Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

Mayor Jones has written a memoir of her life called "A Journey Beyond My Dreams". She began this writing journey about four years ago, for her family and for her grandchildren to have a reference point. Her hope was for them to realize that she was once a young girl, a young mother, and how she overcame difficult points in her life, as well as the successes that she achieved. "I overcame because of my faith."

As she wrote the book, Sandra decided to publish it. As a public figure, it is a vulnerability to expose your life in this way, and for Sandra, this is a challenge, but she is happy that she has done it. Sandra hopes that it will encourage others as well as her family. Her book talks about her love of music that started with her father and has gone generationally to her, her children, and to her grandchildren, with increasing ability. The book tells of her love for God, facing domestic violence in her young marriage, racial prejudices, sorrow of widowhood, going through bitter anguish from religious council she received, along with living, loving, and losing her husband to a terminal disease. Many people can relate to these struggles, and she hopes that telling her story will be a help to those who may be going through some of these experiences.

Sandra particularly thanks her husband, David Jones, who encouraged her to start writing her memories. She explained that this was such a big encouragement, because thinking of writing about your life is an overwhelming task, and she really didn't know where to start. But when she would get into a memory, many details came back to her. She gathered these "chapters" of her life, and put them in chronological order.

The journey begins with a brief history of her parents' lives. Then some of her experiences as a child, how music and her salvation experience as a very young girl would forever mold her life. Sandra loved music from the time she was a child and wrote several praise songs and has published three CD's. She has written poetry from a young age. Sandra says that she was called from a young age to ministry. "Ministry is part of who I am and its part of what I do. Everything I do is birthed out of a serving attitude. I am here to serve you, and I serve God by serving others. It's easy for me because I have a motivational gift to serve. It has launched into leadership, including becoming the mayor of Roundup, which has shifted my focus of serving a little bit differently. But I really feel that those who serve become entrusted with more authority to serve." Sandra gives credit for her success to God. She feels that she simply went wherever God directed her, and she has been blessed with favor along the way.

Her story includes coping in a strict religious background, and the restrictions placed on me as a young woman. "The the journey with my sons' biological dad is quite a journey." She shares that it was an abusive marriage at a young age. She sought an annulment, and got one, but her church would not acknowledge it. "But that is how it was, and I am not the only woman who had to deal with those kinds of issues with their churches." I was tenacious, I didn't let religion cloud Jesus with me. I was never confused about Jesus, but I was so hurt and bitter and confused about a seven-year marriage of abuse."

Growing up in Illinois, Sandra had no idea what racial prejudices were. "I remember ministering in a church in Texarkana Arkansas, and the pastor had a black maid who would come in can clean for them because they both had jobs outside the home. I had invited her to the meetings I was conducting at the church, and from the Pastor's response, you would have thought I had done a horrible sin. He firmly said, 'The church ain't ready for that'. I processed all of that in my book, but when you are writing, you are reliving those moments, so some of it was pretty painful to relive resurrect again, but I knew I was doing it for a purpose."

"I process everything through my faith in Jesus. I process my choices through the principals of God's word, I don't have to live in the grey area anymore, I can know what truth is, and walk in that direction. I can submit my emotions to move in that direction. It's a lifestyle, not a one-time choice to be a disciple of Jesus, it is an everyday choice. My story is about all of those things. I talk about my journey running for mayor, campaigning, my husband and I pastoring a church and how my personal ministry has evolved and changed. This current season of ministry is totally different. "Now I have an online ministry and a Facebook page dedicated to ministry with short exhortations." Sandra Jones Ministries on Facebook, and Sandra Jones Ministries on Youtube is where Sandra can be found online singing and encouraging others, and she has a little video explaining her book.

"We need to fix what's broken, you we need to stretch ourselves to grow", this is the perspective Sandra brings to the town of Roundup as our mayor. "Life is about seasons. Each time you transition in life you are stretched and you feel like you can't wear those clothes, like you don't fit into that garment. After a while, if God is in the transition, you will grow and fit comfortably in that garment. By the time you are just getting comfortable you have to transition again. That's life. By the time you get comfortable being the mom of a teenager, pretty soon you are a grandmother. Life has its seasons, and I believe it is detrimental is when people look back to former seasons and want to relive them. We are challenged with what we don't know and hesitate to move forward into the now moment. I wrote a song about seasons, referencing the principle in God's Word that says God makes everything beautiful in its time. Every season holds its own beauty, and you cannot see it if you are looking back. What you are seeing is different and presents a new challenge in life. When Jesus said he will send you to the utter most parts of the earth, it doesn't necessarily mean you are going to Africa, it may simply mean that you are being called to do something you have never done before." Sandra felt that being the mayor was a challenge like this.

The Amazon summary of her book is as follows:

A Journey Beyond My Dreams is a summary of the life of a person that believed God's Word and then moved forward trusting him. The story begins as it tells of a young girl that was called by God at an early age to serve Him in ministry to others. It then follows her through her formative years and on into adulthood. It holds within its pages an account of a person who has faced trials, tests, disappointments, and loss. But it also reveals the spiritual growth and the favor of God that took place in her life along the way. The journey also describes the joy that is found in relationships as well as the pain, sorrow, and hardships experienced in widowhood and through the experience of domestic violence which attempted to destroy her true identity and her eventual destiny.

She shares her story of religious gender bias and prejudice that detoured her from her early calling. Nevertheless, because of her faith and confidence in God's grace, she was able to be restored into a life and calling she never thought was possible. Her journey is still being written as she now serves in local government.

Perhaps some of the pages in her life will connect to some of the pages in your life.

Everyone has a story, and it would be a wonderful thing if we could all know each other with a full understanding of their life. Would we relate to them more? Forgive them more? Show more kindness to their loved ones? Would we have an understanding of the choices they made? But in some lives we get to see a bigger picture through a memoir. It is a privilege to read someone's personal journey. It is not a casual endeavor to put your private experiences before others. In the interest of writing a book, Sandra Jones encourages people to "just write what they know", even if doing a story of fiction, it is good to start with subjects that you understand. You can find Sandra's book on Amazon for twenty-three dollars, if you are interested in getting a copy.

"May the pages of my life inspire the pages of your journey." -Sandra Jones