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DRP. I know we've talked about your life, but I want
to get your thoughts on some specific things. For
instance I know that you and your husband are heavily
involved in sports. You, yourself, have played
basketball since you were a young girl and even
softball. What do you think of some peoples notion
that Christian women should be involved more lady like
activities?
Patreesse. I totally disagree with that, because I know that
I'm a witness for Christ on the Basketball court. People
have to understand that you go through so much on the
court. I've been pushed, even knocked down and rather
than handling it like they would expect; I show them the
love of Christ. And people need to really understand that
young girls go to these games and there are watching.
They need to know that you can play a sports and at the
same time maintain who you are. I had coach tell me once
that when I'm on the court that I'm athlete; not lady, not a
woman, not a man, or anything else, but an athlete. I
would even add to that, because I'm a Christian whether
I'm being an athlete or a lady.
DRP. What about women in ministry? I understand that
there was a time that you thought it was not right for a
woman to be in ministry, but here you are now
involved in ministry. What happened? Not to debate
the issue, just simply give us your journey thoughts
concerning it.
Patreesse. It's interesting, I guess I can say that I have
known since I was around 8 or 10 that I would someday
be called to the ministry. I remember going to my
grandmother and telling her that I was going to be a
preacher. She really spoke against it and told me that this
was not something that women do. My father even
confirmed it by letting me know often that Pastoring was
not something that women did. What was so confusing at
the time was that I kept having theses thoughts about me
being in ministry. No matter where I went or what church
I went to I would continue to have these thoughts. But
then the Lord sent me to a church called New Life
Christian Fellowship and it was there that God began to
groom me and prepare me. I can honestly say that in the
beginning I received the male Pastor there, but it was very
difficult for me to receive the female Pastor. I received
her as a leader in the church, but not as a Pastor. Then the
more God groomed me in that area; the more I would
come to see her as my Pastor. She was mentoring me
without even knowing it. I finally told her that. I guess
you could say that was the beginning of my move into
understanding and receiving women in ministry.
DRP. But Patreese, don't you think that God was using
you and your husband in ministry even before you
came to that revelation? I mean for the many things that
you do with the writing and the publishing company;
you guys go out and support refugee camps and not
only that, you both spend a lot of time initiating support
for the troops down range.
Patreesse. You're right and God confirmed what you're
saying when he showed me that we had already been
ministering, just without the titles.
DRP. Tell us about the refugee camp minsitry.
Patreesse. The refugee camp is a place every nationally
from around the world comes, in this case Germany, in
search of a better life. There are some families with as
many as ten people living in one room. So what we do
with our ministry is go over to the camp and provide
donated food, clothing, and other needed supplies to the
families. We also encourage the families and if they ask
about God we ministry to them. The church that we
attend now, More Than Conquers Ministry, has embraced
the ministry under its' name. So donations now goes
through the church. But to get back to your original
question, I believe that if God has told a woman to go and
minister then I would say go forth and service God. Just
let go and let God.
DRP. That is exactly what we are trying to share here
at Dirt Road Promises. That we all go through this
process in our journey where we may believe one thing
and then God opens it up so that we can get a better
understanding. And what we find is that our original
belief may have been based on something false. There
are revelations in our journey that frees us!
DRP. Now, before we close I want to give you an
opportunity to speak with some of the young Christian
writers out there. What would you say to encourage
them?
Patreesse. I would say that it all starts with one letter of
the alphabet. Just like a million mile journey begins with
one step. All they need to do is start writing.
DRP. Well, we know that you've written and
published books, but what else is one the horizon for
Anointed Poetry. Songs, plays...have you thought
about either?
Patreesse. I do believe that God has a play for me to
write. Not of the same context as a Tyler Perry play, but
something a little less extreme. Let me be the first to tell
your readers this, God has told me that he's about to do
something big with Anointed Poetry. And in that a lot of
people are going to benefit.
DRP. That sounds so exciting and I know our readers
can't wait. You know what my next question is... It's
the final question of all Dirt Road interviews. In your
journey, what's one of the most profound lessons that
God has shown you that you would like to share with
our readers?
Patreesse. I knew this question was coming and I did try
to think of something, but I believe that the Holy Spirit
didn't want me to have a rehearse answer. So, here it
goes: I pray that everyone understands that God can take
the worst situation and make greatness out of it. And
understand that God can take mud and make it into clay
and then put it in the oven. Now, while it's in the oven it's
going to hurt; it's even going burn, because it hot. But
when He takes it out it will be the most beautiful piece of
art you've ever seen.
DRP. Lesson learned. Thank you so much Patreese
for sharing your journey with us and I know that our
readers are going to be blessed between every line.
Patreesse. It was my pleasure...
to get your thoughts on some specific things. For
instance I know that you and your husband are heavily
involved in sports. You, yourself, have played
basketball since you were a young girl and even
softball. What do you think of some peoples notion
that Christian women should be involved more lady like
activities?
