Heels Gospel Magazine March/april 2016

March-April 2016

HEELS GOSPEL MAGAZINE

! Nycole Lyles-Belton

How She Got It All Back!

Pastor Sally Davis From the Porch to the Palace

3

Trendsetting Looks

From "The Style Closet"

ALWAYS AND FOREVER IN MARRIAGE?

Tanya Dallas-Lewis Artist Spotlight

The Editor's Notes

The Holy Spirit who is now in you knows what God has planned for your life and is willing and able to help you to go through and get through the sanctification and purification process so that you can be anointed to serve. He understands that because we don't really know the great things that our God has in store for us, we will forfeit it all because we will think nothing is worth going through all that we are going through. We will think it is easier for us to throw up our hands and walk away than to endure the hardship as dear children.

However, there is a particular process that you must go through, one that has been designed by the Lord so that your life will go a particular way, so that HE will get an outcome from your life that will give him the right result (For HIS glory alone).

But the process that each of us will have to go through will be necessary for you and you alone. You can't compare your life, your walk, your process to somebody else's because God is doing something different in each of you. The bible says, "All things work together for good to those who love God and to them who are called according to His purpose.". It is necessary that you go through a series of things in your life that you will have to deal with or put up with, things that

Cheryl Jones-Ross Editor in Chief

you will have to overcome, and you will have to learn how to function in these things in a way that is pleasing to God. You must be able to handle yourself according to the word of God in every situation that comes up in your life, without freaking out, without falling apart, without giving up every other day, without acting ungodly or doing whatever we think is right, or how we feel like handling it.

Offences, impediments, stumbling blocks will come. The bible says it is neccesary, meaning it is to your advantage that offences come.

Offences are the things that cause you displeasure, the things that come to anger you, to try to build up resentment in you, that cause your feelings to be hurt, things that frustrate you, that upset you, and even things that try to cause you to sin. However, these things come to make you examine yourself and deal with the thing in you that has caused you to be offended in the first place. And yet, it is these same offences, that God uses to sanctify and purify us so that we can be anointed to serve.

Don't allow anyone or anything to remove you from the process. Whatever you are experiencing is necessary to perfect you for the intended purpose that the Lord has for your life. Be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,

SCRIPTURE READING: How beautiful are #y feet wi# $oes, O p%nce's daughter! & joints of #y #ighs are like jewels, & work of & hands of a cunning workman.

Song of Solomon 7:1

HEELS ON THE COVER Dr. Nycole Lyles-Belton

Editor in Chief Cheryl Jones-Ross

March-April 2016 Edition

Contents 2

7 Editor Tyonna Singleton

10 15

Contributing Writers

The Editor's Notes

A Season of Pain Cheryl Jones-Ross

Dr. Nycole Lyles-Belton How She Got it All Back!

Always and Forever Minister Denise Wade

20

K-Theatre Kontara Morphis

24

Tanya Dallas-Lewis Artist Spotlight

Minister Denise Wade

30 Satin Boykinds

Staff Photographer Matthew Singleton SICQOGRAPHY

35 37

Pastor Sally Davis From the Porch to the Palace

Kingdom Health 4 Life With Satin Boykinds

Heels Magazine's The Style Closet

IN THIS ISSUE

DR. NYCOLE LYLES-BELTON How She Got it All Back

HEELS KONTARA MORPHIS K THEATRE

TheSTYLE Closet TANYA DALLAS-LEWIS Artist Spotlight

Pastor Sally Davis From The Porch to The Palace

Visit us at www.heels-magazine.com

Heels Gospel Magazine Book Recommendation:

"The Wait"

A Season of Pain

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

The most common reason why people seek help from the medical profession is because they want to get rid of the pain. And one of the most common reasons why people come to Jesus is because they want to get rid of the pain.

Most of us will go to God and ask Him to get rid of the pain, but never ask Him why He allowed that pain to come into our lives. I have heard people say, "Don't question God" when troubling circumstances come into our lives. But I say, you had better ask God why, that is if you want the right answers concerning the reasons for those things that come into your life. Who better to ask about your life than the Lord. Pain, not just physical pain, but emotional and spiritual pain is necessary in our lives because, it gives us the answers that we need, in that it pushes us to go to God to find a resolution.

The bible says that Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. However, this was not because of his wealth or his status, but because he went to God and asked the Lord to help him to understand and to endure his adversity. He said to God, "Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me.". Many in the church talk about this prayer of Jabez as a way of asking God for monetary increase in our lives. But what we fail to understand in those two verses, is that Jabez was a man of pain and sorrow. He indeed asked the Lord to bless him but, he also said, "And that thine hand might be with me.". In other words, he was saying to the Lord, fashion me (or shape me) so that you can accomplish what you need to accomplish in me through this pain and sorrow.

When we are suffering, we want God to either get rid of it, or quickly get us through it because we want no parts of it. But. how often do we ask the Lord to do in us what He needs to do so that whatever it is that we are dealing with fulfills its purpose in us? Therefore, many of us are still in it because we haven't asked God "Why?". But, Jabez had enough wisdom, fear and humility to tell God "Have your way in my life, even in this.". He was saying, "Do what you need to do in me and while you are doing it, keep me from evil, keep me from being miserable in this pain, keep me from being in distress, and keep me from being hurt. Keep this situation, these people, this drama, this sorrow, and this devastation from permanently effecting me in an adverse way so that I don't abort the process.". Can we honestly say that we want the Lord to get everything out of us that will hinder His will from being done in our life even if doing so causes us sorrow, grief and pain?

