Hi there!
Welcome to the first Q & A of our new Spotlight Blog Series, a series designed to introduce you to purpose-driven individuals that are fulfilling their God-given destinies in all facets of life! Today, enjoy becoming more acquainted with the immensely gifted Jackie Hill Perry.
I like Jackie so much. While we haven’t spent time together in person, I’ve enjoyed getting to watch her life and ministry blossom in a million different directions from afar and cheerleading her all the way. She is a disciple of Christ, wife to her beloved husband Preston, and mother of two very beautiful daughters, Eden and Autumn. She is a very talented poet, hip hop artist, and writer – most notably recognized for her spoken word pieces, “My Life as a Stud” and “A Poem About Weed,” as well as her book “Gay Girl, Good God.” Her testimony of redemption is hard-hitting, laced with truth and the catalyst for the freedom of others.
She is also funny. Very, very, very. . .(did I say *very) funny.
Enjoy the following conversation, and then, before you go, leave a comment of encouragement for Jackie!
Priscilla
PS . . . You can always learn more about Jackie at http://www.jackiehillperry.com. Her resources also include an incredible Bible Study called “Jude: Contending for the Faith in Today’s Culture.” You’ll want to get your hands on it as soon as you can!
- If you could describe this season of your life in one word, what word would it be? Why?
Complicated. With my children growing and continually changing, in addition to my marriage with all of its beauty and trials, let alone the ministry God has allowed me to experience, nothing is easy. Everything takes work or constant adjustment but it’s strangely fun. I guess I’d rather have a complicated life than a boring one.
- In terms of your career, before you knew you would be __________________, you almost . . .
Before I knew I’d be a writer, I almost went to culinary school. I wanted to be an Executive Chef.
- In what ways do you ensure that your career path serves the purposes of God and encourages His people?
Priorities perhaps. I’m convinced that my life isn’t my own and that all of it is for glory. With that, all of it is for service as well. So I don’t tend to overthink how my career serves those purposes. I just try to live my life loving the Lord with all my heart and loving my neighbor and what subsequently happens is that my career submits to those commands as a consequence.
- Fill in the blank. I am not a very _____________ person.
I am not a very easily excited person.
I’m the one that goes to a concert and sits down. On roller coasters, I don’t scream. It’s not that I don’t get excited though, I’m just not the most emotionally exaggerative person when it comes to experiences. If Daria was a black girl, I’d be her…lol
- When is the last time you laughed so hard that it hurt?
I honestly don’t remember. That’s laughable actually.
- Name your biggest strength and your biggest weakness? How has each served you as you’ve fulfilled your purpose?
Biggest Strength: The way I think. What I mean by that is, when I’m intrigued by anything whether it be a particular food, movie, Scripture, personality type, whatever, I will think through every possible angle for how to best understand it. It’s the reason why I teach Scriptures like I do because I’ll take a passage and sit with it for as long as I can, thinking it through until I can communicate the mysterious plainly. This in turn allows me to bring to light the little things that might’ve been missed.
Biggest Weakness: Pride. With the way I think, there comes an inflated ego for how I think. I can struggle with believing that the way I think should be a kind of standard for others which is definitely a deterrent to humility and thus love. God, by His power and self-revelation continues to remind me that my mind is a gift that was given and can be taken away and that the only One who has the right to glory in their intellect is Him.
- What has been the most difficult season in your life? How did you get through it?
My first year of marriage was the most difficult season of my life. It was sooo hard to adjust to living my life in consideration of another person while being pregnant with a honeymoon baby. As exhausting as it was, it shaped us to love each other beyond the butterflies. We got through it with community and an unwavering belief that even the hard stuff was helping us live out the mystery of the Gospel.
- If you could make three wishes and there were no limitations on what you could request, what would you wish for?
1: Free mortgage for the rest of my life
2: Salvation for my children and the generations after them
3: Photographic memory
- If this were your last year on earth, what would you want to spend your time doing?
Loving and serving my family.
- If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be?
Keep living.
*These blog interviews are designed only to be fun, informative and introductory. GB Ministries has varying levels of familiarity with each participant so their presence here does not equal our endorsement of or full alignment with theological doctrine or political perspective.
