About The Author
About the Author
Maranda Sherrod
Maranda Sherrod grew up in Bigbee, a small community in Valley, Mississippi, as the middle child in a lively family of seven siblings. Her parents, Walter Lee and the late Mamie Lou Lowery, raised their children in a home where faith was not decorative; it was structural, woven quietly into daily life.
Those early years shaped Sherrod’s view of perseverance and purpose. Family gatherings, church on Sundays, and long conversations around the table created a foundation she would lean on many times in the years ahead.
Her professional path first led to accounting and education. She worked with numbers and balanced ledgers and later stepped into teaching, building a practical, steady career.
Then illness arrived, unexpectedly and repeatedly.
Sherrod survived severe pre-eclampsia during her first pregnancy, delivering a premature child. Years later came Stage 3 sarcoidosis, followed by relapsing pericarditis that required two open- heart surgeries. Much of the life she had carefully built began to shift as health challenges forced her to step away from work.
Still, she continued forward.
During long seasons of recovery, Sherrod returned again and again to scripture, reflection, and the quiet discipline of taking life one day at a time. Notes began filling journals, thoughts written between doctor visits, restless nights, and moments of prayer.
Over time, those pages grew into Will Yourself to Lift.
Sherrod later returned to school, earning an Associate Degree in Banking and Finance from East Mississippi Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Religion from Liberty University in 2014.
Beyond writing, she remains deeply involved in community work. She founded J&M Creations and The Youth Lives Matter Organization, both focused on helping young people build strong foundations for their minds, faith, and futures before life’s storms arrive.
She and her husband, Edward, have been married for more than 30 years, a partnership shaped by resilience, faith, and shared perseverance. Together, they raised two daughters, Edleishia and Edmariah, who grew up watching their mother refuse to stay down.
These days, Sherrod’s writing carries the quiet texture of lived faith. Less like a sermon.
More like someone sitting beside you on a long road, reminding you that the climb, slow as it may be, is still possible.