It is certainly not easy to suffer and pain can cause even the most mature saint to buckle under the pressure. Have you ever seen somebody whose pain level is so high until they were almost out of their mind? And yet, it is that type of pain that will test us, it will prove what is really in us. Jeremiah the prophet asked God, "Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable which refuseth to be healed?". He was in essence asking the Lord, "Why does this pain never seem to end?". Jeremiah was in so much pain because of the people that were against him and because of the call that was on his life that he said to God "Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?". In other words, "Have you lied to me God? Has this word that I speak about, that I live about, that I preach about failed in my own life and that is why I am suffering like this?".

But look at what God says! The Lord didn't say,"My son, I see that you have had enough." even though there will come a time when God will say it is enough. But, God told Jeremiah, "If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth:". If you will endure the bitterness of what you are going through. it will make you better. If you will take the precious, meaning the precious stones and the jewels from that pain that is being poured out in your life (stones that will be used in building you up), if you would take that from the very pain that you want to get away from because you think it is worthless, or insignificant to your life, and let it do in you what it needs to do in you, God said "you will be as my mouth.". In other words, you will be His mouthpiece and you can say what He says and it shall be done in the earth. It may not feel like it, but there is preciousness in the pain. Ask any mother who has given birth. Even though the pain will intensify, she knows that there is something precious on the inside of her that needs to come out and live in the earth and fulfill God's will.

All of us have something on the inside of us that the Lord wants to birth in the earth and enlarge it. Your gifts, your talents, your callings are not simply just for you to enjoy. But, the Lord has placed that treasure in you so that you can occupy, do kingdom business, expand, increase, and take over the world. But, you must be willing to humble yourselves and allow Him to do what He needs to do in you in order to get rid of the impurities, the sin, the "I" mentality, and everything in your life that will not give Him glory.

Pain is a necessary season in your life. Once we begin to recognize it for what it is and yeild to its purpose in our life, it will do what it needs to do so that when it is your time, your borders will be extended and your sphere of influence enlarged.

Pastor Cheryl Jones-Ross Photo Credits: SICQOGRAPHY

1700 Bower Hill Road Pittsburgh, Pa. 15243 Pastor Cheryl Jones-Ross Senior Pastor/Founder 216-200-6347

www.ghrm-online.com

NYC

HOW SHE GOT IT ALL BACK! HM: We see the public "NYC" on television, at events, in magazines and behind the microphone but, what are you like whenever you are alone?

NYC: I spent so much time around people, I am around people all of the time and when I am alone I value that time with so much importance. Although I love what I do, there is not a lot of time when I am by myself. I honestly like to sit in silence and be alone with my thoughts. Sometimes I take long drives in the car and then sometimes I will drive somewhere and park and just sit in my car for two hours and think, meditate, pray and sing. People will walk up to my car and see me just sitting there and ask me if I'm ok and I'll say, I'm fine. That's just my "get away". I like to do things that are unorthodox or outside of the norm for what other people like to do, but it gives me so much peace when I have that time to myself because I can think my own thoughts and not what this person wants me to say or do.

HM: What angers you?

DR. NYCOLE LYLES-BELTON

NYC: Because God has really dealt with me in so many ways and has changed me, it takes a lot to make me ticked. Before, when I was the woman that I used to be, it didn't take much at all. I had a really short fuse, my temperament and patience with people was not very good. I had so much built in anger that I held on to for years. I'm talking about over ten or fifteen years because, I was holding on to so much pain. So whenever something happened, it just all boiled over. But now it takes a lot for me to get angry.

"Now what angers me is when I feel the enemy coming after what is in my heart."

The enemy goes after what you care about the most.

So what's in my heart the most is people who are close to me or people who can't fend for themselves.

I teach special needs students and if they are not treated the way they should be treated, they are treated like an animal sometimes, they are treated like they are not important as a student who is labeled as regular, those kind of things bother me.

When I see people who really don't have the where with all to fight for themselves, and people pick on them, people bother them, those kinds of things make me ticked. And also when I know that I am a kind person because God has really changed me, sometimes people take that as a weakness. And they feel that because you are saved, you should just accept whatever is thrown your way and whatever people say to you and however you are treated and because you are saved you should just keep turning the other cheek. Just because I am saved, doesn't mean that I am a doormat. Just because I am saved, doesn't mean I am weak or that I should have to keep turning the other cheek and never give anything except a holy smile.

It would take a lot of those things happening over and over again to make me ticked because I am able to re-adjust quickly to allow myself to not allow situations to control me. If I get that angry, it is because something has happened over and over again and I have just about had enough.

HM: What was the pivotal event or what was the thing that motivated you to get up and get going and make the changes in your life?

NYC: Hitting the lowest point of my life was in 2012 when I went through a separation follow by a divorce. I filed for the divorce and I knew it was something that I had to do. I assumed that because I was the one that filed for the divorce that when the divorce took place, I would be okay.

This was something that I knew that I needed to get out of.

I thought I would be upset for a while but, I felt what it meant when people say that divorce is like death. Not only was it like death, but once you are separated from someone and you start finding out some truths that you never would have expected, those things broke me. My spirit was broken and my soul was broken. I was at the lowest level of depression that I had ever fallen into. I was at a point where I thought that I would never recover.

On August 16, 2012, I tried to commit suicide.

After the Lord allowed me to live through that, I have been running, not skipping and hopping, but running for my life. There's nothing in me that believes that I didn't have to go through that. Every pain, every tear, all of it I had to go through in order for me to have this shifting in my life.

NYC

HM: May I ask you what in you pushed you to that point?

In our ministry we are dealing with people who are going through therapy because of depression and that are on medication for depression and as a church we act like we don't have to talk about that. We say God can fix everything, you shouldn't get to that point and I know that in my life I had gotten to that point once when I was around 10 years old. But what pushed you to that point?

