(DALLAS, TX) –Life traumas, weight battles, doubt, fear and finally learning to love who she is. That is the personal journey that first-time author Johnnie Greene unfolds in her new book Celebrating Me: Embracing Who God Created Me to Be. Chocolate Diamond Publishing, LLC is excited to announce the Sept. 18, 2020 release of this compelling overcomer revelation that surely will inspire others who have almost crumbled under similar burdens.
“After working in the prison system for 10 years as a chaplain, I realized that there were a lot of people that were hurting,” Greene states. “I felt that if I opened up and told my story, it might actually help someone release the pain and get free.”
And so, Greene brings us along as she reveals trials, tribulations, combating alcohol abuse, domestic violence, low self-esteem, the up-and-down seesaw of losing and regaining weight – and finally, a divine turning point.
“At this point in my life I have gone through a lot of pain,” Greene said. “But over the years, God has turned the pain into joy. After studying the life of Joseph in the Bible, I have realized that all the things that I went through were necessary for me to become who I am today.”
In addition to her own story, Greene also includes the weight-gain testimonies of seven other individuals, female and male, in the book’s last section called “The Weight is Over.” The contributors share the dynamics of pressing pass the pain of their weight to embrace who God created them to be. Greene also includes a thought-provoking piece about the emotions of weight gain by wellness and nutrition expert, Dr Meg Haworth, Ph.D.
“I know that the people who shared their testimonies in my book have been through similar things that I have experienced,” Greene said. “They have been through pain in the process of accepting who they were destined to become. Many of them have been to hell and back. However, despite any pains of the past, God has given them the power to be victorious.”
Greene is the oldest of a blended family of 11 children. She also is the sister of Dallas’s own humanitarian and author, Sylvia Dunnavant Hines, who wrote the book Celebrating Life: African American Women Speak Out About Breast Cancer. Greene will do a virtual book launch on September 19 and begin a virtual book tour that includes Dallas. To learn more and purchase Greene’s book, visit www.celebratingme.net.
