Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Appearances
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
coming up on keep it positive sweetie sometimes your heart will be broken and you don't understand the season that you're in but i want you to dig deep within yourself and do it anyway and so i got up seven days after my dad went to be with the lord and i won my first grammy
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So when I said yes to him, I said yes to everything that God instructs him for us. You know, that's, that's my dude.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Even if we going down, I'm going to go down with you. But I felt like, yes, yeah, yeah. I felt like if, you know, God said this to him, that he's not going to, number one, he's not going to say God said something he didn't say. My husband ain't that kind of guy. He be like, I feel like, you know, I think. But when he says God says, I trust it wholeheartedly.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You are such an inspiration. Thank you so much.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Yeah, I think, and I don't really, I don't want to over spiritualize everything, but I think everybody's journey is different. You know, I feel like it's for me. So our experiences that we went through IVF and we talked a little bit before and it's something we actually ended up with three embryos, one that was implanted and we ended up losing that baby.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And that was literally one of the hardest things I'd ever gone through. And for me, just super transparent. You know, we can sing about the God of peace, the God of joy, the God of life. We can preach about it. But when you have to walk that thing out and live it out, that's when it's the true test of your faith.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And for me, I needed that season to show me that there were areas that had been lying dormant of a lack of faith inside of me. Because I immediately started questioning God. Like, do I believe what I've been thinking about? Do I believe what I've been preaching about? Because you didn't come through what you said.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know, and he had to remind me that Tasha, you heard my will, but you didn't stick around to hear my way. You did it your way.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And so he started just showing me through timelines that, hey, I showed you, yes, you're going to have a beautiful baby boy. He's going to look just like you, act just like you. But I never went saying that it would be the traditional way. You went about trying to fulfill God's will your way. And that never works. And so we had to go back now and say, well, what is your way? What is your way?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
We know your will. And that excites us. Sometimes the will excites you. You're going to have a match. You're going to be a millionaire. You're going to do it. But the process of it is the part that's grueling. You know, and so for me, yes. Don't shout that. Don't shout that. We shout that. You know, and I believe that so many of us, we hear, you can hear the prophecy.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know, when we're younger, people speaking over your life. I remember my mom would say, I see your name in lights. You know, we love that part. Oh, yeah. The process. The process.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Or his way. Yes. His way is just not always comfortable. And sometimes it's foggy and you can't see it. And so for us, God's way, I remember my husband came to me probably about five or six months after we lost the baby. And I had gone through just, oh, it was very challenging. It I literally had to record an album in the middle of that.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I remember going to Nashville three days after we found out we lost the baby, and I was like, I'm not going to no rehearsals. If you want me to do this, you're going to make this happen. You know how we can get sometimes, like, you died, you told me no, I'm upset, so you do your will, your way. So I went and I was like, I'm not going to go to rehearsal. I'm not going to do anything.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And I love that you mentioned that because I don't think my expectation was for it to be so spiritual. Originally, I was like, hey, I'm gonna cut it because a lot of people don't know, I don't do wigs, so I had sew-ins all over those years. And so it was just pulling, pulling, pulling, damaging my hair. And then when I don't have the sew-ins, you're doing braids, it's the same thing.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
But I ended up going to one of the rehearsals and they were doing a song that's on that album. It says, you're going to get the glory out of this. It was a song that I wrote before ever really getting into losing the baby. It was during the IVF. I know you're going to get the glory out of this. And they started singing that song and literally...