NYC: I was always the one that was strong for everyone else. I was the "go to" person, I was the one who picked everybody else up and pulled everyone else off of the edge of the bridge. That was me. So when you are the "go to" person, who do you go to? When you are the one who pours into every one else, what do you do when you need someone to pour into you? When you feel like you have nothing left and you have given out everything that you have, you're the one who strengthens everyone else, so who can strengthen you now. It was that coupled with the fact that the things that I found out after my divorce were so painful that I felt like I couldn't take it. Because there were some things as far as betrayal that had happened and also adultery that I had no knowledge of until after the divorce, I felt like I had no one to talk to about it because after I finished crying I need to encourage you again. It was just too much for me at that time. Honestly, I lost every friend that I had, not just my husband, but every friend at the same time. I lost my best friend and all of my other friends and associates were ripped from me all at the same time.

I felt like there was nothing I could do because I was still expected to be the pastor's daughter, I was still expected to be the choir director, I was still expected to be this person and that person standing in front of the church and leading everyone into a great praise break and a great time of worship and I leave church and cry all the way home. I felt like I had nothing to live for. I felt like I was giving everyone else what they needed and nothing was given to me.

There was a dream that I had in the middle of the night and I woke up and I clearly heard the enemy say, "It's about that time for you to do it.". And the first couple of nights I kept ignoring it and laughing it off because it happened one night after the next until I started having panic attacks in my sleep.

Finally, the panic attacks got so great that I literally said, "Ok, I'll do it.". And I tried it and it didn't work and here I am.

NYC

I honestly believe that I had to go through every second of that pain, and all of it worked for me.

Then, I couldn't see it but, now I am glad that I did go through it.

NYC

HM: That makes so much sense because when we are in pain and when we are in agony and when we are suffering it is not something that we want to have happen. And often we think, God where are you? Why are you allowing this to happen? And of course the Lord doesn't do those things TO us, but He allows them to happen for good. And when we get on the other side, we can clearly see that it had to happen that way.

Many of us are from a generation that says once you get married you have to stay married, you have to make this marriage work even if they are cheating on you or they are beating you half to death. That was my parents mindset to stay together no matter what and when I got married the first time, that is what I planned to do. Was there any part of you that ever thought I am going to stay here no matter what. Even if it is detrimental to my life or my health, I am going to stay.

NYC: Yes, definitely, Transparently speaking, my last marriage was my second marriage.

I felt like I had to stay because I had already been through one divorce. Now I'm the pastor's daughter and he is a member of our church, so we are in the same church and everyone is watching this situation unfold and I felt like I owed it to "NYC", I owed it to the membership of the church, I felt like I owed it to my family to stay married because I had already rocked their world one time with a divorce and he was also a member of the church and here I am getting ready to face it again. But I spoke to my parents about it and they had known that I had been trying for some time because about a year and a half earlier, I had found out about my husband in an adultery situation involving infidelity and he admitted it. At that point, I felt like I had to get out of it but, I tried counseling and did my best to make it work. That right there did two things for me, it gave me strength to be a fighter and at the same time it also made me forget about who I was, if that makes sense. It made me fight, but it made me forget about the great worth of this woman that I look at in the mirror because I couldn't believe that I could stomach and tolerate that.

Once I told my parents that I could not do this anymore, and my father literally said to me "Let me know when you need to go see the divorce lawyer and I will give you a check.", That right there, not that I needed the money, but that was his permission to say in anything else that comes after this, I will cover you. Without him saying those words, that's what it meant to me.

HM: When I left my ex-husband, my children and I had to go and stay in a shelter for a month.

We lived in a battered women's shelter. When it came time for me to file for divorce, I was crying over the phone talking to my pastor who really is my spiritual father and who actually raised me as his daughter after my parents had died. He said to me, "If you go back, I will never speak to you again.". He wasn't speaking to me as my pastor, but as my father. That let me know that he had had enough of my dealing with the abuse, dealing with the cheating and all of the things that I went through and he really released me to be able to know that it was okay for me to move on with my life and that I would be able to get up from that and keep going and I did.

I titled your interview "How She Got it All Back" because that's what I see when I see you based on some of the things that I have read. I thought, this is a women that God has not only restored but like David you were able to gain from it. What was it in you that helped you to be able to get it all back?

NYC: One thing was that I got out with my life. I had nothing left but my life, besides my family, I lost everything that was important to me. My car wasn't important to me, my home, my degrees, my job, those things weren't important to me, but what was in my heart was important to me and I felt like the only thing that I had left of worth was myself. And because I survived suicide, I felt like because I survived this, I could survive anything.

NYC

Number two, was because I knew that there were people who were waiting for me to die. There were people who were sitting back saying she will never recover from this.

She's recovered from this and that, but this right here, it was way too public. I couldn't even go to certain stores and banks in our area without people seeing me saying, "Oh my goodness are you okay, I heard about it.". I couldn't get on Facebook, Twitter or social media without people talking about it, like really talking about it on their actual pages, it was that big because of how public the situation had gotten. And I knew that I owed it to myself that my response to "you're going to die in this", my response to "ha, ha, you thought you were cute, your husband cheated on you", my response to "oh you thought you were better than us, now you lost everything", my response to all of it was going to be the success that the Lord allowed me to make through all of it. Those where the main two things; that Lord allowed me to get out with my life and I knew that people were waiting for me to die, and that right there would not allow me to give up on myself, And everyday I did not feel like fighting, but I knew that I just dodged the bullet of death and because I did, I owed it to myself. Often times before then. I owed everything to everybody else, so I thought. I tried to be super woman for everybody else, now I can look in the mirror and say, "You owe it to yourself to fight your way through this" and that's what I did. To this day, everyday I keep fighting, I haven't come out of survival mode yet. Even though I am out of that situation, my mind and the hunger inside of me still has a hunger to survive, and everyday I still fight as if though I am still in the fire.

HM: What would you like people to know about you that people seem to miss?

