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Surviving Trauma: Stories of Hope
Surviving Trauma: Stories of Hope
Embracing Faith and Healing: Marquette L Walker's Journey to Empowerment and Leadership
What if setbacks didn't define your worth or future happiness? Join me, Marlene McConnell, as we dive into the remarkable journey of Marquette Latrice Walker, a modern woman of faith whose story is nothing short of inspiring. In this heartfelt conversation, Marquette reveals how her deeply rooted church background helped her launch impactful outreach programs like Destined for Greatness 2 and Marquette L Walker Ministries. She candidly discusses her battles with insecurities, toxic relationships, and the transformative power of faith and community support.
Marquette's testimony is a powerful reminder of the importance of holding on to hope and embracing forgiveness. Reflecting on her pursuit of a successful marriage, she shares her journey through repeated disappointments and the ultimate realization that a strong relationship with God brings peace and healing. Celebrating her third wedding anniversary, Marquette opens up about how her ministry supports women facing similar challenges, emphasizing that past hurts do not dictate one's future. This is a story of resilience, spiritual connection, and the beauty of divine timing.
Discover how Marquette's faith journey led her to embrace her spiritual calling and leadership role. From a shy girl to a dynamic ministry leader, Marquette discusses key scriptures and pivotal moments that shaped her path. Her infectious joy and authenticity shine as she empowers others to speak up and find strength in their healing journeys. This episode also features Arquette L. Walker, author of "Divorced but Not Defeated," who shares her mission to break the silence around divorce within religious communities. Tune in for an uplifting conversation filled with inspiration, gratitude, and powerful insights.
If you wish to connect with Marquette, check out his website and social media links below.
Website: https://www.marquettelwalkerministries.com/
YouTube: YouTube Link
Instagram: Instagram Link
Facebook: Facebook Link
Book: Divorced But Not Defeated
Connect with me by checking out mycenteredlife on social media, and leave me a comment to let me know what you think of the episode. Also please, head to Amazon, Takealot or Audible at the link and get your copy of my E-book, paperback book or audiobook edition, of Ray of Light, and please leave me a rating and review. It would mean the world to me.
Facebook: My Centered Life Facebook
Instagram: My Centered Life Instagram
YouTube: Marlene McConnell MCL YouTube Channel
Please support the show on Paypal: PayPal.Me/marlenegmcconnell
Hi there, I'm your host, marlene McConnell, and welcome to the Surviving Trauma Stories of Hope podcast. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Marquette Latrice Walker, who joins me all the way from the United States. Marquette is redefining what it means to be a modern woman of faith. She wants her message of being a walker of faith to spread throughout the world, defying cultural, religious, gender and socioeconomic boundaries. Whether through her daily work or viral messages, it only takes a few minutes of connecting with her to understand why she becomes an instant favorite. Marquette has a unique way of reaching people who are seeking to make peace with their past, maximizing their present and deepen their relationship with God. Marquette launched her ministry and started a new events planning business Destined for Greatness 2. With her down-to-earth personality, contemporary style and revelatory messages, there's no question why she is an emerging leader. She possesses evangelistic and prophetic insights through her faithful relationship with God that is needed for this generation.
Speaker 1:I loved having Marquette join me and I know you are going to love this episode, my listeners. I recently launched a YouTube channel. My videos include relevant, inspirational personal awareness, self-improvement content, positive affirmations, meditations and visualizations and, of course, the podcast. So please check out, malene McConnell. Thank you me on this journey. Comment on the posts on Instagram, facebook, linkedin and YouTube and let me know what you think of the episode. Also, head to amazoncom, audible or takealotcom and get your copy of my book Ray of Light, and please leave me a rating and review. It would mean the world to me, as always. Stay tuned and keep listening. Hi Marquette, how are you? Welcome to the Surviving Trauma Stories of Hope podcast.
Speaker 2:Hi, merlene, I am good and I am so excited to be on this amazing platform with you. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:I'm doing great. I'm so excited that we finally got the chance to get together and that we're going to talk about some really much needed topics in the world today. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to this conversation, absolutely, absolutely so. Just for the listeners, I'll just give a brief background. Marquette is the CEO of Marquette Al Walker Ministries, dedicated to helping individuals navigate relationship challenges and heal from their past wounds, and she believes that the common mission of spreading hope and resilience aligns perfectly between what we are going to discuss today the work that I do and the work that Marquette does at the Women's Ministries, so I can't wait to dive in. So, as just some background and introduction, could you tell us what inspired you to start both your Destined for Greatness 2 and your ministry and sort of what is the vision behind it?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That's an awesome question. So how did Destined for Greatness 2 event come about? Well, I had Destined for Greatness 1, and I ran that by myself for years.
