So for the last 14 days I’ve been scrambling, struggling, and grinding to prepare for the ESSENCE Music Festival in New Orleans. I was invited at the last minute to do some freelance work for ESSENCE Online (cue Ashanti‘s “Dreams are real…all you have to do is just believe”).

So that means I don’t have any new scathing commentary on race, gender, and pop culture (yet) this week. What I would like to share is an article I wrote for Vision Magazine, the print publication ministry of the First Baptist Church in Glenarden. I began writing a column called “Sister Truth” in which I hope to encourage women of Christ (like myself) throughout life’s challenges and tough decisions.

This trip to New Orleans has been one of the strangest and thrilling experiences of my life (look out for VLOGS this week). I’m constantly trying to encourage myself. I hope this article helps me and someone else. 

~jJ~ 

WONDER WOMAN by Jolie A. Doggett

My name is Jolie. But my friends call me “Wonder Woman“. Why? Because I’m always on the go and I’m up for any challenge. Just like the fictional comic heroine, I used my wit and smarts to face life’s difficulties all while remaining calm, strong, and beautifully composed. I work hard and I used to pride myself on being able to handle my own life and my own problems, whatever they were, all on my own.

When I started college six years ago, a lot of things changed. New places, new people, new struggles, new standards to live up to. It wasn’t long before I felt incredibly overwhelmed.  It was all seeming like too much. I couldn’t find any strength in myself to move forward they way I used to.

Everything I was once so sure about in myself was now put in question. My former composed self became quickly disheveled by the pressure to succeed. I felt weak and discouraged and, quite frankly, stupid. Who did I think I was that I could make my way through my career and become successful?

One morning I woke up really not ready to face what was sure to be a difficult day ahead. I didn’t have any strength left in me. I picked up my Bible and randomly flipped through its pages. I found myself in the book of Psalms and read Chapter 73 verse 26: “My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.“

It was then that I realized I was no Wonder Woman at all. And that was okay because God is and will always be the true superhero in my life. He swooped in when all seemed lost and my world was falling apart and saved the day. He handles things in ways I could never handle on my own. When I can’t do it all, God can do it all and then some.

I made it through four years of undergrad and more challenging situations by reading that verse every morning and reminding myself that I am not invincible and assuring myself that I would still be okay. When I couldn’t find the strength in myself, I had to find my strength in God. I had to humble myself and allow my God to have control. I am never all on my own. God is always there.

So to all the wonder women (and super men) out there who are working hard, raising their kids, chasing their dreams, and making a way, stay close to God who is the source of your power and your super strength and let Him save your day.