NYC: Deep inside of me beyond everything that they see on the outside of me and what I choose to portray to the public, deep inside of me is a little girl who still wants all of her friends and all of her family to win. And I consider the world my family. I consider everyone around me to be my brothers and sisters in Christ. Even those who do not profess their Lord and their Savior Jesus Christ. Because as I child, we want everyone to win, we want everyone to survive. Deep inside of me is a little girl who is waiting for all of her friends and all of her family in this world to get back up and fight again.

Always and Forever It is very important that in a relationship, our love for each other covers one another in all things, including our faults. Therefore, two people who have now become one must always communicate with one another when problems arise; not with your mother, father, best friend or even the Pastor.

Your mate has become your best friend and whatever goes on between you and he/she should be solved between the two of you. It is not wise to involve other people in our marital problems, unless they are so complicated that you feel the two of you need some professional advice; the operative word being, “professional.” Someone who gets paid to be objective and not selective.

You will find that whenever one of you decide to involve your family and/or friends, the advice you receive will always be one sided,( in your favor), confusing, and most likely will create an even bigger problem than what you started with. Whenever we take our marital problems to the family, the spouse becomes the enemy of that family. Perhaps that family member was not in favor of you marrying that person in the first place, now you have given them the ammunition they needed to tell you how wrong your decision was in this marriage and their advice is not going to be how to work through the problems, but how to end the relationship. And whenever the two of you kiss and make up, the family is still remembering what they were told and not everyone is willing to forget and forgive. Consequently, this can cause tension at the family outings; everyone is watching the two of you to see how one is really treating the other. Opinions are formed and the loving in-laws become the much dreaded outlaws.

Keep God first in your marriage, and remember He is the best counselor you will ever need. After all, you trusted Him to ordain this unity, so continue to trust Him to sustain it.

So, now you’re saying to yourself, “But, I need to have someone I can confide in when I feel anxious, disappointed or just going through.” Call on the Pastor or spiritual counselor in your church.

Usually, the Pastor who performed the wedding vows is the same Pastor who counseled you prior to the wedding. He/She is already familiar with the two of you and has answered other questions concerning the relationship. There already has been a level of trust and respect formed between the three of you and whatever you say to the Pastor/Counselor will not be held against either of you. The Pastor/Spiritual Counselor’s God ordained mission is to listen and give sound, spiritual advice to keep this marriage in tact. The only time a Pastor/Spiritual Counselor might ever suggest otherwise, is when there is abuse involved in the marriage.

Keeping anonymity in the marriage, when struggling with difficulties, gives the two of you time to resolve your problems without the pressure that will come along with allowing the family and friends opinionated attitudes to frustrate you even more. Anonymity allows the two of you to maintain a sense of respect for one another and you are able to freely think and focus on those positive attributes that brought the two of you together in the first place. You will be able to clearly hear your hearts speak what it feels and as the two of you pray together for strength to continue on, you will be able to hear from God and know that whatever your decision is, it is also God’s will for your marriage.

In marriage, we learn that there is no pointing fingers; as we point one finger at the other, four fingers are pointing back at us. For example, if the car gets repossessed tomorrow, it’s not about who didn’t make the car payment, we both agreed on the purchase and chances are both names are on the title, therefore WE didn’t make the car payment; WE had OUR car repossessed! If the house we live in is in foreclosure, it’s not his house being foreclosed, or just her house being foreclosed, it’s OUR house in foreclosure. Doesn’t matter who missed the payment; as one couple-WE missed the payment. If the bank account is overdrawn, OUR account is overdrawn. It doesn’t matter who wrote the check, the other obviously didn’t check the balance and withdrew some funds that were not really there. Every time you check your account, you should always check what has been withdrawn before you write that check, therefore WE over-drafted our account.

In marriage, becoming one in all things, means that the above issues could’ve been avoided by one simple process….COMMUNICATION! Sitting down and discussing what is financially going on in the household. Today, so many women are independent whenever they get married and giving up their freedom to have and control their own money is difficult to relinquish.

So ladies, we don’t relish the idea of having one bank account for both parties and the thoughts of someone else being allowed to use our money is just FRIGHTENING!!! Some of us would rather have all our teeth extracted Novocain-free!

But ladies, as we put our lives in this man’s hands, we must also put our bank accounts there as well. Now, if you know that he is not the financially responsible one of the two, this is where communication and conversation needs to take place. He needs to understand that he is not the financial guru and that you will handle the money with his knowledge and assistance. As my husband always says, “If you do not use what God has given you, then you are just slapping God in the face.” ALWAYS include him, NEVER exclude him, in the financial decisions because he is contributing to that bank account as well. This is ONE flesh with ONE bank account!

Chances are, this is not going to be an easy transition for either and it will take a lot of prayer and supplication to get on the same page. But in the end, as I have found, it is worth the journey and the two of you will be complete in every aspect of the marriage as One Flesh.

One flesh is a beautiful thing, but that commitment has to be the choice of both. Being one flesh does not mean that you lose your individuality, it simply means that you loose your selfishness; as we have long-time heard, “together we stand and divided we fall.”

My husband and I made that choice 33 years ago and I never realized how much of being “One Flesh” we were, until last year when I was asked for a photo shot for another magazine; the only single shot of myself that I could find was on my Drivers License.

Minister Denise Wade

Woman At the end of the day How much can you spare Do you have Love Is it bitter sweet Or medium rare..

Woman Woman what do you have left to spare Your strength so rare....

Mind Body Heart and Soul Woman what binds you together that's keeping you whole

Woman Woman can you spare some Love...

At the end of your day How do you rest Where does your heart lay Is there comfort Is warmth welcomed to stay...

Woman at the end of your day Do you pray before you lay Woman of the night and Day...

What can you spare Burdens Fights Financial Fears Deadly Atmosphere...

Woman What a beautiful name Painted picture Life's frame...

