Welcome to Ms. Nelly's Sunday School Class
by Chetoca Barfield
GENRE: Christian Non-Fiction
BLURB:
Join in on the fun as Ms. Nelly teaches her Sunday school class how to interact with God. Each story in this collection is ideal for reading aloud in just five minutes - a perfect fit for bedtime, story time, or anytime!
Excerpt:
Class: Everyone in the class raise their hands except for Cindy.
Ms. Nelly: Thank you, class; please put your hands down. Cindy, would you like for me to repeat the question?
Cindy: No, Ms. Nelly. I believe Jesus loves me…when he’s not sleeping.
Ms. Nelly: Oh really, why would you say that?
Cindy: God isn’t answering my prayers so, I believe he has fallen asleep.
Class: Laughs
Bhatti: God doesn’t sleep, Cindy.
Ms. Nelly: You are right, Bhatti. God does not sleep.
Cindy: Ok, if you say so.
Ms. Nelly: Yes, I do. Class, today we are working on our next Sunday school program. Our program is all about the blessings of God. Each of you will share your story on how God bless you or how you witness God blessing someone else. Would anyone like to share their story?
Theo: Yes, Ms. Nelly. God allowed my mom to give me chocolate chip cookies as a snack. This was a blessing from GOD. Mom never lets me eat anything sweet.
Ms. Nelly: Very good, Theo.
Victoria: God blessed my lunchbox. God allowed my mom to give me a lot of food for lunch. I shared half of my lunch with my friend, who left her lunch bag at home.
Ms. Nelly: Victoria, that was nice of you to share your lunch with someone in need.
Class: Yes, Yep, very nice.
Connor: God blessed me with the best adopted parents ever, Ms. Nelly. They cook for me, they spend time with me, and they kiss me at night and tell me how much they love me.
Ms. Nelly: That’s wonderful, Connor.
Interview with Chetoca Barfield
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
If I could tell my younger writing self-anything it would be to use your imagination a bit more and begin writing short stories based on what I see, feel, and can explain. I listen to children and how they explain things to their parents, or their interpretation of a story and it just blows me aways. To me the mind of a child is very fascinating because they are tapping into their imagination without even knowing it.
What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?
I’m not sure about magazines but I will say explore any publication that teaches you about the business aspect of marketing your books.
What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?
I wouldn’t say I owe them anything, but I am thankful that I got a front row seat to their experience as it taught me about how others perceive and interpret things.
What is the first book that made you cry?
The Shack is the first book that made me cry. The way the author brings to life a man dealing with his faith and through tragedy how his faith brought him to God and closer to God is a beautiful realistic story that I believe many of us can relate to.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Well, this is my first book and because of how the stories came about energized me.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
Thankfully my passion aligns with what my readers want and through my originality of storytelling it adds an element of surprise to the reader that allows us both to meet in the middle on what I deliver.
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
It didn’t. I mean, I’ve never had a desire to write a book. I’ve never had a desire to storytell. This is all a foreign concept to me. Especially because I am the girl that is an advocate of everyone telling their stories. Welcome to Ms. Nelly’s Sunday School Class caught me off guard. This wasn’t a book that I had been pondering over for years. It literally came to me one day while I was having a conversation with God and the rest as they say is history.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
My name is Chetoca Barfield. I was born and raised in a small town located in Eastern North Carolina with my parents and 2 siblings; and older brother and younger sister. Growing up I had dreams of becoming a lawyer. There wasn’t anything that sparked this interest, but I knew early on in grade school that I loved to research and explain how things came to be.
Graduating from high school I knew that I would pursue criminal justice studies at Elizabeth City State University (i.e., ECSU) with hopes of having a career as a criminal prosecutor.
My freshman year in college I laid eyes on my dream guy who has been my husband for the last 19 years. I knew the moment I saw him walk out of the café I was going to marry him.
I know that may sound weird, but it’s the truth. Michael (my husband) and I didn’t begin dating until one year later. It’s funny how things happen, but that is a story for another day. In 2000 I graduated from ECSU and began working in corporate America a customer service representative. At the same time, I was studying to taking the LSAT to enter law school.
In 2003 Michael and I wed. Marriage was fun, enjoyable, and I didn’t want anything to interrupt our marital bliss 😊 except for the mini dachshund I adopted; his name is Baxter. Baxter was a welcomed interruption, but I thought that was all the interruption we needed. I made the decision to no longer pursue law school.
To be honest studying has never been my strong suit. Law school demands a lot of time and at that point in my life I wasn’t ready to commit. I enjoyed working in corporate America but knew staying in a customer service role wasn’t my “forever” career choice as I wanted to pursue a leadership role.
In 2006 I received my MBA degree from Strayer University. During this time my corporate career was starting to take off. I moved into a supervisory role and lead an operations team for a few years within the financial industry. In 2011, I was offered a higher-level leadership opportunity with a different financial institution.
It was the best decision I could have made for my career goals as I have thrived promotionally ever since. Leading teams for the last 15 years led me down an unexpected path; mentoring. I’ve mentored many colleagues and peers from a career development perspective. I must say this was an un-disclose passion that I didn’t know I had until I was knee deep in it.
As time progressed, mentoring evolved into to helping individuals, groups, etc. navigate life challenges. Growing up in my household my parents had a rule for my siblings and me. If we didn’t attend church on Sunday’s, we couldn’t go anywhere for the rest of the day. Every Sunday we were in church.
While I didn’t appreciate going to the church as much as I did at that time, I’m thankful that I did. It was through my Sunday school teacher that I learned how to develop a relationship with God. As I’ve grown in my walk with Christ this vital lesson has helped me through many difficult moments.
When COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 all our lives were altered. The daily routines that were once in place was replaced with social isolation, mental health challenges, social injustice, and doubting faith. The need of having a healthy support system was magnified and this need lead to the birth of Treasured Possession.
Treasured Possession is a mentoring community that I created to provide encouragement, support, and tools to equip the body of Christ to lead healthy lives in body, mind, and spirit. The name Treasured Possession comes from Deuteronomy 7:6 (ESV) “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
You & I are his most Treasured Possession.
4 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks for sharing Ms. Nelly's Sunday School Class with me, Chetoca, I enjoyed following the tour and learning about your book, which sounds like an amazing read to share with the kids! Good luck with your book and I hope the tour was a success!
Thanks for sharing it with me and have a wonderful day!
I liked the excerpt.
Looks like such a good read.
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