By Brent Taalur Ramsey
NEW ORLEANS -- Don’t Miss the Blessing by JoAnn Leavell and Rhonda Kelley will be rereleased in August 2010.
First printed in 1990 by Pelican Publishing Company, Don’t Miss the Blessing was accompanied by a separate study guide by Kelley. The newly revised edition will incorporate the two books into a single, interactive volume to include both application and instruction.
“For years I have enjoyed the blessings of being married to my minister. After conversations with many ministers’ wives, I realized that many did not share that same love,” said Leavell, whose ministry of encouraging fellow wives has lasted for more than fifty years. “I surely don’t want any ministry wife to miss the blessing of being a partner in ministry with her husband.”
“Rhonda Kelley and I have updated the book to include the personal study guide with a desire for all Christian women to focus on the blessings of life and ministry,” continued Leavell.
Don’t Miss the Blessing was Leavell’s first book and catalyst to her writing career. Her other books include Joy in the Journey and Baptist Dishes Worth Blessing.
Leavell was married for 55 years to the late Dr. Landrum Leavell II, president emeritus at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Minister’s wife, mother of four and grandmother of eleven, Leavell saw an important area of ministry had not been established and developed the ministry wives training program at NOBTS, going on to fulfill roles as the 1976 president of the SBC Ministers’ Wives and two-time chairman of the interdenominational women’s conference, “Lord, Change Me.” In 1990, Leavell received the Mrs. J. M. Dawson Award for distinguished ministers' wives, an annual award given by the SBC Ministers’ Wives.
With Don’t Miss the Blessing, the book is not only collaboration between two authors but an on-paper reunion of mentor and student.
This year’s president of the SBC Minister’s Wives and former student of Leavell, Kelley has been continuing Leavell’s ministry on and off the NOBTS campus, into the lives of other ministry wives. She is the wife of NOBTS President Dr. Chuck Kelley, a professor of women’s ministry and the director of Women’s Ministry Programs at NOBTS.
Author and speaker, Kelley has published many books and Bible study guides, including Raising Moms, Life Lessons from Women in the Bible, the “A Woman’s Guide” series and Divine Discipline: How to Develop and Maintain Self-Control.
Nationally and internationally recognized, family-owned business Pelican Publishing Company has been serving the literary and print communities for almost a century. They have represented a wide variety books, categories ranging from art to politics, and have printed books such as: See You at the Top; Cajun Night Before Christmas; the Maverick Guide Series and the New Orleans Architecture Series.
For more information about Leavell and Pelican Publishing, visit pelicanpub.com.
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