YOUR CHIEF ENCOURAGEMENT OFFICER
April’s special time in prayer was led by two moms, sister-friends, pastors’ wives, ministry leaders: Me and My Sista!
FIRST LADY STEPHANIE CARTER
Stephanie Carter is the First Lady of the Concord Church of Dallas, Texas. She is the director of their explosive women’s ministry, “31.” She has been married for 18 years to her college sweetheart, Pastor Bryan Carter.
We are a testament that friends who can play together & pray together, can learn how to navigate their way together!
Do you want to hear what happened on the first Thursday of March?
Our monthly prayerline known as THE WIFELINE!
This month’s special guests were the Mother-and-Daughters Ministry Power Team from Texas known as “Team Bailey!” You will hear unmatched wisdom and candor from these three authors & women in ministry! Dr. Sheila Bailey, Rev. Cokeisha Bailey Robinson & National Conference Speaker Shenikwa Bailey Cager!
Click the link below to hear powerful nuggets that will transform your thinking about your role as a wife!
Plan now to call in and tune in for April’s Wifeline Edition that will take place on April 7th from 6:00am until 6:30am (Central Standard Time).
Conference Call #: 218.339.0229
To Submit Prayer Requests, Praise Reports, or Requests for Godly Wisdom for a Specific Situation email: Wifeline@tarajenkins.org
Listen to the call here:
Today I celebrate the 40th birthday of a genius…my best friend, who I’ve known longer than any other friend!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILLIS!!!
Those that know me best, know that I love all things dance! This began at a very early age when my mom put me in ballet at 3! It was also at age 3 that I met my best friend at Pat Brown School of Dancing in Jackson, TN!
Since that time, until now, these four feet have been together in the broadest range of settings…
From the halls of Washington Douglas Elementary School when our Kindergarten classes were side by side, to the performance venue of our hometown Civic Center for countless ballets including Swan Lake, Peter and The Wolf, Alice in Wonderland(when there was a fire on stage) and who knows how many Nutcrackers and dance recitals…
To the Kid-n-Play, Naughty by Nature, Geto boys Concerts and high school Proms, these four feet have been a lot of places together.
Our paths have been divinely and amazingly intertwined whether we lived in the same city or not.
These four feet took on Atlanta as
Phillis graduated from Spelman while I graduated from Clark Atlanta with our undergraduate degrees.
These four feet took on the Midwest, as Phillis graduated from law school in Michigan while I got my graduate degree in Chicago.
These four feet took on Kentucky, while Phillis did a master’s degree and became a college professor in Lexington, KY and I got my doctorate degree in Louisville, KY.
These four feet have been together in the good times and in the bad. I’ve always heard this term, “in the good times and in the bad.” For years I thought this meant that friends are to stick together when they are both having good times and when they are both having bad times.
Today I celebrate my best friend Phillis because our ‘good times’ and ‘bad times’ don’t always line up.
What does that mean? Friendship is when someone is willing to come down from what should be their ‘good time’ and meet you at your ‘bad time.’
This has been the amazing thing about these last 37 years of friendship. When I failed our honors English class in 12th grade and was not allowed to graduate, Phillis was graduating with an honors diploma and one of the highest GPA’s in the school. Instead of relishing in her good time, she was with me in my bad time.These four feet were still walking together.
When Phillis was on a girls’ trip with a group of her friends, and called me and my voice didn’t sound right, instead of enjoying her good time, she came to be by me at a tough time. These four feet were still going forward together.
When Phillis was preparing to pass her 3rd Bar Exam to become licensed to practice law in a third state(I told you she was a genius), she was spending her study time in Chicago, because she knew that our four feet needed to be together in that season.
I am so grateful today for her 40 years of life. If you have a consistent friend, who’s there in good times and in bad times, even when it doesn’t line up exactly, call them today and thank them.
Currently, these four feet have on snow boots as Phillis practices law in Maryland and I do ministry in Chicago, but from pointe shoes to tap shoes to jazz shoes to high heels, these four feet will be friends forever!
Can you believe it? It’s 2015 and the first month of the year is already gone. It feels like we were just saying, “Happy New Year!” to each other at the stroke of midnight on January 1st!
I don’t know about you, but this year I will turn 40 and I feel like time is moving faster than ever!
What goals have you made for this year? In many instances, New Year’s resolutions have lost their passion, energy, excitement and effort by now.
However, whatever your goal or dream is, it’s not too late, to get reignited about it again. Don’t be discouraged, distracted or self-doubting. You get a new chance every moment to make decisions that will lead you to your dreams/goals list.
It’s just February 1st… So Happy New Month! Congratulations, you’re alive another month to get at it! On you mark, get set, show!
I’ve been in church all of my life. Simultaneously, I’ve been interested in dance all of my life.
I noticed very early, that in my church experiences, there have were very limited types of dance welcomed in worship experiences. I’ve seen traditional shouting dances, lyrical ballet dances, some miming, but very little of any other type of genre of dance in church settings.
When the bible states, “Praise Him with the timbrel and dance,” there’s not a specific description of what type of genre that is limited to…
This prompted me to wonder…How many individuals are in the pews, that do not use their gifts in church settings because they don’t see a home for their gifts in worship environments?
God can use varying forms of dance to reach others and celebrate HIS name!
When you listen to the song #WAR recorded by Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago(available on iTunes, Google play, Amazon; family plug:)) you’ll notice that the song ends with a unique percussive sound, which is a short tap dance feature. I believe that when the Bible speaks of “A time to Dance,” (Ecclesiastes 3) that includes a time to TAP!
I encourage you to use every gift that God gave you…if it’s FROM Him, then it’s FOR Him!
Yesterday, I was walking through a relatively new T.J.Maxx. I went up to a lady and asked her, “Where are housewares?” She gave me the strangest look. I didn’t know why at first. Then I realized, she didn’t work there!!! I was a little embarrassed, then I got over it and continued to look for a person with a T.J.Maxx tag on.
I began to think about the fact that we as believers in Jesus Christ, live in a world among nonbelievers. We don’t have a ‘church clothes’ uniform that we wear everyday that identifies us as Christ followers. We don’t wear name tags that prove our belief in the only living God. So how would a person really know who the believers of Jesus Christ are? How do we stand out? How do we identify ourselves without name tags or uniforms? John 13:35 tells us how people will know who the followers of Jesus Christ are!
John 13:35 states, “This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”(ISV)
The representatives of Christ’s church on earth are to exhibit love for one another like it is a uniform! I don’t ever want to be mistaken for working for any other team than God’s team. I am challenged to consistently show and share love.
Our ‘church clothes’ are most noticeable as real love….
Click the REAL LOVE link below and hear real love described at its best.
