I was always a dreamer, from the time I was five years old. Little did I know then that those dreams were actually glimpses along the path of my purpose that would later unfold. There were lessons and strategies that I would learn along the way that helped me to create, clarify and carry vision forward while empowering others to do the same.
The earliest recollection I have of who God was came as a result of my mother and father taking me to church, Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. I was amazed at the way the choir sung and the musicians played, and as a result I asked my mother if I could learn how to play the piano when I was five years old, and the desire to do so was so strong that it spilled over into my childhood dreams. I actually could see myself playing the piano in front of a crowd of people that I didn’t know. After hearing me talk about these vivid dreams, my parents finally sought out a piano teacher with whom I could take lessons. Those lessons were short-lived because my mother’s car was wrecked in an accident which meant I no longer had transportation there. However, the dreams continued and my desire to play the piano never went away.
At the age of 12, our family left the church we attended during my early childhood to join another church where purpose would continue to unfold. God granted my childhood desire of being able to play the piano by bestowing upon me a miraculous gift as a result of asking the pastor of that church to pray for me and to anoint my hands with oil. Three months after that prayer, I could play any song I heard — by ear! Little did I know then that I would serve as the pianist/organist as well as the Director of Music and Arts of that church — the same church where I would meet and marry the pastor’s son. And later, my husband and I would become senior pastors of that church at his father’s request.
Creating vision was the first step toward engaging passion and unveiling purpose. It began with not just seeing what existed at the time with our physical eyes, but also seeing what could and would be in the future. Creating a mental image of who we desired to be and what we needed to accomplish was vitally important. It helped to fine-tune not only our thoughts but also our actions as we accepted the responsibility of partnering with God to manifest our dreams. For example, my husband and I lived in a one bedroom apartment after we were married over 41 years ago, but that didn’t stop us from seeing ourselves in a house built with our own hands from the ground up where we could also add to our family. Faith alone wasn’t enough, so we found an architectural sketch of a beautiful home we wanted to build, placed it in our bibles, committed the endeavor to prayer, and set out to discover what we needed to couple with our faith to make this vision a reality. The next step required us to clarify our vision so that the entire process would become clearer to us.
Clarifying vision required researching the information we needed to know so that we were empowered and equipped to write down with specificity every goal with an attached timeframe to achieve what we desired which included purchasing a lot, securing financing and the actual building of our first dream home — a process that we completed in April of 1985, just 11 months after our first daughter was born.
Vision is not just for ourselves. It is to be carried forward to leave a legacy that will outlast us as the next generation accomplishes even greater things. We owned a construction company that initially offered only roofing and renovations but was expanded to include new home construction. Our home was the first of many built to house countless families. As pastors, we also had an even greater purpose of building community, restoring hope and transforming lives while leading a mega church to accomplish this mission locally and globally. On September 11, 2021, we officially passed the torch of third generation legacy in ministry to our three daughters. We’re beyond grateful to watch them create, clarify and carry vision forward into the future.
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