Patreesse. I totally disagree with that, because I know that
I'm a witness for Christ on the Basketball court. People
have to understand that you go through so much on the
court. I've been pushed, even knocked down and rather
than handling it like they would expect; I show them the
love of Christ. And people need to really understand that
young girls go to these games and there are watching.
They need to know that you can play a sports and at the
same time maintain who you are. I had coach tell me once
that when I'm on the court that I'm athlete; not lady, not a
woman, not a man, or anything else, but an athlete. I
would even add to that, because I'm a Christian whether
I'm being an athlete or a lady.
DRP. What about women in ministry? I understand that
there was a time that you thought it was not right for a
woman to be in ministry, but here you are now
involved in ministry. What happened? Not to debate
the issue, just simply give us your journey thoughts
concerning it.
Patreesse. It's interesting, I guess I can say that I have
known since I was around 8 or 10 that I would someday
be called to the ministry. I remember going to my
grandmother and telling her that I was going to be a
preacher. She really spoke against it and told me that this
was not something that women do. My father even
confirmed it by letting me know often that Pastoring was
not something that women did. What was so confusing at
the time was that I kept having theses thoughts about me
being in ministry. No matter where I went or what church
I went to I would continue to have these thoughts. But
then the Lord sent me to a church called New Life
Christian Fellowship and it was there that God began to
groom me and prepare me. I can honestly say that in the
beginning I received the male Pastor there, but it was very
difficult for me to receive the female Pastor. I received
her as a leader in the church, but not as a Pastor. Then the
more God groomed me in that area; the more I would
come to see her as my Pastor. She was mentoring me
without even knowing it. I finally told her that. I guess
you could say that was the beginning of my move into
understanding and receiving women in ministry.
DRP. But Patreese, don't you think that God was using
you and your husband in ministry even before you
came to that revelation? I mean for the many things that
you do with the writing and the publishing company;
you guys go out and support refugee camps and not
only that, you both spend a lot of time initiating support
for the troops down range.
Patreesse. You're right and God confirmed what you're
saying when he showed me that we had already been
ministering, just without the titles.
DRP. Tell us about the refugee camp minsitry.
Patreesse. The refugee camp is a place every nationally
from around the world comes, in this case Germany, in
search of a better life. There are some families with as
many as ten people living in one room. So what we do
with our ministry is go over to the camp and provide
donated food, clothing, and other needed supplies to the
families. We also encourage the families and if they ask
about God we ministry to them. The church that we
attend now, More Than Conquers Ministry, has embraced
the ministry under its' name. So donations now goes
through the church. But to get back to your original
question, I believe that if God has told a woman to go and
minister then I would say go forth and service God. Just
let go and let God.
DRP. That is exactly what we are trying to share here
at Dirt Road Promises. That we all go through this
process in our journey where we may believe one thing
and then God opens it up so that we can get a better
understanding. And what we find is that our original
belief may have been based on something false. There
are revelations in our journey that frees us!
DRP. Now, before we close I want to give you an
opportunity to speak with some of the young Christian
writers out there. What would you say to encourage
them?
Patreesse. I would say that it all starts with one letter of
the alphabet. Just like a million mile journey begins with
one step. All they need to do is start writing.
DRP. Well, we know that you've written and
published books, but what else is one the horizon for
Anointed Poetry. Songs, plays...have you thought
about either?
Patreesse. I do believe that God has a play for me to
write. Not of the same context as a Tyler Perry play, but
something a little less extreme. Let me be the first to tell
your readers this, God has told me that he's about to do
something big with Anointed Poetry. And in that a lot of
people are going to benefit.
DRP. That sounds so exciting and I know our readers
can't wait. You know what my next question is... It's
the final question of all Dirt Road interviews. In your
journey, what's one of the most profound lessons that
God has shown you that you would like to share with
our readers?
Patreesse. I knew this question was coming and I did try
to think of something, but I believe that the Holy Spirit
didn't want me to have a rehearse answer. So, here it
goes: I pray that everyone understands that God can take
the worst situation and make greatness out of it. And
understand that God can take mud and make it into clay
and then put it in the oven. Now, while it's in the oven it's
going to hurt; it's even going burn, because it hot. But
when He takes it out it will be the most beautiful piece of
art you've ever seen.
DRP. Lesson learned. Thank you so much Patreese
for sharing your journey with us and I know that our
readers are going to be blessed between every line.
Patreesse. It was my pleasure...
DRP. Is writing like going to a job?
Patreesse. No, see it's different for me. Writing is not
like work. The same way you see people spending all
day being entertained by watching TV, well that's how
much I enjoy writing. I can literally see the events unfold
as God's gives them to me.
DRP. Did you always know that you were a writer?
Patreesse. As a child I always had a very active
imagination, but it wasn't until I was fourteen that I
actually put my thoughts on paper. But just as I said
before the criticism that I received stopped me from
writing more.
DRP. How do you handle the criticism now?
