And this news shattered our world in pieces.
The doctor had found a tumor in the frontal lobe of Ahmed’s brain, and it was cancerous. We would also be heartbroken to find out that it was also inoperable.
What were we supposed to do now?
We did the only thing we knew to do at the time. Pray and have faith in God for a miracle. 🙏🙏
Ahmed and I kept believing God as we proceeded with treatment for his cancer. But it didn’t look good.
And sadly, about a year and a half after his cancer diagnosis, Ahmed succumbed to the cancer, and died. I was devastated.
What am I supposed to do now?
These were the words I spoke that day in the hospital room when I was saying my final goodbye to my husband.
What am I supposed to do now without my husband?
Well, I didn’t know what to do, but shortly after, the grief took over and I commenced to grieving the loss of my husband, my best friend, and my marriage. I was devastated. And, I was only 31 years old.
To fast forward a bit, I finally did make it through the grief, which was a process in and of itself (some of which I write about in my book: Step Out of the Shadows: Helping Widows Move Past Grief.)
I just remember one day “waking up” in the middle of Spring, and everything looked brand new to me.
The Spring flowers were vibrant and colorful, the grass was starting to turn green after a long dead cold winter. 🌹🌸 🌼 🌻
There was suddenly lush greenery all around me, and the once dead trees and shrubbery were starting to bloom and become fragrant and beautiful.
I was suddenly alive again. I could finally admire the beauty around me.
This is probably why Spring is my favorite season to this day. Because when I awoke from my long grief slumber it was in the Spring.
Not only did I come alive again, I started taking ever so cautious, shaky, steps into my new life; my new life on the other side of grief.
It was scary but it was necessary. You realize that you have to go on with life again. And, I was watching life go on all around me while I was stuck in grief.
There was a time, around 2013 to 2016, when I spent a lot of time in prayer and consecration. Around this time, I would often wake up around 5:00 am to pray.
And, I was also walking a lot. I just loved being outside breathing in the fresh air, and taking in the beauty surrounding me.
It was around this time of prayer and consecration when I was inspired to start a blog: OnOurWay2Heaven.com.
This blog was a vehicle for me to share with the world some of the things I heard from God during my time of prayer and fellowship with God.
I was finding my way in life. And God was leading the way.
About a year after starting the blog, I felt led to write a book on holiness (clean, sacred living), a topic you don’t hear discussed much in the church today.
When God brought Israel out of bondage from Egypt, He told Israel that He was a holy God and He expects them to be holy too.
Well God is still a holy God, and He still expects us (the church) to be holy too.
When I sat down to write this book on holiness, God poured into me the words for this book.
And I in turn wrote these things down on paper, which became my first book, entitled: An Open Letter to the Church: On Faith, Holiness, and Being Full of the Holy Ghost.
Once I had finished the manuscript for An Open Letter to the Church (after about nine months of writing), God inspired me to self-publish this book under my own publishing company.
Hence, Nayla Book Publishers was born. Nayla means God-inspired.
To date, I have written and self-published four books. All under Nayla Book Publishers.
- An Open Letter to the Church: On Faith, Holiness, and Being Full of the Holy Ghost.
- The Purpose of Man: God Created Man and Gave Him Dominion and Authority Over All of His Creation
- Step Out of the Shadows: Helping Widows Move Past Grief
- Walk Like a White Man: A Guide to Empowering Women to Walk with Confidence and Boldness
Pick up a copy of one (or more) of these books today, and be inspired!
With Warm Regards,
Jeanita ❤️
