DOZ Issue 40 February 2019 | Page 3

EDITOR’S LETTER Dear Ladies, Welcome to February! This is the month of love, and the shops are all set to sell us valentine’s day gift items. But before you go out shopping for gifts for your significant other or worse still, moan because you have no one special to share valentine’s day with, please do some soul-searching and answer the following questions for yourself. What is love? What does it mean to you? Do you love yourself? You see if you do not love yourself, then the chances are that you are not going to love anyone else and the chances are that you will attract to you or have attracted to you those who do not love you. Are you in a relationship where he verbally abuses you and adds to it physical abuse and then some crying and pleading with you to come back home because he didn’t know what came over him? Or is he crying and begging while nursing the wounds he inflicted on you? Do you find that you enjoy the making up so much that you are blind to the reality that he has a problem and needs help? Do you require him to seek help before you jump back into the relationship? Or are you just hoping that the last time would be the last? Are you kidding yourself, and placing yourself in harm’s way in the name of love? Do you truly love yourself? In answering, please tell yourself the truth. I will conclude by stating that, love is not abusive, love is patient, and love is kind… (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). I hope you spend valentine’s day this year discovering for yourself what love is and when you do, give yourself some love and separate yourself from abusive relationships, or situations or that which is not for your good or peace of mind. You are reading DOZ Issue 40, February 2019, and it is loaded with intriguing stories. Our DOZ That Inspire You, for this issue is, Jessica Mosley. She is a remarkable woman. Years ago, a pregnant Jessica fled an abusive relationship with nothing but the clothes on her back. She had to live with her son in a shelter for women. But today, Jessica is giving back to women in a similar situation and has just opened her shelter for abused women, Deborah’s Place. I love this woman so much. She is, without a doubt, one of my favourite women. Her story will inspire you. We have a DOZ Show Preferred Guest interview with Shontelle Dubois. She is a fantastic woman with a story that will make you shed some tears but give you hope for a brighter future no matter how dark things may be right now. “DOZ Chronicles: Ruki” continues in this issue. Ruki has an unsettling experience, but I won’t let the cat of the bag. Read it for yourself. Enjoy! I look forward to seeing you next month. Blessings! 3 DOZ Magazine | February 2019