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
everything I was feeling the walls came down it started to break and my team didn't know what we were going through but they felt us so they immediately just started praying for my husband and I and I remember after going through that recording if you go back now the name of the album is royalty so going into it I'm thinking I'm singing about we're the royal priesthood and I'm a keys kid I'm all excited yeah
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Gowns on the photo shoot and God was like, no, no, no. I'm going to show you what royalty really is and what it really means to be my child. And so through that season, I had to really live out. There's a song on that album called You Never Gave Up. It felt like the walls were closing in.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I'm writing all of these songs before that season, not knowing that these songs were going to usher me through that season. Wow. I'm thinking I'm writing for everybody, anybody going through depression, anybody going through anxiety. But it was really, really for me. And so when we got back home, my husband was like, baby, what do you think about adoption? And I didn't hear just my husband.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I heard him speaking to me, this is God's way. So we went through that process and it was miraculous. So my answer would be everybody's journey is different. And you can, you know, I could sit here and say, do it my way. Or, you know, your friends can say, do it their way. But ultimately I would say, do it God's way. And you will know when it's his way because it feels right.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know, it feels like, man, this is me.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So have faith for the things you can't see. Yes. Like, I can see that this relationship ain't right. So I can see, let me go and get out of this. You know, I can see where my career is going, but I can't see where this baby is going. Yes. That's a different kind of thing.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
It's kind of, I know we call it protective styles, but it's not so protective. So it was just kind of pulling my hair and I noticed that it was just damaged. So I told my stylist, I said, after this, so I did the big curls for Woman Evolve.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So Asher. Yes. I got to talk about my baby. He's adorable. Let me talk about all of them. Oh, yeah. Let's talk about all of them. Yes. You know what? So we mentioned the blended family. Yes. And for me, it was such a growing up experience because you're thinking, I'm going to go in and this is the role I play. This is the parent that I am. I'm the disciplinary. This is what I bring to the table.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And it was so much different. My children have taught me so much about life, so much about myself. I've had to grow up to become the mother or stepmom that they need. You know what I'm saying? Just to fill in those gaps and to be able to do it with their mom and with my husband. And it wasn't always that way. You have to grow into that. I will never forget our two youngest before Ashton.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Their mom called me one day and she was like, you know, I was just watching this podcast with Jada. Pinky Smith and Will Smith's oldest son's mom. And she was like, she said something that literally just shook me to the core that I love you the way that I love you because I saw the way that you love my children.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And she told me, she said, Tasha, I can't help but love you when I see the way that you love my babies. And from that moment, all of the, anything that was a source of tension, we go into it looking like, hey, this is about these kids. And so we put ourselves to the side, and it has just been such a beautiful experience.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Yes, 22 now. She is, she just graduated Fayetteville State. Okay, yes. She's working in Charlotte. She's got a job and everything. So she's out of our pockets. Right. Yeah, so our middle son, he is at North Carolina A&T. So he's a freshman there now. And we have Symphony, who is our 13-year-old. So that's the one that tried you, right? Yeah, that's what it is.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
sitting there they called my name and i was like there is no way that these people are calling my name you know so i got up and the first thing i said is seven days ago the greatest man who ever walked the face of this earth went to be with jesus and i would love for you guys to honor my father and so the entire academy stood up and gave my dad a round of applause
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And then we got Asher, who really tried you. Like, you're a 3-year-old. Like, what is wrong with these teenagers?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Stunning. Yeah, I love this. I said, after this, I'm going to chop it. And she was like, all right, let's go for it because I wanted it to be healthy. So that was really the original thought behind it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
People warn you about two, but they don't really warn you about three.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Because they can talk now and talk back.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
What do you want? Where's my little baby? I ask him that all the time. Where's my little tiny baby? He's like, I'm a big boy. Yep, that's right. Yes, so Asher is our baby. I love y'all's photo shoots that y'all do. It's Sunday shoots with Asher. Ooh, it's a time. He's a drummer, so Asher plays the drums. Awesome. And it wasn't forced on him.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Like, Asher picked up drumsticks probably at about three months old.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And I posted a video the other day of him, like, playing, playing. People was like, oh, this used to be, like, cute, but now it's a real thing. He can really play.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know, we try to, Sunday, because he stares at our drummer the entire service. I mean, he's rocking. Staring at him, yeah. Yes. So while he was staring at him, because Asher wants us to carry him so he can see the drums. He can't see what people are standing up. Oh, yeah. But he's 50 pounds. Like, I can't hold you the whole service.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So I stood him up on the stage, and I was like, just go over there. He was like, no, not big enough. Like, he knows. He comprehends that I'm just not big enough. Yeah.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