Speaker 2:And then when the pandemic came, of course, the pandemic knocked a lot of things out and during that time I met my current husband and so, destined for Greatness. One had dissolved and so we got together and I'm like you know what we are still Destined for Greatness, I'm still Destined for Greatness, but it's two of us now. So let's relaunch destined for greatness to event planning. So that's how that one came about. Now, marquette L Walker Ministries.
Speaker 2:Now, as a little girl, I was born and raised in the church. I mean pretty much born and raised in a church. I tell people I was born on a pew. That's how much I was in the church. So I had church in me.
Speaker 2:As I was growing up, I stepped, or even stepped away from church for a little bit, and I came back. I just felt like it was better, my life was better being on God's side. So, as I was growing up, I had this nudge in my gut like you supposed to be doing a ministry. You, you have helps in you, you have service in you, I love people, I want people to do well and, um, last year we were like you know what? I think it's, it's time, it's time for me, uh, to launch, uh, my ministry, and, um, we went ahead and we just went for it. We're like we're already doing things that come in alignment. We're helping the community. We're we help them women that have been divorced just you know, helping them through their trauma, helping them through different situations. So it was like you know what, what better time to do it than now? And so that's how Marquette L Walker Ministries came about.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic and you know the outreach is into community, where it's so much needed. So I mean it's just yeah, it's the perfect place, the perfect time. I believe that everything is in its right time and it's in divine timing. You know so you often speak when you talk about your personal journey and even you know from other research that I've done, I know that you often speak about, like you've just mentioned. Now you know, some of the personal battles that you have personally overcome. You also talk about insecurities, you talk about low self-esteem and you talk about toxic relationships. Could you share a bit more with us about those experiences in your life?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Let me just give you a little bit of background for our viewers. I'm not sure how many Bible scholars will watch this, but for the ones that are not, bible scholars, one day I asked God I said who do I align with? Come in alignment in the Bible. And he dropped in my spirit of the woman at the well found in John, chapter four. So if you guys have not heard about the woman at the well found in John, chapter four, so if you guys have not heard about the woman at the well, go and read about her. She was married five times.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure a lot of people heard about her story, but mine is almost similar to hers. I've been married five times. I'm currently on my fifth husband and now, just to give a little background, I talk about, you know, traumas, insecurities and all those things when I was a child, as I stated, I was born and raised in the church and all I saw was these happily amazing marriages and I just kept saying you know, one day that's going to be me. You know, by seven or eight years old we're already planning our wedding. We're like we want these fairytale weddings, the big gowns, the tears and all these things, and so at that time I said that's going to be me one day, that I will be married, happily married, like the people that I saw in church. So I pretty much fell in love with the idea of marriage and what it should look like Not knowing, not knowing or learning that it's more to come along with marriage than just what it looks like, right?
Speaker 2:So, um, and so, stemming back from my childhood, my parents, uh, they were married, um, they were married for about 18 years. Um, and my dad ended up divorcing my mom. They were married for about 18 years and my dad ended up divorcing my mom. And I just remember seeing that day when they came home from court and she was crying so hard and we saw the hurt and the pain and the rejection, the abandonment, and what had happened was I internalized all of that, not knowing that it was I was cutting myself up with what my mother was going through. So I pretty much took that and carried that along in my journey, and so that's how I ended up to be married five times, because I didn't really understand and I didn't deal with the issues from my childhood. So my childhood trauma came from my mom and my dad being divorced, and so I dealt with rejection, I dealt with the abandonment, I dealt with the hurt and pain and I didn't trust. I had a lot of mistrust. I didn't trust people, whether they were in corporate, whether they were in church, it didn't matter and definitely men. It was hard for me to trust men because of how my dad treated my mother.
Speaker 2:And now and I tell people you know, make sure you know you heal A lot of people are wondering why they're going through certain things or why they are accepting certain things, because a lot of times it stems from our childhood. It could stem from a generational curse just down the bloodline. Even in all of that, when I talk about bloodline, I found out my grandmother was married four times. I'm like what Married four times is like a generational curse coming down. Yeah, but for myself, you know, just not healing, not knowing I call myself. I've been married so many times I started to name them.
