Monday, October 1, 2012

“Lifted..THRIFTED..Gifted”


“… Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor 10:21


I’ve come to realize that God has given me several gifts and talents. Since I sincerely made the decision to give my life to Christ and developed a committed relationship to Him, I decided that I would use my gifts and talents for the up building of His Kingdom. This passion/desire to want to do everything for the glory of HIM and to bring others to Christ didn’t just happen overnight but it started to take place in 2010. At the time I was a fashion model and I enjoyed it to the fullest, but there was something missing. I felt God couldn’t get glory from the type of modeling I was doing—some of the pieces I would model were too short, revealing and nowhere near modest! The music I would walk to was even worst—with degrading explicit lyrics and cursing. I knew I couldn’t continue to model in that manner, the conviction was so heavy on me. So I decided to stop until I found purpose in modeling, and whether or not modeling could bring others to know Christ.

I went to God in prayer, fasted, and did some research in the Word… then one day God told me you can still model, but you can’t continue to do it the way the world does it. You’re now a model for ME, and you must follow my example! So I took what He told me and ran with it! I was so excited; I started writing down ideas and concepts for Christian modeling and fashion shows. I met up with a business coach at the Chamber of Commerce to discuss how to go about starting a Christian Model Agency. All the planning and brainstorming started to be overwhelming. I began to get discouraged, I felt this is too big a DREAM for little ole me Lord! I cried out to God in prayer and told Him I couldn’t do it alone and I needed help. Well he surely answered my prayers, in 2011 after discussing my vision for Christian modeling with my mentee at the time; she told me about a young lady by the name of Letoria Mayberry with the same vision. I was elated, I got her contact info and called her; we then met up at Ruby Tuesday on June 27th to be exact---through our love for God and belief that we could do all things through Christ, Models 4 Jesus Christ also known as M4JC was birthed! We envisioned having a Godly male figure to help us lead the guys and I knew the perfect man for the position---Michael Upshur. We have had the joy of living out our purpose and using our gifts and talents for the glory of God through the ministry of M4JC. (Check out the site for more info www.M4JC.org)

Now let me tell you in the midst of planning and developing M4JC, I discovered a passion for thrifted fashions. I’ve always loved playing around with my Granny’s old clothes and vintage jewelry. I really enjoyed saving money on nice clothes purchased from the thrift store too. Instead of keeping this to myself, I wanted to tell others how I was saving money on unique vintage pieces. I knew a church member that had recently launched an on-line mag thecorereader.com/. I told her I wanted to do an article about thrifting as well as, a special photo shoot session to show the readers the nice outfits I put together with thrifted pieces. The article was a success and it sparked the idea/vision for the Thrifty Theads blog ;-) Like I said, my desire is that God be glorified in what I do, so although I’m thrifting that doesn’t mean I can’t include my love for Christ! As to why our subtitle is “Christians. Modestly. Thrifted. I’m telling you He can use anybody, if their willing to be used by HIM--- it doesn’t matter what your gift is whether it be singing, dancing, fashion, acting, modeling, rapping, makeup artistry, writing, do it all for the glory of God.

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”

I know I usually keep my write ups short and straight to the point, but I had to share my testimonies! I know someone out there needs to read this, someone needs encouragement, someone needs to know that they too can make it and fulfill the vision God has for their ministry no matter how rare or different it may be. Embrace the journey and learn from your mistakes and short comings during the planning and preparation process. You’re not going to get it right the first time, and that is ok! Stop being hard on yourself, but don’t allow yourself to get comfortable with mediocrity… you’re destined for greatness, but remember it’s all for HIS glory and not yours!

                          
Outfit details: top, pants, belt--THRIFTED; shoes--Toms from Altar’d State; scarf-- an online store (can’t recall the name at the moment)

To God be ALL the Glory,

-Dom, TeamTT








3 comments:

  1. Great article sis! Very encouraging and right on time :)
    Kalonda

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    Replies
    1. I'm soooo glad it blessed you sis!!! Keep doing what you doing, someone is need of your ministry! :-)

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