but after cutting it i was just telling some of my friends like i feel exposed but it's in a great way like you see me yes like almost like i had been hiding i was talking to priscilla shire called me and she was like girl your hair is amazing i was like You know, just pray for me. I'm in this place where I feel like something is being revealed.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Yeah. I love that. And I see the comments, y'all. Like, they'll post something like that. And they're like, that's y'all. They'll never be ready. And I think you have to grow to that place where I will deny myself for the sake of peace for these children. Absolutely. You know, and whatever that means. Because, you know, she trifling, he trifling. It's never going to happen.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know, that part you have to leave into a place of, prayer but growing up the maturing the putting the past behind us but the only person you can really work on is yourself and you got to find out where have I been the problem you know you got to really be honest with yourself because we got to be honest y'all it ain't always that it's not no it is not that is real that is real
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know what? And it's, I am an advocate for therapy. All of us need to get a therapist, you know? And even if it's not every single day or every single week, or even if it's in seasons, there are some seasons where I'm like, okay, I feel myself getting a little heavy. Maybe I'm trying to carry too much. Let me get on the phone. Let me call. Okay.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know, so I feel like all of us need a space where we can release, you know, that the tensions of life, just life in general to talk these things out. I believe there's a story in scripture that talks about two sisters, Mary and Martha. And Jesus stops by the Bible says Martha's house. I don't think we often put enough focus on that. Jesus stops by Martha's house. And when he enters the house,
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Martha goes back to working and cooking and preparing for him, but Mary sits at his feet and she worships. I think a lot of times what we find in the Christian arena or in the kingdom is that we can work so much that we fail to take care of ourselves mentally. I believe that what Mary was doing was getting a mental break, a space in the presence of God where I'm seeing for myself.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I'm seeing about myself. Instead, Martha was like a lot of us. No, I got to get this done. I got to get up and preach every week. I got to go to work every day. I got to make sure that I'm encouraging people. Like you were saying, I got to make sure I'm inspiring everybody. Who is taking time to take care of you? Yeah.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And it may not be for everybody, but I feel like, you know, all the years of hiding behind the hair, hiding behind this and that, now I'm in this space where, hey, this is me. Take it or leave it. So that's it. It's been a really good spiritual journey for me.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And I feel like we can compare ourselves sometimes to those two characters in scripture. Am I going to be the one who's work, work, work, work, working and never sitting down to take care of myself and sitting at the feet. Even for some of us that work in church, you ain't got to be the one up singing every Sunday. Sit down and receive.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You don't have to be the one up at the door ushering every week. Sit down and receive. Do something where you're filling yourself up again so that you have what it takes to go out and pour more. So I,
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
found that space for me and it wasn't always me I was the person who was always living in next like I could be there there are times like even with that Grammy I don't really remember it and then it wasn't so much just grief it was just because I was a workaholic yeah I could be like did y'all answer that email you know where are we going next week Celebrate the now.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
What you find sometimes in scripture is when they would experience major successes, that they would build an altar. It would take a moment and establish something so that when I'm facing something hard in life in the next five, 10 years, I can look back to 2004 and see what God did. And the same God that did it back then is going to do it again. So stop and build an altar, celebrate those moments.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And one of the things that my therapist would tell me to do, I still do to this day. And she told me, make those people who are closest to you, make them make you be present. And I was like, how do I do that? And she said, so for me, I have arthritis in my toes. I know my sneaker game tight. You know, I have arthritis in both of my toes. I used to play basketball. I broke my toe.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
A whole long story. So I was like, if I got to wear sneakers, I've got to be the best at it. So I started studying the culture, all of that. We own a sneaker store, all this kind of stuff. But it started from me having a broke toe with arthritis. You know, sometimes you got to make limits. And so she would say to me, she said, make them ask you questions like, how do your toes feel right now?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Do you have a headache right now? They make me be present in the moment. My husband will stop sometimes and he'll grab my shoulders and he'll say, do you have a headache right now? What does this moment feel like? You were just on Crystal's podcast. How do you feel? So those just minor little things to make me be present.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I still work a lot, but now I think I've matured to the place where take care of Tasha first and all of these things. Sometimes success can be fleeting. It can be here today. Gone tomorrow. But have you taken care of yourself? Am I strong enough mentally that if it's gone tomorrow, that it won't break me down, that I won't die in that season? Exactly. So that's just where I am now.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I would be sitting in the Warren Show sitting down. Where we going tomorrow?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Because you also you're building the culture.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So they see you doing it and they're like, this is how it is. I have to be this way in order to be successful. My husband says this thing that rest is trust. Pastor Darius is also our pastor. I don't know if you know that. So Pastor Darius is our pastor. Yeah. He teaches us that, you know, trust God with one day out of your seven. Thank you.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
