The story of this triumphant moment began 6 years ago at one of my lowest points.
We had just moved to LA, found out we were expecting, and almost overnight, everything changed. Our band disbanded, rent tripled, and suddenly I was the breadwinner in a brand-new city with no safety net. Mind you, I never wanted to leave OKC but the call from God was clear. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
I ended up refereeing little league football games to keep us afloat and saying yes to absolutely any gig I could find. One of those gigs turned out to be the worst of my life — no rehearsal, insanely bad charts, chaos everywhere, and a check that bounced.
But even through that mess, God was moving.
That night I met
@dben_jamin919 (who was not that bandleader) who saw through the fog and gave me a real shot. He plugged me into LA’s Black jazz scene, and I started to rebuild my confidence one gig at a time. Through Duane I met
@dedrickbonner , who introduced me to the
@dc6singers which led me here — to
@divassimplysinging
But what makes this full circle is that years before this moment, it was
@thesherylleeralph who told us “what is for you can’t be un-for you.”
It’s hard to overstate how impactful her speech was for us. The timing was divine. Her example gave my wife
@iamnell_ledbetter the courage to finish her book, (available now and in Ms. Ralph’s hands, mind you!) and gave me the fuel to get out my feelings and keep creating to find out what is for me.
So when she called my name on that stage…
it was more than a shoutout, it was a full circle moment and an affirmation that I’m on the right path.
There are no detours, and no shortcuts. There is only the path God sets before you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
