Newfound Christianity inspires author to pen book

Maybe it all started with an Alpha meeting for a St. Albert woman.

Shannon Alexander wasn’t exactly a stranger to churches but when a friend invited her to the session to ask some of the big questions that Christians often have about their religion at a local Baptist church, she confessed that she was somewhat less than Christian about it.

“I was a borderline jerk because I was asking all these hard questions,” she exclaimed, laughing.

My, how the times have changed her. Now an author celebrating the release of her first book, Alexander recounts how she came to accept Christianity and realize that she needed to tell everyone about it through the publication of Love Letters from the Great I AM (sic).

It all started in a matter-of-fact way when she looked at a picture of Jesus Christ knocking on a door with no doorknob.

“I thought, if I celebrate Christmas and Easter, aren’t I kind of a hypocrite if I don’t get to know who Jesus Christ is? I thought, ‘I’m going to open the door’. Would I open the door to him if he was knocking on my heart, saying, ‘Hey? Hello?’” she parroted to herself.

But there was another significant thing in her life that involved a literal knock on her door. A woman had come to her house trying to sell a product. She also said that she was hungry. So, Alexander invited her in to a family spaghetti dinner.

“My husband thought I’d lost my mind,” she laughed again. “I thought, ‘would I let Jesus in to my heart? Would I let him in to my home?’ Yeah, I would. So, that was the answer. I said, ‘I’m opening the door, can you please come into my heart? If you’re real, come on in and we’ll have a feast. Thanks for dying on the cross for all my mistakes’.”

“It was a spiritual thing that happened to me that day while I was walking my dogs by myself. Then all of a sudden, it was like having a cheering squad in my head saying that I needed to write. I just knew that God wanted me to write.”

Since discovering her Christianity, she has written in a journal every night, making notes of relevant passages from scripture for each one. This book is a modest compilation of some of those inspirational writings along with some accompanying artwork, mostly from the author herself.

She explained that the purpose was to transform the way that people look at themselves and the world around them. While she notes that it is meant for both Christians and non-Christians, the book is intended to help readers strengthen and deepen their relationships with the Great I AM, referring to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

She does note that there’s a wealth of more writing that she has done, so a new volume of this kind of work should be expected in the future.

Alexander has a book launch event set for Oct. 22 from noon to 4 p.m. at the St. Albert Chapters. People can find out more by visiting her website at www.lovelettersfromthegreatiam.com.