You know what? I've tried a few and I like that it's different things for different people. And so for me, it's been right now the soft curls by Miss Jessie. But it's been working really good. I love it. The curls pop a bit.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
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Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So the devotional is actually the second portion, I'll say, off of the main book. So the main book is called Do It Anyway. And the story behind that is when I released my album Grace, so that's the album that has Break Every Chain, Incompetence, Happy, Smile, all of those songs are on there. That album was nominated for seven awards that year.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
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Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
The devotional and do it anyway. I put my life in there. So it's memoirs and stories. Amazing. Even my childhood of coming back, watching how it was just a theme in our house to get up and do it anyway, even if you don't feel like it.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I believe it's going to be an encouragement to so many people.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So it was stellar awards, Dove Awards, and two Grammys.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And literally a freshman artist. It's my first album with a label. And my dad was a down home. I'm from Jessup, Georgia. So country pastor. And he didn't leave our church for anything. So literally we would do vacations from Sunday evening to Saturday morning because we were back on Sundays.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And so all of the award shows literally are on weekends. So Saturdays, Sundays, and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, daddy is not leaving just, but they weren't that kind of parent. They were very, very supportive. So my dad was like, hey, daddy's going to be with you in Nashville. I'm coming to Nashville, but daddy's not going to be in LA, but I want you to go anyway.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
He just kept saying, daddy's not going to be in LA. I want you to go anyway. Nobody expects you to go to Nashville, LA, nowhere. You're not leaving Jessup. So I'm just excited that you're coming anywhere. And so the Stellar Awards happened in Nashville. And I had 60 seconds to sing Break Every Chain. So 60 seconds. It felt like two minutes, but it was 60 seconds. What?
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So I was like, I'm going to give it all I got in these 60 seconds. And to look out and see my parents in the audience, because they had like the stage in the middle of the space. And so I could see everybody's faces. My dad, he's beaming with pride. And so that night I won three stellar awards. We were hanging out in my mentor's hotel room.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
We were just hanging out, celebrating what happened that night. William Murphy. He was like, call dad and see if they want to come hang out. It was about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. So I was like, guys, we got daddy to Nashville. He's not coming to your room at 3 o'clock in the morning. So I text him. I was like, dad, hey, we're just hanging out a little bit. He immediately responded.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
It was like, me and your mom, we're on the way. I was like, are you okay? So they came and my dad was two things. He was a man of very few words, but if he spoke, it was either profound or he was going to have you in the floor screaming, laughing. And so that night he pulled out his greatest comedy show. I mean, he had us in the floor just crying, laughing.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And, um, I remember they were leaving at about four o'clock that morning. He was getting on the, on the elevator and I said, Hey dad, he had three awards in his hand. Cause I told him I would give him those awards. That's a long story. We'll have to revisit that. Because I did an independent project, and I talked him into being the executive producer.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I have to pay for all of this? So he would always say, when daddy going to get his money back? When the executive producer get paid? He would always say that. And so I told him, I said, this is what I'll do. If I win any awards, you can have them all. And so he took that thing to heart. So I'm taking these awards. Yeah, he built a curio for all of the awards that he felt like I would win.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And so that night, he was getting on the elevator. He had the awards in his hands. I was like, hey, take out one. I want to take a picture. And so he took out one of my stellar awards. I snapped the photo. And that would be the last time I saw my dad on the earth. Yes. The next morning, they got in the car. He had a heart attack in the car. and went to be with Jesus.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And so of course it was devastating. You know, I'm like, this is unexpected. And I could always hear his voice ringing in my ears. So the Grammys would be seven days later and I could hear him saying, daddy's not going to be with you in LA, but I want you to go anyway. I want you to go anyway.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And so now I realized that he was leaving with me the last lesson that he would leave that sometimes your heart will be broken and you don't understand the season that you're in, but I want you to dig deep within yourself and do it anyway. And so I got up seven days after my dad went to be with the Lord and I won my first Grammy.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Sitting there, they called my name and I was like, there is no way these people are calling my name. So I got up and the first thing I said is seven days ago, the greatest man who ever walked the face of this earth went to be with Jesus. And I would love for you guys to honor my father. And so the entire Academy stood up and gave my dad a round of applause.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