Woman Woman how much can you spare "Oh" the burdens you bare You can barely see the star you truely are When looking in the mirror...

Woman at the end of the day Is love welcomed to stay...

Woman Woman is that what they call you What a beautiful name Painted picture life's frame

Woman such a lovely name Without you the world wouldn't be the same...

Woman at the end of the day What do you have left to spare Broken hearts Naked thoughts Yes oh yes Your love so beautiful You still wear...

Woman at the end of your day Unstoppable God fearing Nothing can get in your way...

Woman Woman you will always be Special At the end of your day!

By

VIVIAN EDMONDS

KONTARA MORPHIS SET TO OPEN KTHEATRE DANCE COMPLEX A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kontara Morphis began her journey as a young dancer and choreographer at age 11. Kontara started her preprofessional dance career at the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where she was recognized as best choreographer. Morphis continued to study and perfect her dancing and choreography as she was trained in ballet, jazz, modern, African, tap and hip hop dance techniques at many prestigious dance schools and companies across the country such as : Jacobs Pillow, Philadanco, Alvin Ailey and the Pulse Tour, to name a few and has also danced professionally as a second company member of the renowned Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in Dayton Ohio.

Kontara has founded a Christian Dance company in Pittsburgh, Pa called I Am Saved Christian Dance Company. The company ministers dance theater productions throughout the city and surrounding areas. Kontara has taught choreographic works for The Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Propel Schools, Sororities, Universities, Churches, Dance Schools, etc.

In April of 2015, Kontara participated in the Urban Innovation 21 grant completion where she was awarded $7,500 to open her own dance school. The dance school, K-Theatre Dance Complex opened its doors on February 2016.

K- Theatre Dance Complex will provide dance lessons to youth ages 7- 17. K- Theatre Dance Complex will also offer homework help/tutoring program for students. Students will be trained in the following techniques : ballet, contemporary, modern, hip hop, theater, choreography Afro-Fusion and Conditioning will also be made available to students. Along with dance training, the students will study dance history, terminology, musicality, and performance etiquette.

For more information K-Theatre Dance Complex, contact Kontara Morphis at Kontaramorphis@gmail.com

SICQOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW SINGLETON

Model: Shai Seaton Makeup: Tyonna Singleton Hair: Tiana Ballinger Fashion: "The Clothes Mentor" Bridgeville, Pa.

TANYA DALLAS-LEWIS

M: What is new and exciting in your life?

TDL: Well, I have transitioned over into teaching and I am a television major. My heart-beat is singing so singing encompasses everything that I do and it's just like breathing. God has given me other gifts and talents, so while my kids are small, television isn't working because it's not family oriented and the schedule is very demanding. So I'm teaching. I'm getting my Masters Degree in English and right now I teach Family and Consumer Finances, which is Home Economics. I wear all of these different hats, but my heart-beat is singing. Even in the classroom I sing.

HM: How do the students respond to that?

TDL: Well they love it but, here is where it gets dicey. I try to remind them that while I am there, I'm a teacher. Of course the kids are googling me and looking at my videos and making comments, following me on Instagram and trying to be my friend on Facebook which is against policies and procedures between teachers and students. That part is funny, but when I sing in my classroom I sing when I want to sing. Sometimes they will say, "We want you to sing." and I will have to say, "No sit down and do your work!". I let them know that singing means something to me. I don't just sing to anybody. If they are not cooperating behavior wise or we have had a rough couple of weeks, or we have had a really chatty class, I'm not going to reward them with singing. When I sing, I sing from my heart, so I will say, "No, let's continue with the lesson!".

HM: When did you actually start singing?

TDL: I think I came out of my mothers stomach singing.

HM: Were your parents singers?

TDL: My dad has a voice that will make you cry. He is so anointed, but he never pursued singing. I'm a preacher's kid so pastor's sing by default. Because of that they kind of forced me to sing. I didn't want to sing, I don't like to be made to do anything, so they did that to me at about 5. I had to sing in the children's choir. I had a solo and I hated it. But, I came from a family of really great singers.

HM: What was it like being a "Pastor's Kid"?

TDL: Well, "PK"s typically are known as the worst kids, the rebels, in trouble. But my sisters and I, especially Tiffany and I, were the exception to the rule. We were such goody-two-shoes that you probably would have hated us. We followed all of the rules.

Whatever you told us to do is what we did. I don't have any stories because we did what we were told. We didn't go to parties, we didn't smoke or drink or cuss out our teachers. We didn't have a rebellious period.

HM: You have shared the stage with some major people in the gospel industry. Were there things that disappointed you about the gospel music industry?

TDL: Well, there are so many wonderful things about the gospel industry. But with anything, I think that as you are on your journey to what it is that you consider to be your calling or your destiny, there's gong to be disappointments. I won't say the particular venue because this one is pretty big and people will be able to figure it out, but this one big venue was with the "Mega-Gospel Superstars", it kind of broke my heart to see the lack of unity. I thought I would have seen more unity. Now let me clarify what I mean, amongst themselves, the ones who had arrived, they were fine. But for those of us who were coming up they didn't have much to say to us. I don't know if they felt like we were encroaching upon their territory, I don't know. I just would have thought that they would have reached down and said, "Hey, you're doing great, we see you, keep going, or let me give you some tips." but, nothing.

HM: Does that make you want to treat others coming up behind you differently?

TDL: Yes and it already has. I have always been that person to turn around and reach a hand back and I think that's why it hurt me so much and left me so bewildered and confused. I assumed that it would have been going on in that echelon and perhaps it is.

But I am just telling you from my experience that I didn't see it and I have been on several big venues and for the most part I have seen the same things.

HM: You received a Stellar nod. What was that like for you?