Patreesse. To be honest, I haven't received much
negative feedback about any of my books, but for
any critiques that I do receive I always want to hear
what the person is saying so that I can make my
writing better. But for all the critiques in the world
none are as good as listening to the Holy Spirit. For
example: I wanted to get one of my books out fast,
because of deadlines and other things, and the guy
who had the book and was editing it for me had gone
out of town. I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to wait,
but I wanted to get this book out and meet those
deadlines. So of course, I published it anyway and do
you know, that when the guy came back he had
found thirty-two mistakes. Believe me, I learned my
lesson.
DRP. Okay, let's talk marriage. Tell us little about
your current marriage. Most people may not know
this but you have been married two times (your
current marriage being your second one), but as you
tell it; it is through your second marriage that God
brought you not only your mate for life, but your best
friend, RJ.
Patreesse. He did. I can honestly say that I have the
best marriage out there. It has blown my mind as to
how close we are and how much fun we have
together.
DRP. Do you see your marriage as a ministry to
others?
Patreesse. Of course, God uses it to minister to others
and I'm grateful for that. When people see us together
all the time and at the gym (dressed alike), they
comment on how our marriage ministers to them. I
just truly feel blessed.
DRP. Is he supportive of your career as a writer and
how does he help you in that supporting role.
Patreesse. RJ is very supportive of my career choice.
Although he doesn't really like doing this, especially if
I'm way ahead in my writing, but he will sometimes
even proof read for me. And with him it's the same
way, I support his career in whatever way I can.
DRP. His career being the military.
Patreesse. Yes, and even now he's also going back to
school to obtain his degree and I support him
one-hundred percent in that as well.
DRP. Are you guys going to retire out of the military?
Patreesse. I'm sure we will, but as far my writing I see
it continuing long after my husband has retired. Let
me go on record saying that I truly believe that two of
my books, "Faith or Denial" and "Taking It to The
Cross" will become movies.
DRP. Do you see God opening doors for that now?
Patreesse. Right now, I'm believing and claiming it, but
what he has done is open the door of a contact who
produces only Christian movies. But I haven't spoken
with them about my personal endeavors; I have,
however; spoken with them about sending some of
their Christian films to all the soldiers stationed in
Iraq. To be used as a witnessing tool. After lengthy
talks, we have been given the okay to do it.
Patreesse. No, see it's different for me. Writing is not
like work. The same way you see people spending all
day being entertained by watching TV, well that's how
much I enjoy writing. I can literally see the events unfold
as God's gives them to me.
DRP. Did you always know that you were a writer?
Patreesse. As a child I always had a very active
imagination, but it wasn't until I was fourteen that I
actually put my thoughts on paper. But just as I said
before the criticism that I received stopped me from
writing more.
DRP. How do you handle the criticism now?
Patreesse. To be honest, I haven't received much
negative feedback about any of my books, but for
any critiques that I do receive I always want to hear
what the person is saying so that I can make my
writing better. But for all the critiques in the world
none are as good as listening to the Holy Spirit. For
example: I wanted to get one of my books out fast,
because of deadlines and other things, and the guy
who had the book and was editing it for me had gone
out of town. I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to wait,
but I wanted to get this book out and meet those
deadlines. So of course, I published it anyway and do
you know, that when the guy came back he had
found thirty-two mistakes. Believe me, I learned my
lesson.
DRP. Okay, let's talk marriage. Tell us little about
your current marriage. Most people may not know
this but you have been married two times (your
current marriage being your second one), but as you
tell it; it is through your second marriage that God
brought you not only your mate for life, but your best
friend, RJ.
Patreesse. He did. I can honestly say that I have the
best marriage out there. It has blown my mind as to
how close we are and how much fun we have
together.
DRP. Do you see your marriage as a ministry to
others?
Patreesse. Of course, God uses it to minister to others
and I'm grateful for that. When people see us together
all the time and at the gym (dressed alike), they
comment on how our marriage ministers to them. I
just truly feel blessed.
DRP. Is he supportive of your career as a writer and
how does he help you in that supporting role.
Patreesse. RJ is very supportive of my career choice.
Although he doesn't really like doing this, especially if
I'm way ahead in my writing, but he will sometimes
even proof read for me. And with him it's the same
way, I support his career in whatever way I can.
DRP. His career being the military.
Patreesse. Yes, and even now he's also going back to
school to obtain his degree and I support him
one-hundred percent in that as well.
DRP. Are you guys going to retire out of the military?
Patreesse. I'm sure we will, but as far my writing I see
it continuing long after my husband has retired. Let
me go on record saying that I truly believe that two of
my books, "Faith or Denial" and "Taking It to The
Cross" will become movies.
DRP. Do you see God opening doors for that now?
Patreesse. Right now, I'm believing and claiming it, but
what he has done is open the door of a contact who
produces only Christian movies. But I haven't spoken
with them about my personal endeavors; I have,
however; spoken with them about sending some of
their Christian films to all the soldiers stationed in
Iraq. To be used as a witnessing tool. After lengthy
talks, we have been given the okay to do it.
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