Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: I Pray Anyway
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1944?
WEBSITE: http://www.readjoyce.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
Lives and work in both Maine and Mexico; married with 5 children.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 85275522
Personal name heading:
Wilson-Sanford, Joyce
Variant(s): Sanford, Joyce Wilson-
Found in: Her Starting strong, 1985: t.p. (Joyce Wilson-Sanford)
================================================================================
PERSONAL
Born c. 1944; married; children: five.
EDUCATION:DePauw University, B.A., 1966; University of Illinois, M.A., 1984.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, consultant, and former business executive. Delhaize Group, executive vice president of strategic organizational and leadership development, 1985-2007; JWS Consulting, ME, executive coach and consultant, 2007—.
WRITINGS
Creator of the blog, CEO: Note to Self.
SIDELIGHTS
Joyce Wilson-Sanford is a writer, consultant, and former business executive. She splits her time between Maine and Mexico. Wilson-Sanford holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois. For over two decades, she worked as the executive vice president of Delhaize Group, an international food conglomerate. Wilson-Sanford left the company in 2007 and launched her own executive coaching and consulting firm, JWS Consulting. She also maintains the blog, CEO: Note to Self. In 1985, Wilson-Sanford released her first book, Starting Strong.
I Pray Anyway, released in 2016, is a book of Christian devotions by Wilson-Sanford. She is open about her ambivalence in regard to faith and is supportive of readers who feel the same way. However, she is certain that prayer can help people to transcend the circumstances of their daily lives. In one of the devotions, Wilson-Sanford asserts that prayer has power and can create change in the real world. Knowing that prayer can change things is comforting and powerful, she argues. In another devotion, which appears to be a type of journal entry, Wilson-Sanford shares that she is feeling frustrated with herself and decides not to pray. Instead, she is restless and self-critical. At the end of the entry, she seems to brush off her feelings and expresses hope for the next day. Another devotion finds Wilson-Sanford encouraging readers to put themselves in the position of people who are different from them. Soldiers and the poor are among those that Wilson-Sanford suggests thinking of. She expresses frustration with her mind and thoughts in another devotion. Wilson-Sanford periodically includes brief pieces on different times in her own life, including a crisis of faith she experienced during her youth, her first marriage, which led to divorce, the time she spent as a single mother, and the changes her second marriage brought about.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews suggested: “If the prayers are read continuously instead of sporadically, they do begin to sound redundant and lose some of their energy; hence, they are best savored and pondered individually.” The same contributor concluded: “These genuine prayers will inspire readers to pray despite fluctuations in one’s soul and in the world.” Sherri Fulmer Moorer, reviewer on the Readers Favorite website, described I Pray Anyway as “a refreshing change from the standard Christian devotionals.” Moorer also stated: “Joyce Wilson-Sanford is bold enough to take readers straight into her mind when considering how difficult it can be to pray.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2017, review of I Pray Anyway.
ONLINE
Joyce Wilson-Sanford website, http://readjoyce.com/ (June 2, 2018).
Readers Favorite, https://readersfavorite.com (February 23, 2016), Sherri Fulmer Moorer, review of I Pray Anyway.
About Me and My Work
I have always loved my work. That’s a rather incredible thing to be able to say. With much luck, I landed where my talent fit, and where I could both grow and contribute.
I retired from the Delhaize Group (a global food retailer) as Executive Vice President of Strategic Organizational and Leadership Development. My expertise was in organizational innovation, large culture change, senior level leadership development and organizational transitions of all kinds. I liked the chaos and the creativity that produces a good place to work and therefore takes good care of customers. I created my own core of leadership practices for the emerging workplace that I use today with clients and write about on my blog, CEO: Note To Self.
I enjoyed the cross-cultural demands of working throughout many companies and countries—Belgium, Greece, Thailand, Romania, Bulgaria and the United States. I now work as an Executive Coach, especially with OD executives facing the challenges of a new kind of workplace. I live and work in both Maine and Mexico. Once again, I am lucky.
My style in all my work and writing—take a look at my three weekly blogs—is somewhat non-traditional, always down to earth, usually with a unique point of view, and always challenging to me and clients and colleagues. I don’t like easy. Why not grow and create and contribute?