Speaker 2:The first marriage, 1995, I get married and I just call it naive because I didn't even know what marriage really was. I just was still in love with the idea and what it looks like, right, all I kept saying is I was happily married, just like the people in church, not knowing. The people in church go through just like anyone else. They have their issues, they have their struggles, they have their ups and downs, just like my mom and my dad did. They have that. I even X'd out my mom and my dad. I said, well, they didn't make it. But I'm still thinking about the ones at church. Well, they made it. I don't want to say suffered through it, but they had the patience, they had the grace, they had the forgiveness, which these are things I did not have. So one thing that I learned about myself that I did not have any accountability. So I had to learn that. I had to learn that I had to heal from the trauma that I've been through, from my parents getting the divorce. So now we're moving right along and still bleeding on the inside, still have not dealt with the trauma from my mom and my dad.
Speaker 2:And then marriage number two failed, still believing I'm going to be happily married, just like the ones in church, right, and then I get to number three. God was trying to show me. He was giving me downloads. You know this is what's going on. You know all your childhood trauma is chasing you, but you're running away from it. We're trying to get you to a place to heal because you got to heal. And so in between three and four, that's when a light bulb went off for me.
Speaker 2:I remember my dad saying now remember, my dad divorced my mom, so my dad could not tell me anything. I really had this bitterness, this whatever you want to call it for my dad it just was not a respectful relationship and um. But I did invite him to the, to the third marriage, and he was like you know what? Okay, wait, hold on. I understand marriages have their ups and downs. They had. They go ins and outs. The first one, you know, I'll give you the first one, I'll even give you the second one, but by the time you get to number three, there's something wrong with you.
Speaker 2:So first of all, I'm mad. Now I'm upset. I'm like what's the nerve of you? You're the boy's mother, how dare you? But I remember, I remember the scripture that says honor thy father and thy mother, that your days may be long on the earth. Let me tell you, I call my dad because I was. So I was. I was just so furious, I was so angry with him, and so I called him and gave him a few choice words. But then I remember the scripture, because now I'm trying to get it right, a light bulb is going off.
Speaker 2:I remember that scripture and I said, oh my God, I need to call my dad back and ask for forgiveness. And I had to forgive my dad because what him and my mom went through was between him and my mom and him and God, and what he did was between him and God, not me and my father, right, my father and I. So I did ask for forgiveness. Now, it wasn't right away. It took me about a few months, three, four months maybe and I finally asked for forgiveness. But that was the starting of my healing journey.
Speaker 2:So just starting to heal after number three, that's a long time. And then, not to mention, shame piled on top of that, guilt piled on top of that. I was already carrying unforgiveness for my dad, right. So I tell everybody, I had this invisible backpack. I was packing all this stuff in there, so it was weighing me down these bricks. I'm packing bricks in my backpack and I'm weighed down with unforgiveness, shame, guilt, fear, mistrust, all of this stuff that I was weighing myself with.
Speaker 2:And it was years before I can come to a place of starting to heal and unloading this backpack. It's like an onion that you're peeling back the layers, and so between three and four, I was able to do that. I finally came to a place to say you know what? There's got to be something wrong. I'm not having happy, rewarding marriages right now. Something is going on, and so I intentionally took some time off. I didn't date anyone. I didn't, you know, I didn't befriend anyone. Now they did come for me. They were like oh, can you take my number? Nope, I don't want your number.
Speaker 1:Nope, you cannot take my number, you can just be friends.
Speaker 2:No, I have a friend in Jesus, that's all I need. And so I was very intentional on my healing journey and it started with me, you know, forgiving my dad first. That was a starting point. Then now I had to forgive myself, to allow myself to go through all of this. So I had to forgive myself and then I just really took some time off, intentional time off in journaling, meditation, time management, self-care. You know, loving on Marquette, dating Marquette, to see what that was like. And after I'd done that it took me six years, six long years, to do that. I did it.
Speaker 2:And then my fourth one came along. Now, really, I thought I was ready for number four, but there still was a couple of things that I still had to deal with, so that one was very short living. I understand. I tell people, um, brokenness attract, brokenness hurt people, hurt people. So I'm hurting, so I'm hurting all these people, I'm attracting a brokenness because these men were jacked up most of them, and so I was jacked up. So, um, that's what I was attracting.
Speaker 2:But then I finally got to a place that, after the fourth one, I took a little bit more time away, but I still had that glimmer of hope, like you know what, I'm going to be happily married one day. And it finally came along where God met me back at the well, and I tell people, no matter what you've been through, what you have done, you can be forgiven for all of that. God will still meet you at the well and still, in turn, bless you. I still held on to the hope. I still had that one glimmer of hope that I am going to have a successful marriage. I'm going to have a happy marriage, you know, even though you still have your ups and downs. But now you have that grace, you have that patience, you have forgiveness that you can work with to be able to have that successful marriage Right.
