ALLISON NORVILLE-FORDE is a winner. Before you read on, know that this is a love story albeit not the typical one you will read in a Danielle Steele novel or in another novel where woman meets man, falls head over heels in love, they break up, get back together and then live happily ever after.
This is a story of a 30-something year-old woman who has been to the depths of despair, battled depression, had some serious self-doubt and in the end triumphed because her loved ones and God never gave up on her even when she gave up on herself.
With a big smile, Allison happily declared she has been redeemed, set free, delivered and is in a healthy, loving place spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.
What started out as a conversation about her new single Love Done Right, featuring Joel Brooks, turned into a chat about her life over the last three years of which she spoke freely in the hope that she will inspire and touch someone who might be facing the same things.
It was hard not to get caught up in her excitement, and harder still to believe that this woman with a powerful voice and wonderful gift could have lost confidence in herself.
Boldly declaring that 2015 is “the year”, Allison, or Amy’s mother as she is referred to more and more every day, said the “recording was really and truly encouraging for my soul, for my spirit to know that God can use anyone”.
When she got married at 25 years old, she did not expect that she would be separated from her husband ten years later, furthermore that she would be pregnant for someone else and have “the whole world pointing at me”.
But that’s what happened.
“I really went through a valley of depression and I went through a series of losing friends and discovering who my true friends were . . . . People would have said I was in my prime, I just had a new album out, I was going places and then I had my daughter, who was not by my husband because we were separated for almost five years now.
“I met her dad . . . . I thought he was the one. I was looking into the sunset but things happened. It wasn’t planned or anything but I had my daughter and being a gospel artiste it wasn’t necessarily what was expected of [me].
“I went through a series of emotions because I was so upset with myself. I let all the kids down and all the people who were following me and I’m not going to make light of it, it was a really dark time but then guess what? I had my daughter and I was really fussy because she’s so beautiful and she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me after Christ. Honestly!
Allison said she was still berating herself about getting pregnant, but when she saw the first ultra sound everything changed and she started to look forward to raising three-year-old Amy, whose name means beloved.
“I can see God’s hand in my life every step of the way. Every time I look back I can see His hand in my life protecting me from harm, covering me. So many things could have gone wrong in my pregnancy because as the old people would say ‘when you’re pregnant one foot in the grave’, she said before bursting into laughter, as she also recalled she had “some challenges” during the pregnancy, including fainting spells.
“She’s my very first child and that’s just how life is. I honestly couldn’t even have seen past 2011. I just could not see past that year that was how depressed I was. And now I look at 2015 and I see she’s going to be four this year. I see bright horizons. I am so grateful because when you make that one step God endorses it. He just wants you to trust Him and I love Him because he puts people in your life for you . . . to bear you up.”
She is extremely grateful to her pastor reverend Jewell Callender, whom she said “didn’t even realise that she really and truly kept me grounded.
“I also want to thank Reverend Andre Symmonds as well for his encouragement along the way but it was mainly Reverend Callender who kept me together. She’s a really good listener and so the days when I couldn’t take it anymore she would just sit and listen and let me offload. And it wasn’t just to listen but to give me advice on how to carry out and carry on. My mother Audrey Norville-Chase, she was just there for me. Those days when I was just down and out she would just come and sit next to me to encourage me.
“Those are the kinds of people you want in your life. They see the end . . . . You’re in the middle you don’t see it, but they see the end. They see where God will take you. You want those people in your circle; you don’t want negative people around. Life has a way of getting those people out of your life. You don’t even have to ask they just go because they’re not there to lift you up. So when God’s light shines on you they can’t handle it because they’re too busy being negative so they clear out,” Allison said matter-of-factly.
She is extremely thankful to her sister Vanessa, who urged her to stop crying and get on with her life and to her soul sisters Paula Hinds and Mya Daniel, who is Amy’s godmother.
While the artiste was dealing with this tribulation, she also lost her stepfather.
“It really, really, was a tough season for my immediate family. He’s not there anymore and there’s a big vacuum. We have been rallying around each other. It’s a small unit and then we have my extended family where we just look out for each other to the best of our ability.
“Last year was rough and I’m the kind of person that even when I’m fighting through I choose to smile because your demeanour can pull people down. You don’t want to do that; you want to encourage others, even when you feel like screaming, let your words edify and encourage somebody . . . .”
One day she just stopped crying and asked God to help her.
“I would rather say, ‘Daddy God, you see this thing that’s going on here. I can’t handle it. I don’t know why it’s happening, I don’t know when, where, or how but I am trusting you, I’m asking you to take care of it and I trust you according to your word that You will take care of it. Then just step back and take a deep breath and keep walking.”
The song Love Done Right goes right to her core and she and Brooks who wrote it, were able to produce something that people can relate to.
“God is so loving so I can hold onto Him, I can smile for the first time in years . . . and remain focused. I’m back and ready to go in Jesus’ name. I will no longer cower in fear,” Allison declared. (Green Bananas Media)