And laugh at the same time.
ABOUT JUST ME:
I am the mother of five adult children
I like to create and play
I am serious about living life fully
I am married to a former marriage counselor and author
I am a bona fide bookworm
I enjoy breaking a rule or protocol every once in a while
I carry around a red coffee cup most of the time
I have fun while doing hard work
I like hard work
I love laughing hard
Joyce Wilson-Sanford
Executive Coach and Consultant at jws consulting
Portland, Maine Area
Retail
Current
jws consulting
Previous
Delhaize Group
Education
University of Illinois
Websites
Blog
Blog
Blog
500+
connections
View Joyce Wilson-Sanford’s full profile. It's free!
Your colleagues, classmates, and 500 million other professionals are on LinkedIn.
View Joyce’s Full Profile
Joyce Wilson-Sanford’s Posts
See all 26 posts
Modern Leaders Need To Be----
February 18, 2018
Modern leaders will be different. I worked with over twenty-five CEO’s in my role as EVP of The Delhaize Group, as a colleague and as a support for their development as leaders. I experienced many...
You Want Talent--Does Talent...
January 25, 2018
Almost ten years ago, in my role as EVP of Organizational Development for a global food retailer, I brought together a group of fifteen Hi-Potential leaders from across the globe to Sweden for a...
Leaders! This Is What We Want
January 15, 2018
Blind Spots of Power is the subtitle of this article. In my work as EVP of Organizational Development I saw top leaders be unconscious of their impact. I, myself, was one of those top leaders who...
See more
Summary
I have always loved my work and still do after retirement from The Delhaize Group as Executive
Vice-President of Strategic Organizational Development. I do executive coaching in my own unique way (so they tell me) and like to see top execs learn and breakthrough to a new level and to a new way of leading--more effective, more modern, more fun. And I like being a consultant to OD/HR top execs when they are in a hot spot and need an outside voice that "gets" what they are going through.
It is a hard skill role. Don't even talk to me about soft skills.
I write a leadership blog at www.ceonotetoself@blogspot.com that lets me vent about
the blind spots of leadership and hopefully serves as a weekly reminder to top execs
about common foibles that come with the role. I am a Peter Drucker wannabe/never will be. And Seth Godin is my business/philosopher/provacatuer virtual guide. Leaders matter and I want to help leaders become what's needed for now. YOU MATTER. YOUR IMPACT IS HUGE. USE IT WELL.
Experience
Executive Coach and Consultant
jws consulting
2007 – Present (11 years)maine
Delhaize Group
Executive Vice-President of Strategic Organizational Development
Delhaize Group
1985 – 2007 (22 years)
Executive Vice-President of Strategic Organizational Development at Delahaize Group
Retired EVP of Delhaize Group
Delhaize Group
2000 – 2005 (5 years)
Education
University of Illinois
MA, Organizational Development
1981 – 1984
DePauw University
DePauw University
BA, psychology and education and literature
1962 – 1966
Skills
Organizational DevelopmentExecutive CoachingPerformance ManagementLeadership DevelopmentLeadershipStrategyTeam BuildingChange ManagementOrganizational EffectivenessTalent ManagementCoachingStrategic PlanningSuccession PlanningWorkshop FacilitationEmployee RelationsSee 16+
How's this translation?
Great•Has errors
Languages
Spanish
QUOTED: "If the prayers are read continuously instead of sporadically, they do begin to sound redundant and lose some of their energy; hence, they are best savored and pondered individually."
"These genuine prayers will inspire readers to pray despite fluctuations in one's soul and in the world."