Speaker 2:And so that's where I am. We've locked arms and you know, just saying that we can make this happen, we can have a successful marriage. And even today is my anniversary. Today is our third year anniversary today. And so I'm excited. Congratulations, thank you. And so that's where I am. And so that's what stemmed, that's what created all of this. Marquette L Walker Ministries winning women, divorced but not defeated at all, stem from my story.
Speaker 1:Wow, and I must commend you because you know, I know how devastating disappointment can be in life and to be disappointed, you know, as many times as you have, and not lose hope is only by God's grace.
Speaker 1:Because you know, disappointment has the way of being completely destabilitating and leaving you feeling questioning whether or not you know disappointment has a way of being completely destabilitating and leaving you feeling questioning whether or not you know you're good enough, your self-worth, and instead of you know, seeing the problem with everyone else around you, which I think you know initially was the case as you were referencing your parents, you know, initially was the case as you were referencing your parents. You know, initially I'm glad that you could get to a place of forgiveness, because I think forgiveness for me is always the key to healing. You can forgive those in your life that are the villains, or, unless you can forgive yourself and set yourself free, it's a very difficult thing because it's almost easier for the shame and all of these other emotions to kind of fall away if you set yourself free, right. So I commend you for doing that and for not giving up hope, you know.
Speaker 2:I just give up. And you know, when we say that we serve Almighty God, he's the owner of all, he's the forgiver, he's the mender of every broken heart, he is the mind regulator, because everything is affected your mind is affected, your heart is affected, your wellbeing, everything is affected when you go through things like this and um, but I served a God that I could be so grateful for right now that he has kept my mind, that I didn't lose my mind, and um, I'm not a woman scorned sitting off somewhere plotting or doing something great, right, because you know us women, we can do stuff, we can think of some stuff, but because of God and the God that is in me, and because I allowed our relationship to grow stronger and I got into a place to connect with God and build my relationship with him. And I think that's what I know, that's what has gotten me to the place that I am now. And I have to say, when I was a young girl and I believe this is why God has favored me in this area is because, as a young girl, my scripture was now faith is a substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
Speaker 2:I live by that scripture. I have faith, I have hope and I've never given up on that. No matter what I've been through, I always held onto that and I used to say there's a better part of you in there, there's a better version of you in there. I used to say that to myself. Look in the mirror and say there's a better version of you and she's coming out. She's going to evolve and she is evolving now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that scripture. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's Hebrews 11.
Speaker 2:Yep absolutely Hebrews 11. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I have a key holder with exactly that scripture. Okay, that I carry with me. I carry my house keys on that and it's got exactly that scripture on it. That's how I know it all.
Speaker 2:Yes, that is a powerful one that I live by and another one that I held dear to my heart when I got older and started peeling back the layers and starting to heal. Another scripture that I gravitated towards was Proverbs 3, 5, 5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not into thy own understanding, and in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. And I needed God to direct my path. I needed to trust him and believe him that he's going to do what he says he's going to do, and he is doing just that.
Speaker 1:Exactly, and I think that sometimes, you know, we, we look at these situations and you know, um, we feel that shame. And you know we feel the shame because we think we're being judged. But really, this is God's way of you know, dealing us, this hand, in order to shape us in what he wants us to be Absolutely. And, and you know, I, I, I think about what you say. You say that, um, you were very shy, as you know, a young child, pretty much up until your mid-30s, right, yeah. But then you say that, you know, although you knew, so you were, you were shy. You say, therefore, ministries wasn't a part of my vision and if, if, if, you would have told me then that I would be in ministry, I would have looked at you crazy.
Speaker 1:Then you go on to say, you say, although I knew the calling was on my life at a very young age, and I wanted to talk about that calling, because it's not everyone that recognizes that calling at such a young age, everyone that recognizes that calling at such a young age, and I guess, intuitively, you can feel that there's a calling, because you know that Holy Spirit drives you and it tells you this is where you have to be. But of course, in human nature we resist that. And then we take the long road we want to go through the four marriages in order to eventually answer the calling Right. So what was that process? Like you know, really answering that calling and saying God, I see your purpose for my life now and I am here, I'm ready to serve.