TDL: It was surreal. I know that artists usually say that and so when I hear people being interviewed on Oprah or some place like that I have said, "Is that all that you have to say is that it was surreal?". But now that it has happened to me, here I go saying, "It's surreal.". I almost felt like, "Are you sure?", because it was my first project ever and I had two Stellar nods. I have always kind of been like the underdog and I love stories and movies about the underdog because I believe so strongly in them and believe that God loves the underdog. What you may think is nothing, God turns it into something. It's not easy but, I love and appreciate that God can use me in that way.

It's hard and most people think about being used for greatness but not as the story of struggle. But, I am honored at the same time to be used by God in that way.

HM: Are you working on another project now?

TDL: Well, I just dropped my sophomore project a couple of months ago. It is called "Dear God, It's Me". It was like giving birth. I was way more involved in this process than I was the first time around. I am really excited about it and it made the Top 15 on the iTop charts on iTunes. That's why I say that God is so kind and such a sweet-heart. I don't call Him that to put Him on our level but, I have such a sweet relationship with Him and He is so sweet and kind to me when He blows kisses my way and that's what those things are to me. I don't deserve those kisses but, He blows them to me anyway and I am so grateful.

HM: You said that you were hands on with your new project. Did you do most of the writing or producing on your new project.

TDL: I am with an independent label on this album but, on the first one I didn't have to do anything but show up and sing. This time I was very involved with musicians, I contributed to the song writing and paid for the studio time and musicians. I was way more involved on this project than I was on the first. God and I had a lot of conversations and I had to ask myself, "Am I a singer or a gospel artist?". In my opinion, it's a question of business or ministry. I know that they have to work together but, it is sticky and it will always be sticky for me. I have asked myself, "Why are we selling this music?". I struggle with that and I know there are no easy answers. I know we incur cost and have to pay for studio time and there is a business side. But there is a question mark on my heart asking is this business or is it ministry. I know it can be both but, I still can't reconcile the two and I don't know if I ever will be able to do that on this side of heaven.

HM: Do you have any plans of going back out on the road and if you do, how do you plan to balance the many hats that you wear?

TDL: The quest for balance never ends. You never arrive. As long as you are breathing you will have to continue to seek out balance. I don't have any illusion of arriving at this perfect balance because it is never going to happen because we are human and the demands of life change.

One Of A Kind Remember my child You're one of a kind Search the world over None like you we'll find Precious and special I brought forth that day A unique creation I planned it that way I look on the inside And I can still see All the things in you That I meant you to be If you will just let me I'll show you where You have great treasure For I put it there

Photo: Sicqography

Yield yourself to me Open the door Receive the anointing That I designed you for

By Elder Victoria Wallace

The No More Project is a culturally relevant & timely theatrical production that boldy faces issues that are plaguing our youth.

HM: Can you tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are now. When I read your bio I learned that you had a rough childhood that led you to the place that you are in now.

PSD: The one word that I can point to that is a common thread and theme throughout my life has been the favor of God. I can't take credit for the things that He just did that set me on a path to victory. I know that I had a heart from God. When I was a teenager and I was homeless, I was staying at someone's house and they let me sleep on the couch.

That night something just made me sit up and say, "God if you are all that I have, how can I understand about You and Your love?". I heard the still small voice of God say "Get up and go over to that other room.". It was the room-mates room, but the room-mate was not home. The door was closed but, I knew that there was no one in that room. So I heard the Spirit of God say "Open the door.". So I opened the door and kind of stepped back and the light in the living room shined into that dark room. On the headboard there was a bible. So I walked over and I picked it up and I said "What are you saying?" because, I knew that God was really talking to me. I held the bible in my hand and He said, "This is the key to understanding me and my love.".

I put that bible back down and I went and prayed and said "God I need help, I need a family and someone to take care of me.". I made a phone call back to a family that I knew and that knew me and knew my situation and the mom in this family that had five children of her own stepped up and she said "Listen, you tell your mom that you are going to come and live with us for a little while just for the summer and you will be back, but you are not going back. You are not going back to that city, You are going to come here and be like one of my own children. It was like a safe harbor and a rescuing place.

I was a teenager and I had no education. I wasn't able to finish high school because of my desperate situation so, I got a job working at Olan Mills working on the phones selling club plans to people. While I was on the phone making club plans, they came and said, "Everyone get off of the phones we have an announcement to make.". They said their photographer had just quit and they did not have time to run an ad.

Would one of you like to try out for the job. They looked right at me and said, "What about you?".

So they took me and trained me but, I only had one week of on the job training. However, I had an incredible gift that I did not know that I had. I had never thought about being a photographer. My dad was a professional photographer but, I had never had an interest in it and I never even thought about it until then. Within a year, they came to me and said, don't let this go to your head, but your studio is number one in the entire district. So at the age of nineteen, my studio was number one.

I worked for them for three years and then I moved to Texas and went to work for a local studio called Lloyd's Photography. It was a mom and pop business so I was able to be up close and personal and see how business, marketing and all of that took place. Within the first six months to a year, he put me in the studio full time as the number one photographer. I shot for him for five years and I learned a great deal. After five years I knew that I could do this on my own so I started my own business even though I didn't even have a camera.

I bought a camera from a friend and went to tell my boss that I was leaving. He asked me what it would take for him to get me to stay. Once you get a glimpse of your next level, where you fought to get to becomes bondage. I fought with everything to get where I was and once I got there, I saw the next level and there was no amount of money that could get me to stay.

So I stepped out on faith and started my own business. I was very good at photographing children because I knew how to relate to them well and get out of them what I needed, so I focused my efforts towards doing daycare photographs and from there I spun-off some business. I went through the beginning of the phone book calling businesses and when I got to Abercrombie Academy, Cathy Abercrombie talked to me on the phone and said their photographer just quit. She said, "Can you get down here and show me your work because the shoot starts next week.".