Wilson-Sanford, Joyce: I PRAY ANYWAY
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Wilson-Sanford, Joyce I PRAY ANYWAY Red Shoe (Indie Nonfiction) $12.99 1, 6 ISBN: 978-0-9863386-0-1
A collection of candid prayers that vacillate between faith and doubt, pleasure and pain, and virtue and vice. Debut author Wilson-Sanford doesn't sugarcoat her spiritual experiences in these prayers. Her "devotions for the ambivalent" reflect the transcendent power of prayer and spirituality but also the many human follies that keep people from such transcendence. For example, on the positive side, she writes, "To think prayer produces results / Now there's an idea / Not just comfort or yearning as a last resort / But a force / ... / Not mental shenanigans / ... / But transforming energy." On the other hand, though, she writes, "No prayer tonight / Just thrashing / Lashing out at my own distractions / Too busy being mad at me / ... / Oh well / More to come." Another theme is the importance of looking outside oneself. In one prayer, she writes, "There is a world out there / Try that on / Soldiers on any side who want to be home /... / Hungry, hungry people in a fat land / Try those lenses on." Wilson-Sanford also includes short reflections on her own life at the beginning of each of 12 "months" containing 365 short prayers in total. In these, she describes her fluctuating faith during her youth, the strength that prayer brought her at various change-points in adulthood (including marriage, divorce, single parenting, and stepparenting), and finally, the spiritual progression of her later years. These stories, too, reflect ambivalence: "Under duress, I turned to God-ness. / During good spells, not so much." The key characteristic of this prayer collection is its authenticity. These devotions have their ups and downs, and yet despite occasional backsliding, there's a subtle spiritual maturation as the book goes on. The prayers wouldn't be complete without Wilson-Sanford's autobiographical reflections, as they give important context to both her faith and inner turmoil and provide real-life examples of the ebb and flow of life, which many readers will be able to relate to. Although there are sporadic Christian references, the author emphasizes spirituality over religiosity, sometimes even criticizing traditional religion: "Modern religion has a problem / Of being bored with itself / Yadda yadda yadda / Droning hymn." Not all the prayers are equal in quality; some are too vague to carry great meaning, and others include language that lacks the poetic mood of other verses ("Get behind me, Monkey Mind / Shut up, Words / It's my experience, so I'll have it"). The vast majority, however, are full of wisdom and humor, validating readers' own difficult spiritual journeys and encouraging them to use prayer as a means to transform themselves and the world around them. Also, if the prayers are read continuously instead of sporadically, they do begin to sound redundant and lose some of their energy; hence, they are best savored and pondered individually rather than devoured all in one sitting. These genuine prayers will inspire readers to pray despite fluctuations in one's soul and in the world.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Wilson-Sanford, Joyce: I PRAY ANYWAY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502192097/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=47915036. Accessed 21 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A502192097
QUOTED: "a refreshing change from the standard Christian devotionals."
"Joyce Wilson-Sanford is bold enough to take readers straight into her mind when considering how difficult it can be to pray."
I Pray Anyway
Devotions for the Ambivalent
by Joyce Wilson-Sanford
Non-Fiction - Inspirational
260 Pages
Reviewed on 02/23/2016
Buy on Amazon
This author participates in our Review Exchange and Book Donation Program. Click here to learn more.
Book Review
Reviewed by Sherri Fulmer Moorer for Readers' Favorite
I Pray Anyway: Devotions for the Ambivalent by Joyce Wilson-Sanford is a unique devotional that takes readers on a journey through the hills and valleys of faith. It's written in a stream-of-consciousness flow, giving it a unique perspective that feels more like an internal dialogue than your usual devotional book. The informal tone leads readers through a variety of topics, from good to bad, and everything in between. I Pray Anyway is a great journey of faith through a variety of life seasons and situations, as readers walk with the writer through her own journey of exploring faith through situations, seasons, and even comparatively with other belief systems.
I found I Pray Anyway: Devotions for the Ambivalent to be a refreshing change from the standard Christian devotionals. I like how Joyce Wilson-Sanford is bold enough to take readers straight into her mind when considering how difficult it can be to pray, especially in a full life. She simply shares her thoughts and feelings instead of over analyzing her thought patterns. I like how she's not afraid to share fear or confusion, which puts her on an equal level with her readers - unlike devotions from preachers who can sound lofty and unrealistic at times. Her stream-of-conscious reflective style is easy to follow, and even easier to relate to. I admire her honesty and how she shares struggles that I've had myself, and found this devotional to be "real" and inspiring in a unique way. I highly recommend this book, especially for new Christians, because the struggles are easy to relate to.