To love and accept life is to love and accept God. Although I’m blind, I can see far and wide; even though I’m disabled, I can climb high mountains. Let the ropes of hope in Jehovah God haul you high!
Name: Shirley Cheng
Age: 27
Occupation: Award-winning author, poet, motivational speaker, and a new evangelist
Did you go to college? Where? Ames Christian University
What did you study? Biblical Studies
Where do you work? Self-employed at home
Where are you from? New York
Why did you pick this career?
I didn’t pick this career as an author; the career picked me. Actually, I believe Jehovah God led me to this career for a purpose so great I hadn’t realized until two years ago.
What are your future plans for your career?
I’m constantly aiming to reach as many people as I possibly can to bring humor, hope, and healing–and above all, the Word of God–through my books, poetry, and motivational speaking. Even if I could truly change just one person’s life for the better, to help them develop a sacred relationship with their Heavenly Father, I would be very happy.
How did you get involved in this career?
My career as an author began with a short story contest sponsored by my local newspaper. Afterward, I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters in the story I submitted, so that led me to writing more stories with the same characters. This collection of stories became my first book, Daring Quests of Mystics. By the time I knew it, I had written three books that year when I was twenty. Now at age twenty-seven, I’m an award-winning author with twenty-seven book awards. I’ve written nine books and contributed to twenty-two, as well as being an editor of one.
How did you prepare yourself for this career?
I didn’t prepare myself for this career. In actuality, I still feel like I’m dreaming. I had never planned to be an author, even though that seemed to be the career my middle-school classmates picked for me.
And if you just happened to land in this career what made you stay?
After losing my eyesight at age seventeen, I no longer could capture the beauty around me through my artwork, so I turned to writing to continually share my love of life with others. I stayed with this career in order to express myself. However, now I realize that this career is not just for that purpose, but most of all, to spread the Word of God.
Last year, I published an inspirational book on Christianity, titled Do You Love Jehovah? God Almighty’s Infinite Love & Wisdom to Propel You to
Greatness, which has garnered seven book awards, the most recent being Gold Recipient in the Mom’s Choice Awards in Religion/Spirituality. Yes, through Jehovah God’s lead, I have taken up His Son Jesus Christ’s great commission to spread the Gospel. Being in this most wonderful position stuns me most–in an extraordinarily blissful way. If I hadn’t lost my eyesight, I would have simply gone to college (my dream college has always been Harvard University), have gotten my doctorates, and become a scientist, and as a consequence, I would not bring the kind of spiritual food to others that far surpasses any other worldly achievements and influences.
What are the downsides to this profession?
Every new author knows how difficult it is to get the word of their books out to the world. It is especially hard for a blind and physically disabled author who has other chronic health problems, such as yours truly. So I mainly rely on the Internet to promote and market my books and what I offer.
What is a typical workday for you?
I don’t have a typical workday, as I write whenever I have an urge, so that means any time of the day or night, or during the wee hours of the morning.
How might this job be a stepping stone to other professions?
In my case, this career has led me to becoming a motivational speaker, and most importantly, a servant of Jehovah God as an evangelist. I’m highly privileged and thrilled to work for Him, to share with others the joy I experience when knowing Him, so others can develop a lasting, sacred, fulfilling relationship with Him. A relationship with Jehovah is the most sacred of all relationships. Truly, the Author of my life has turned me into an author, then into a speaker, and finally and most importantly, into His servant.
What is the single-most important piece of advice you can offer a person pursuing this career?
No matter what other people tell you, no matter what challenges you may face, as long as you have a burning passion, as long as you need to fulfill your special call, do whatever you need to do and desire to do in order to accomplish your purpose in life, be it this career or any other career!
What steps do you recommend to someone who is planning to pursue this career?
First, listen to your conscience–what does it tell you to do? Does it tell you that you should become an author? Second, feel your heart–how do you feel about doing whatever you are told to do? Does this feeling harmonize with your thoughts? Finally, if you believe in and desire this career, then go for it and let God lead you along your new journey! Have faith in God, for nothing is impossible for Him. He can always turn a situation from impossible to possible, as it’s in my case. I sure didn’t plan to be an author, let alone an evangelist, and most certainly not a blind and physically disabled one who is very happy and grateful to be honored enough to be in this greatest position!
What professional or community volunteer organizations are you currently a member of?
I’m proud to be a board member of the World Positive Thinkers Club, which has a nonprofit that feeds hungry children; not to mention that its president, Ken Bossone, is a true gentleman.
Last few words: If you’d like to read more about my journey in getting to know God, check out my personal story in the fall 2009 issue of Dr. Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Connection magazine. To learn more about my books and what I do, I invite you to visit me at http://www.shirleycheng.com Thank you!
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