But so that lesson I felt like I need to give this to as many people as I can So if I got to do it in a form of a book or a devotional or a song I want people to know that whatever you whatever you need is within you. You just gotta dig deep and do that thing anyway
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
It was tough. Everything about it is still foggy right now because you're smothered in grief at that time. It was unexpected. But I knew one thing that daddy wanted me to be there.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So my dad was, I've been walking with pastors my entire life. My dad was a pastor. My husband tricked me. I tell everybody, my husband tricked me because while we were dating, I asked him, are you a pastor? And he said, adamantly, no. So I was like, are we good? I don't want nothing to do with this. And, um,
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So we're about two years into our marriage, and here he comes sitting up in the middle of the night crying. I feel the call of God. Why did I say that now? You told me. Yeah. What are we doing? We got to stick with the program. I like the program. We're on right now.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
days so yeah he had he had this calling and i think it was obvious you know the entire time because of both of us just have a heart for kingdom ministry and for people to fulfill purpose in the earth so um and it's what we've done even with our team members we push people i don't want you here working for me forever i want you to do what god calls you to do if it's to start a business whatever it is i want this to be a ground where it's like you're educating yourself
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
getting what you need so you can do what God has called you to do and so I think it's just always been in the both of us because he's the same way so my husband's actually the senior pastor and I'm just you know I'm just there I'm a co-pastor but we were about two or three years into our marriage and he was like you know God has called me Tasha and I and I know that you also have that calling on you so first of all you need to
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Stop being rebellious. But I felt like, you know, what does God need with another church? So we have to be very, very sure about the vision because it's just not a place where I want us to come sing some pretty songs. People have, you know, experience to give you chills and all that kind of stuff. But you leave and you're not changed or transformed. And so we went to work just praying.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And at the time, we were actually serving as worship pastors at a church in Greenville, Relentless Church, with John and Abbott. And during that time, we had conversations even with them. Like, hey, we feel this calling on our lives, but where we're serving at right now, we feel like it's a great place for us to get training together.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Because both of us had done ministry separate, but we were never together in our marriage. And so that gave us an opportunity to work together, plan together, grow together. And so we were there for two years. And then after that, you know, we just felt like, hey, it's time. And this is the interesting part where God always throws these monkey matches. He's like, no, here's a little twist.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And so we were planning to do like this pop up, like, OK, we're going to do a pop up.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
spartanburg south carolina we had never even really been to the city we just knew it was 45 minutes outside of greenville and it's just where my husband's heart was like hey it's the city it's spartanburg well i feel like we were called to and so we were going to do like this pop-up service see if people show up and i mean as soon as we were about to do it the pandemic hit No.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
And we were going to do it in June. A pandemic hit in March. Right. And we're sitting at the house like everybody thought at the time was going to be two weeks. So it's like two weeks going to be gone. And it wasn't. So a month, about three weeks later, I was downstairs. My husband was upstairs. Both of us came together and was like, hey, I feel like we need to do Bible studies right now.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
I feel like God is saying he was like, God told me that, too. I was like, oh, OK. So we're two church kids and we have a plan. We know how to do this. You build, you start a Bible study, pop ups. We had a plan, but God was like, no, we want you to do this in the pandemic. So how do you start a church in a pandemic? We started in April. It was a month after the pandemic started.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
So for two years, our church was virtual. We had never experienced in-person church whatsoever before.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
so even now to this day like the mother of our church she lives in chicago we have people that drive in from atlanta driving from savannah because they connected to us in the middle of a pandemic and right now they love their church so much that they're willing to get in their cars to get on planes to fly in so i think that that's what makes our church so interesting that in the middle of this moment that feels like chaos god brought this group of people together and he's like we're going to build a community of people who will restore hope to the community so that's our vision
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
It's a beautiful experience, though, just to watch people grow.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
There are some that started with us four years ago, and now I look at them and where they are and how they've grown as a person. It's just like, wow. To see the transformation is what keeps us going. Like, if we were there and we show up and everybody's still a bunch of crazos, I'd be like, no, we ain't called to this because nobody ain't growing up.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
But to see every week that different people are just growing and fulfilling purpose, that's what keeps us going.
Keep it Positive, Sweetie
Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Yeah. I trust the God in my husband. like if he says, God says something, no matter how I feel, like I'm, I'm submitted to it wholeheartedly. There's, there's not, there's not been a time where I've said, okay, God, I trust what you've said to him that it's let me down. You know, and I know he's human and he's flawed and all of that, but I believe that he's assigned to lead our family.