When I went there and showed her my work, I got the job. I had no idea it was a highly prestigious school where the elite of the elite sent their children.

It was there I met a third grader named Preashea Hilliard whose third grade pictures I took. That is how I met the Hilliard family. Her parents loved her pictures so much that they asked me to come out and do their family photos and their ministry photos. At that point the elite of the elite began asking me if I had a studio, So I had to find a studio. I didn't have a whole lot of money, but I had a big dream and I knew that anything was possible with God. HM: So what made you walk away from all that which you had worked so hard for and gotten to a level in which you were dealing with that type of clientele?

What caused you to walk away from all of that and move into ministry?

PSD: I had gotten saved and I married a pastor's son. We started going to church and I got so saved and so turned on to God. I started working in every department that they would let me work it. I got a hold of tithes and offerings and my studio blew up to where I had a six month waiting list and I did not have room enough to receive all of the clients that wanted to come to my studio.

My husband and I stepped out and started our own church after his father, my first pastor, passed away. We had gone to Bishop Hilliard's church and Dr. Frederick K. C. Price was preaching that night. After he preached, he came down and he looked right at me and spoke a prophetic word over me in front of over three thousand people.

I was just beyond moved because I knew it was God. I always knew in my spirit that God had made me for something special. I always knew that there was a special call on my life and this just confirmed it.

I began to work in the church. As a pastor's wife, you just do what you do. You wear all of the hats. I began to really study God's word to where it meant something to me and stored that word up on the inside of me. I just loved God so much.

After several years of ministry with my husband as a pastor's wife, around 2005, I walked into that studio with my adopted son and I looked around and said, "My heart is not here anymore, I want to sell this place.". The moment I said that, the phone rang and I answered the phone which normally I don't do and it was a young girl that I had mentored from high school in a photography class who said, "I hear that you are selling your studio.". I had just said it for the first time out of my mouth. My aunt had been telling everyone that I was selling the studio and here God had already laid it on someone's heart way before this to begin to declare that the studio would be sold. My aunt had been going around telling everyone that I was selling the studio even before I had even spoken it. I sold the studio that night and thirty days later she had the keys, I had the money and I was out of the photography business.

HM: After 17 years of marriage and going through a major crisis in her ministry and in her marriage, her first husband woke up one morning and left. Pastor Sally found herself having to pick up the broken pieces of her life and having to keep on moving. One of her first thoughts were "My God, what am I going to do about the church?".

PSD: I heard the spirit of God speak immediately saying "Don't worry, I have already prepared the hearts of the people. So even though I was distraught, I had to swing my legs out of the bed, gather up what was left of the rest of my life, dust off the ashes and get up and go lead, whether I felt like it or not. I called the leadership of the church and said, "Gather everyone together, I have an announcement to make to the church.". I stood behind the pulpit and preached my first sermon called "Guess what, your pastor, ain't coming back!". I had to take the church over from that moment forth and move forward in ministry. The church followed me and said, "What do we need to do?'.

It wasn't long after these things that I began to pray and ask God for a husband. I wanted a husband and a ministry partner and God sent my husband Jerry Davis really quickly after that. He had just lost his wife from cancer. She had been battling cancer for six and a half years and she died a month after my husband left. It was kind of like two people that God brought together that had each experienced tragedies. But as we looked at each other across the table it was clear that God was telling us both, "You can sift through a haystack to find a needle, but it is very clear that I am handing you both the needle.".

We married and we pastor together and I have just recently launched my own location, in fact it just launched. We have two locations and he is ministering at the original location and I am ministering at the new one that we started in a movie theatre. It's the favor of God. The red line that runs through my life is that God did it. Because He's God. He did it because He loves me. I can't claim any glory for myself whatsoever. I was just crazy enough to believe God that He would do something for me. Every time I just thought it, or tried, or made a call, it was the favor of God.

HM: When did you come to the realization that God loved you? Was it that night at that family's house when you got on your knees or when you were going through everything as a child and you got to the point where you ran away? Did you think even before this that God loved you?

PSD: Well, I didn't understand God's love. My grandmother was catholic. And with the catholic religion you very much strive to be good enough to get into heaven. It's not so much about the love of God as it is about did you take communion, and if you sinned did you go to confession. In confession the priest is going to tell you to say five "hail Marys", say your act of contritions, say the apostle's creed and then you will be forgiven. In other words, I was so confused until I thought that my punishment is prayer and I just bought my forgiveness by prayer. So I thought God was just a God who works by the rules and there wasn't a lot of love that I felt. But when I knew that God loved me was the night that I cried out to Him and I said God if you are all that I have then how can I understand about You and Your love. When I began to study His word I realized that what He said that night was "Jesus".

He said Jesus three times, because when He said go over to the door, Jesus said, "I am the door, no man comes to the Father, but by me". When I opened that door the light shined into that dark room and Jesus is the light in a dark world. Then of course when it landed on the bible, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, that's Jesus. So He said, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, three time and I knew that Jesus was the way to understand God's love.

I knew that night that He spoke to me as a homeless teenager that no one else cared about but, God spoke to me, God knew where I was and He cared enough to speak to me. This was such a profound experience for me that I heard, not his audible voice, but I knew that God was speaking to me. I knew that I was able to hear His voice and I knew that it was Him. So I knew that God loved me.

HM: Was there something that led up to that moment? Were the people that you lived with going to church, were they witnessing to you, were they presenting Jesus to you? In other words, was there something or somebody that had spoken into your life to get you to that place on that night?

PSD: To answer that question, yes christian television. Back then it was Jim and Tammy Bakker and I would watch it and say, "Oh God, I just want to be like those people. I just want to be like that.".

