Pastor Nora's Book of Poems: Poems from a grieving heart; there is beauty in the suffering.

It is truly by God's grace this book came to be. The inspiration for writing these poems was born out of a tragedy-the death of the author's child when she was 20 years old. This collection of poems come from the grieving heart of a mother and span a period of thirteen years. The poems are free-flowing, emotive and inspired by the Holy Spirit. They address issues of grief, faith, creation, prayer, and her own faith. They illustrate there is beauty in the pain and spiritual growth in the struggle. Nora Hilda Gonzalez Ortega was born July 4th in Mexico. Through providential events orchestrated by a Good God, she immigrated to the United States at 12. Her cultural and educational background is diverse being fully bilingual and bicultural in English/Spanish. Graduated from high school in 1973 went on to serve in the U.S. Army for three years. Her education includes an Associate of Art-Texas Southmost College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from LeTourneau University. It was the tragic death of her daughter Pauline in 1999 that set her on a very different path that led her through a circuitous route to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary earning a Master of Divinity, followed by an internship at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in their Clinical Pastoral Education program and finally was granted the title of Regularly Ordained Minister by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 2012. Nora's life journey has taken her through many roads and roles; a soldier in the U.S. Army, a manager, supervisor, director of a ministry, administrator in a church and currently works with a hospice agency as Bereavement Coordinator and chaplain when needed. It is this life journey, with all its joys, challenges, trials, and tribulations which gave her the inspiration to write this small collection of poems that truly come from a grieving heart. She considers herself a writer inspired by the Good God she trusts and believes in. She is an avid reader, paints, draws, creates art with common things like buttons and ribbons and authored this collection of faith-based poetry.