God Allows U-Turns
---- "Strength of Choice Award"

The Annual God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" was given annually at the prestigious Golden Scroll Awards at ICRS/CBA.

The God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" has gone to the person who in the previous year best exemplified a consistent determination to rise above difficult circumstances while maintaining a clear focus on the One who not only "allows" U-Turns, but who remains with us on any life journey, no matter how many twists and turns. The God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" was a $500 cash award given to a faith-based non-profit organization of the award recipients choice.

2007 Award Recipient: Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Announced at ICRS, Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday, July 8, 2007

Left to right: Jennifer Kennedy Dean, Allison Bottke

Receiving this year's God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" was Jennifer Kennedy Dean who displayed courage by being a significant voice on prayer and faith while adjusting to the loss of her husband, Wayne, who died December 15, 2005. Visit the Praying Life Foundation here: http://www.prayinglife.org

2006 Award Recipient: Heather Gemmen Wilson, Author and Speaker

Left to right: Allison Bottke, Heather Gemmen Wilson and Larry Wilson

Receiving this year's God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" was Heather Gemmen whose courageous book Startling Beauty - My Journey From Rape to Restoration became a catalyst for healing the hearts of men and women around the world as she traveled the country sharing a story of incomprehensible pain and amazing healing."Only God could turn a woman's worst nightmare into something of startling beauty."

2005 Award Recipient: Dan Penwell, Editor at AMG Publishers

Left to right: Author Bryan Davis, 2005 God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award"
Recipient, Dan Penwell and Carmen Lael, the 2005 AWSA Member of the Year

Dan Penwell had this to say about receiving the third annual God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" in 2005 at CBA in Colorado Springs.

"I was surprised, shocked, and a bit overwhelmed. The Strength of Choice Award was a total surprise, particularly when I have two of my authors presenting it to me. It has been a long year - with five months of chemo, the death of my mother-in-law at our house, and the constant specter of prostate cancer hanging over my head. But no matter what happens, God has been faithful to me."

It's this unwavering strength and a clear focus on God throughout his cancer journey that made Dan Penwell stand out as this year's recipient of the God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award".

2004 Award Recipient: Ramona Richards

Left to right: Linda Evans Shepherd, Founder of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA,) Ramona Richards, Allison Bottke, Founder of the God Allows U-Turns Project,
and Eva Marie Everson, author/speaker

Receiving this year's God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" was Ramona Richards who displayed courage and determination as the single mother of a special need's child when told by doctors that for her daughter to have both quality and quantity of life, Ms. Richards would need to quit her job and "come home."

As the financial provider for their little family, Ramona Richards drew on her faith in Jehovah Jireh, the Lord her Provider, that He would supply her every financial need as she left her salaried editorial position with Thomas Nelson to begin work as a stay-at-home mom/freelance editor. As this year's recipient of the God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award", Ramona Richards exemplifies what it means when we share the God Allows U-Turn motto; "The choices you make change the story of your life." Ramona Richards exhibited a Strength of Choice from which we can all learn.

2003 Award Recipients: Gene and Carol Kent

Left to right: Allison Bottke, Founder of the God Allows U-Turns Project, Linda Evans Shepherd, Founder of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) and Carol and Gene Kent

Receiving the first annual God Allows U-Turns - "Strength of Choice Award" in 2003 were Gene and Carol Kent of Port Huron, Michigan. Throughout the course of a very public legal battle in which their son ultimately received a life sentence, Gene and Carol Kents unwavering faith in God was a beacon of light for the world to see. "As the 2003 recipients of the God Allows U-Turns Foundation "Strength of Choice®" award, Gene and Carol Kent exemplify what it means to have the strength and courage to hold fast to a belief that God is in control - even during the most difficult circumstances," said Allison Bottke, the Founder of the God Allows U-Turns® Project. Carol Kent is president of Speak-up Speaker Services and an AWSA board member. Gene is the Director of Administration and Management for the Speak-Up Ministry.