I would watch christian television. Anytime that "Jesus of Nazareth" played on TV, I would beg please let me stay up and watch it even though my dad was unrighteous. I was watching "Moses and The Ten Commandments" and I just loved it so much and I would say, "Please don't make me go to bed.". He would say, "You got to go to bed.". So I went to go to bed and I had a bible and I found exactly where the movie left off in the bible. I always had a hunger and a thirst for God, I always did, but what was modeled in my home was very much not godly. My dad was an alcoholic, he would hit me in the face and called me stupid. He beat all of us. He held my sister by the ankles one time and kicked her in the face until I thought he was going to kill her. There were lots of things like that that happened that were just horrible. He was a swinger, He gave me pot to smoke when I was thirteen.

I always had a hunger for God. I always did. When I would see those movies, I had faith. I will never forget the first time that my mom told me about the Lord. She was getting me dressed for bed and I was small enough that she was putting a diaper on me and she told me about the Lord. I will never forget that moment that our green eyes locked and I believed in Jesus. I will never forget, I was a little child.

Pastor Sally Davis continued to share her remarkable testimony of dealing with her father's alcoholism, his abuse and subsequent death from cancer. She speaks of how she learned how to forgive and the power of forgivenss in her life. There was so much that was shared that I could not include it all in this magazine. However, I urge you to visit our website at www.heels-magazine.com to hear the clip of this amazing interview in its entirety. I promise you that it will change your life.

Pastor Cheryl Jones-Ross

Tommy McGuffey

&

“DECLARATION” Available for digital download at AMAZON

KINGDOM HEALTH 4 LIFE with

SATIN

 B.

Â

Blessings!

I advocate a plant base lifestyle, consisting of eating greens of all sorts, beans, healthy rice, no white sugar, or potatoes. The vegan market has changed over the years and new products are being introduced all the time.

Veggie products such as Gardein, Beyond Meat, Tofurky, Field Roast and Morning Star Farms are a few of the top brands currently on the market, for meat replacement. Even with these wonderful replacements, please watch your sodium intake and read the labels.

You want to stay as organic and natural as possible. Incorporate berries of all kinds in your diet for preventing disease, weight loss, as well as preventing cell damage.

Berries also are a powerful antioxidant.

You can start by making a berry smoothie in the morning instead of having coffee.

I am fully aware that everyone will not embrace a vegan lifestyle, however, you can still be healthy without going vegan by adding more leafy greens and fruits to your diet. Stay away from sugar and potato chips. Drink more water and green tea.

Even though we pray against sickness and disease, we must increase our knowledge on food for prevention and turn the tables on poor eating habits by welcoming new eating habits into our lives. This change is more precious than gold.

KINGDOM HEALTH 4 LIFE with

SATIN

 B.

Â

Get Healthy, Be Healthy, Stay Healthy! In the long run your body will thank you for it. Now, make the change.

Green smoothie recipe: 1 cup of Spinach 1 cup of Red Berries ( strawberries or raspberries) 1 cup Blueberries 1 Banana 2 Tablespoons of ground flax seed or Hemp seeds 1 cup of coconut water, almond milk or water ( your preference) Blend in a blender or Nutribullet.

KINGDOM Health ~4~ Life By SaTinB.

HGM'S

TheSTYLE Closet Style isn't about what's trendy or what is not appropriate for any particular season. Being a fashionista isn't about how much money you spend on your clothes or even where you shop. But style comes from within and it is created by you the second that you make your choices of what to wear from the items that you pull out of your closet.

Never be persuaded by what others are wearing or even what is being displayed in the department stores and boutiques. Find out what works best for your body type, your personality and your budget and your sphere of influence. YOU determine what your own personal style is according to how it makes you feel, how well it fits for your body's proportions, and how much it causes you to shine.

HEELS GOSPEL MAGAZINE has put together three different looks on five different women with divers shapes and sizes to help you on your own "style" journey.

TheSTYLE Closet

Don't be afraid to try some BOLD prints and try on clothing that you would not normally select. Just because it does not appeal to you on the hanger, does not mean that it is not for you.

Mix and match your outfits with different pieces from your closet to pull together a fashionable look. The pieces you select may not "go together" but, the combinations may work for you and give you that polished look.

Stylist: Cheryl Jones-Ross Make-Up: Tyonna Singleton Hair: Bree Singleton, Tiana Ballinger Photos: Sicqography Models: Erica Hudson, Marsha Seaton, Kameesha Simmons, Shai Seaton, Sabrena Waddell

TheSTYLE Closet

Every woman needs at least one little black dress. But, why not take your little black dress to the next level.

Black is great for every body type because it is a secret keeper in that it covers a multitude of flaws.

Whether you choose a black jumpsuit, a black slip-dress or even a black flared skirt and turn it into a chic strapless after-five dress, you will always be on point in black. If you pair your choice with a soft and romantic hair style, you will feel and look like a star.

TheSTYLE Closet

Accentuate your best features with your favorite make-up brand. Pastel colors, gold eye-shadows, well-manicured brows, eye-lashes and glossy lips with a pop of color will work for both daytime and evening wear. Just remember to wear an appropriate amount of make-up for the occassion. Avoid harsh lines of demarcation when applying your foundation or powder. You do not want to look like you are wearing a mask. Always remember to blend, blend and blend some more!

Whether you choose a pair of pumps, some sassy boots or a plain flat shoe, choose footwear that stands alone and completes the look that you are going for; edgy, sophisticated or flirty. Rock some great accessories to make your casual fashions perfect and your evening wear exceptional.

Heels Gospel Magazine Album Recommendation: William McDowell " SOUNDS OF REVIVAL"

HEELS HEALING ENCOURAGEMENT ELEVATION LOVE SOUNDNESS FOR THE TOTAL WOMAN

For information on advertising your business, ministry or event in HEELS Gospel Magazine: visit our website at www.heels-magazine.com or call us at 216-200-6347