Power Over The Enemy Empowering words of wisdom given straight by Bishop T.D. Jakes!
What’s Going On In Gvegas? A pictorial look at what is happening in the Greenville, NC area!
Relaxing in Raleigh
Book Of The Month
Be Inspired An in-depth look at Dorothy Height!
Jersey Connection A pictorial look at what is happening in the Trenton, NJ area!
Preparing Children For Greatness An in detail look into helping your children learn from their mistakes!
“Everything worth anything has a sacrificial and hard work
component!” These golden nuggets were echoed by a new found friend, Michelle Burgess. We were discussing sacrifice and the valor it takes to walk out your life’s plan. If we continue to press, something wonderful is bound to happen in our favor. In the Scriptures, Jesus was determined to get to the cross. He healed on the way, performed miracles, and brought a mighty Word to the people...all the while knowing that He was going to ultimately sacrifice His life for the sake of others. In order to walk out our life’s plan, we have to be courageous, unnerving to the voices of the people who are going to come against your work...oh, trust me, they are coming! You have to be as the Word says, steadfast and unmovable...especially if the work you are doing is what GOD has given you to complete. Many things are going to have to roll off of your back in order to be able to move forward in your plan. Many things will have to be put to the back burner, if you are going to successfully complete your mission. Just remember that all things work together for the good of those who love Christ! If you are doing what you have been gifted and anointed to do, it will all work out in the end,,,but, you will and must sacrifice some things in order to get the job done! We do not like to hear the word sacrifice because we know that it involves giving of yourself for someone or something else. It does not always benefit us. In my life, I have had countless people who have poured into me financially, Spiritually, with their time and efforts...you name it! GOD places individuals in our lives in order for us to accomplish the assignment we have been given. This month, IMPACT looks at what it takes to give of yourself in order to fulfill your dream! I can name countless people who have given of themselves in order to see me become who I am today and to see the mission of IMPACT come to fruition. People like: Bishop Johnnie and Lady Vaughan, Olympia Cook, my ENTIRE family, Christina Roberts, N’Jeri Grubbs, Narubi Selah, Eric Dillard, Chinell Z. Collins, Nicole McNair, Cory Bush, Deadre White and countless others. The sacrifice these individuals have and are continuing to make in my life...I will never forget! Continue to be a blessing to someone today, you never know how you will IMPACT their tomorrow!
TunishaC. Brown Editor-In-Chief
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NKJV)
God has given you power over the enemy! He has given you the power to abort the seeds of failure. Pull down those things that have taken a strong hold in your life. If you don’t pull them down, they will refuse to relinquish their grip. It will take an act of your will and God’s power to stop the spiritual unborn from manifesting in your life. God will not do it without you—but He will do it through you. The greatest freedom you have is the freedom to change your mind. Repentance is when the mind decides to overthrow the government that controlled it in the past. As long as these other things reign in your life, they are sitting on the throne. If they are on the throne, then Christ is on the Cross. Put Christ on the throne and your past on the Cross.
Dorothy Height was born in Richmond, Virginia. At an early age, she moved with her family to Rankin, Pennsylvania, a steel town in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. Height was admitted to Barnard College in 1929, but upon arrival, she was denied entrance because the school had an unwritten policy of admitting only two black students per year. She pursued studies instead at New York University, earning a degree in 1932, and a master's degree in educational psychology the following year. Height started working as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare Department and, at the age of twenty-five, she began a career as a civil rights activist when she joined the National Council of Negro Women. She fought for equal rights for both African Americans and women, and in 1944 she joined the national staff of the YWCA. She also served as National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority from 1946 to 1957. She remained active with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority thought-out her life. While there she developed leadership training programs and interracial and ecumenical education programs. In 1957, Height was named president of the National Council of Negro Women, a position she held until 1997. During the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Height organized "Wednesdays in Mississippi", which brought together black and white women from the North and South to create a dialogue of understanding. American leaders regularly took her counsel, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Height also encouraged President Dwight D. Eisenhower to desegregate schools and President Lyndon B. Johnson to appoint African American women to positions in government. In the mid 1960s, Height wrote a column entitled "A Woman's Word" for the weekly African-American newspaper, the New York Amsterdam News and her first column appeared in the March 20, 1965 issue on page 8. Height served on a number of committees, including as a consultant on African affairs to the Secretary of State, the President's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped, and the President's Committee on the Status of Women. In 1974, Height was named to the National Council for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, which published The Belmont Report, a response to the infamous "Tuskegee Syphilis Study" and an international ethical touchstone for researchers to this day. In 2004, Height was recognized by Barnard for her achievements as an honorary alumna during its commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The musical stage play If This Hat Could Talk, based on her memoirs Open Wide The Freedom Gates, debuted in the middle of 2005. It showcases her unique perspective on the civil rights movement and details many of the behind-the-scenes figures and mentors who shaped her life, including Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt. Height was the chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the largest civil rights organization in the USA. She was an honored guest and seated on stage at the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. On April 20, 2010, Height died at the age of ninety-eight. Her funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on April 29, 2010 was attended by President and Mrs. Obama plus many dignitaries and notable people. She was later interred at Fort Lincoln Cemetery.
"Parents and caregivers often want to spare their children and teenagers the pain of failure, but we must remember that failing and making mistakes are necessary elements of growth, development, and maturity." Beth Clark
Failure. It's part of life from the time we are very young until we are very old. It happens to all of us, no matter how hard we try to do things "right." Parents and caregivers often want to spare their children and teenagers the pain of failure, but we must remember that failing and making mistakes are necessary elements of growth, development, and maturity. Learn to encourage and affirm the children and young people under your influence when they fail. With good coaching, even the youngest among us can gain the proper perspective on failure and mistakes and see these things as stepping stones to success. Swarvarski
Teach Them that Failure is not Fatal Help children and young people put failure in perspective. Explain to them that failure does not mean "the end of the world." Maybe a child or teenager in your life fails to make a school sports team or the cast of the school play, but that does not mean he or she cannot play on a church or neighborhood team or put on dramatic productions for family and friends. Don't let their dreams die because of failure or disappointment. Instead, help them re-route their energies into further developing their skills so they can succeed next time. Help them practice what they need to practice in order to succeed in the future, and use encouraging words and phrases such as: "You are doing better every day" or "I am so proud of you!" (Continued on next page)
Teach Them to Learn from their Mistakes
Webster's Dictionary defines mistake as "an error in action, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc." In other words, mistakes are not intentional; they result from lack of training, experience, or knowledge. At the same time, they lead to training, experience, and knowledge. Teach the children and young people in your life that every mistake is an opportunity. When they make mistakes, ask questions such as: What can you do to keep this from happening next time?
What did you learn from this mistake? If you don't want to make this mistake again, what needs to change?
Look for the positive lessons to be learned from the mistakes your children make. Ask them to identify what they've learned after they make mistakes and help them see the specific ways each mistake teaches them a lesson that will help them do better next time. Remind them of the old saying, "Everyone makes mistakes," and encourage them to use their mistakes to help them move toward success.
Teach Them that Failure is not Final Children and teenagers respond differently to failure. For some, failure is just what they need to be determined to try again with renewed effort and energy. For others, failure discourages them completely, makes them afraid to try anything again, and inspires them only to give up. Remind them every time they fail that "there's always next time." Do everything you can to keep them encouraged in a healthy way—not trying again out of anger over a past failure or refusing to try again because of embarrassment. Above all, remind them often that you love and value them simply because of who they are, not because of what they can or cannot do. That way, they'll never feel like a failure in your eyes!
By, Beth Clark