Today, we welcome debut Christian author, Regina Clifford, for an interview with our fearless reviewer, Amy, about her spiritual devotional, See the Good/God in Everything!
Let’s begin by acknowledging how beautiful the book cover is. What prompted this design?
Thank you! I adore flowers and have always been drawn to book covers with florals on it. When my husband and I got married we had the most beautiful floral arrangements of various shades of pink, it was gorgeous! So, when it came time to design the cover I knew I had to choose florals. If I wasn’t an author I would be a florist or wedding planner!
Your experiences as a young parent served as a catalyst for the book. How much of your life experiences will readers see within the pages?
With age comes wisdom, at least that’s the general train of thought. In getting older I have had more time to reflect on my life. My journey to becoming a parent was riddled with character building experiences in which I started to see life lessons in my every day experiences. There is a lot of my life’s experiences on display in the book, but it is mainly as a way of conveying the lesson to the reader. My life experiences aren’t to highlight myself and my story per se, but to highlight the lessons we can find in all our experiences.
What led to the use of good/God when reflecting on your life?
When I was dealing with infertility, I went through a very dark period. I was desperate to have kids and I wasn’t seeing the promise fulfilled. I grew very impatient with myself and with God. I started to blame God. Why didn’t I have kids? Why do I have to wait? Why are we having problems getting pregnant? Why me? My life was an emotional rollercoaster and anyone who has every been on a rollercoaster knows that eventually, it has to stop. I realized I had a choice to make. I could continue to be upset with myself and God and be the victim of my own circumstances, or I could make the choice to see goodness and God in my life, irrespective of my circumstances. Goodness and God are intertwined, though we don’t always see it until later, like the silver linings in our life.
Regarding the section about new mothers, it seems like there is a chronological organization that correlates with different baby milestones. How did you select these passages? Were there others you discarded?
Yes, there is a chronological organization that correlates with different baby milestones. This was not intentional, but just how the different short stories or lessons came about. Becoming a parent is a very steep learning curve, and I started learning from day 1. Also, it just seemed to make the most sense to keep it in chronological order for readability.
New Mom, Wife, Marriage, Forgiveness, Family, Being a Woman, infertility, Friends and Growing Up have common themes. Why did you select these groupings?
Those groupings were not chosen to begin with but came about midway through writing the book. I realized that a lot of my stories and lessons fell into those groupings. Those groupings were based on what I was going through, what were the most important or heartfelt issues in my life, and what was of most value to me as a person.
It’s likely that your readership will come from all age groups. What’s your ideal audience?
My ideal audience would be women, new mothers or soon-to-be mothers. The common themes would most like cater to them and be something they can gravitate towards.
In addition to a short essay about one of the topics, you include a model prayer and a Scripture verse. What prompted this approach?
Being a Christian I wanted to share the lessons I have learnt but I also wanted to be proactive and give readers an opportunity to follow along with my simple model prayers. A lot of times prayer is seen as super-spiritual but I don’t believe it has to be. Prayer in its simplest form is talking to God. God cares about even the little things in our lives. As well, though I may make a claim, like “God cares about the little things in our lives”, it is advantageous for me to back it up with a Biblical scripture, like “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” —Luke 12:7.
What role does a Christian author such as yourself play in our troubled world?
Christian authors play a key role in modern times. They bring a view point that may be counter cultural, but meaningful and important. It is so easy to get caught up in the politics and drama of all the events happening in this world, and to see how terrible things are. But the truth remains that God is always with us, even in these times. People need the hope and love and reminder of the goodness of God in their personal lives, as well as in the world.
You mention that you were saved while in the UK and it has a profound effect on your life. What message do you have for others who haven’t yet committed to God?
I gave my heart to Jesus while living abroad in the UK. Prior to this I grew up in a devout Catholic family and went to Catholic school. That was a great foundation for my faith, but I felt unfulfilled and that there must be more to God than attending mass on Sundays. This started my search to find God. I researched different religions, Buddhism, Islam and even the new age Wicca. I dabbled in some of them but I didn’t see any improvement or difference in my life. I did not find the peace and contentment I was looking for there. It wasn’t until I went to the UK and meet some born-again Christians that I realized I needed to make my own decision for Jesus and to choose Him as my Lord and Saviour. It’s about relationship and not religion. For those who have ever thought about committing to God, give Him a go, He’s better than you think, don’t just take my word for it.
What is your next project?
I am almost completed See the Good/God in Everything, Volume 2! It will be out in November. As well, I am writing a children’s book and turning my life’s story into a screenplay for film.
Thank you, Regina for joining us today and for additional insight into your beautiful novel!
Publication Date: May 15, 2024
You can change the way you see.
When you change the way you see, you can change your life.
In this book, Regina will show you that in the mundane moments of daily life, parenting ups and downs, hidden desires of our heart, and big challenging moments, goodness and God is in it all.
This book is a collection of Regina’s real-life, entertaining, humorous, and sometimes explicit life lessons. Her stories about marriage, parenting, family, and friends will inspire and motivate you. She has overcome adversity, estrangement, and being an outsider to become a source of hope for others that life is good, you are not alone, you will conquer all the trials set before you, and your best days are yet to come.
Regina Clifford was born in Toronto, Canada. Growing up in a typical suburban upbringing, and eventually gaining an MA and an MBA, Regina nonetheless has had a life journey she never could have predicted. She fell in love and married an older divorced man, gained five adult stepchildren, became estranged from her family, lived in the Middle East, had fertility problems, tried to learn coding, got breast cancer, gained new friends, lost old friends, and moved to a new country.