Speaker 2:And I am here, I'm ready to serve. Yeah, it's so, it's. It's so funny that you brought that up, because when I was young, I would see a lot of things that no one would be able to see and I'm like well, didn't you see that, or didn't you see that? Wow, you did not. That was right there. You did not see that. So I knew at that time that there was something different about me, that I was able to see things that a lot of people could not see, and and so, as I was growing up, even though I was shy and quiet, you could not get me to talk at all. I was the one that you would never know. I was in a room, I could be sitting in the room, but you would never know I'm there, right, because I'm quiet, and I would not, I wouldn't, I wouldn't dispute anything because I was just quiet and I was shy.
Speaker 2:And I remember I had a mentor and we were in a meeting. We were in a meeting and we had all the higher ups in the meeting and you know, everyone was going back across the table saying, you know, their concerns or giving their comments, and I didn't say absolutely nothing. And I remember walking out of that meeting and my mentor came to me and she said I know you and because I know you, I know you did not agree with what they were saying in the meeting. And so I looked at her and I said no, I didn't. And she said well, well, being quiet is not always good. You have to learn to speak up. And at that point I knew God was using her to to impart that in me. Like it's time to speak up, right, it's time to talk. And as I was going on through life, I kept hearing her voice say that quiet is not always good. That means quiet is agreeing, you're agreeing, and that's not the case. You're not agreeing with what they're saying. And so I was like wow, so that was a pivotal point in my life where I knew that there was a calling Okay, ministry, I could speak up and talk about ministry and talk about the world. I was like it is time for me to talk up because I don't agree with what they said. That is not true, that's not the correct thing, you know. And so that was the starting point of ministry. But if you would have told me back then I'm like, oh no, you got the wrong one, that's not for me. And then when you said we know it's there, the Holy Spirit is tugging on us. We know it's there, but we're running.
Speaker 2:I ran and let me tell you, my row was not a straight row, it was a windy, a deep wind. I just couldn't get it. I was like I and I tell I tell people I had a scenic route. I took the scenic route when it could have been easy.
Speaker 2:But I believe, I believe this is what God intended for me, because he knew, once I go through it, I will be able to tell it. I was going to tell it Now, back in the day, I was bogged down with shame, fear and guilt. No, I wouldn't, I wouldn't even thought I would tell the story. But God knew, because he knows the plans for us. He knew that eventually I'm going to get to a place that I'm going to be able to tell this story and I'm going to tell it a lot. Right.
Speaker 2:And so I remember last year was my first time telling my story. I'll never forget this, I'll never forget this. And I was prophesied to. And this pastor said you're going to, god is going to connect you with someone that's going to help to perfect your story. You're going to tell this story millions and millions of times. You're going to tell, and it's going to reach millions of people. Marlene, I'm going to tell you.
Speaker 2:Two months later, after that prophecy it came to pass, I got connected with my coach. She helped me walk through this story and perfect my story and bring it out of me, because a lot of times we suppress things because we don't want to talk about it anymore. So I tried to suppress it as far as I could so I don't ever have to talk about it. But that was not God's plan. His plan was for me to tell the story so I can help someone else, and I've been telling the story ever since then and I'm going to tell you. It is reaching the masses because one thing the enemy wants to fool us with is that we're the only one going through what we're going through.
Speaker 2:Right, so I dealt with that for a long time, like I'm not saying anything the shame of it all, I'm not saying anything to anyone. They asked me how many times I've been married. Okay, the first three didn't count, so I've only been married one time, the first. The second one, it didn't count, so I've been married twice. But no, that was not the case. I needed to tell the complete story, and that is when God showed me, or told me, the woman at the well and which, let me tell you, was so ironic I didn't even read about her, didn't read about her, so God was bringing that to my knowledge, like I'm like, oh my God, and there you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there you are. You know it's incredible when you can look at your life with 20-20 vision and you can actually see either in hindsight with a 20-20 vision or in real time, how God's hand work in your life. It amazes me and anyone who has ever experienced it. It's highly unlikely that they are not going to testify about it, because it is such a surreal experience to go through and actually see these things just happen around you, and you know that there was absolutely no way half of these things could have been possible. But there it is. God shows you.
Speaker 2:He shows me. And here I am and I've always prayed the prayer Father, whatever you want me to say, I'm going to say. Wherever you want me to go, I'm going to go. Whatever you want me to do, I'm going to do. My posture is yay and amen. When it comes to the things of God, he is first and foremost in my life, and I made the even when, in my downtime, my six years of really spending time with God, I finally got to a place where I made the declaration for God I live and for God I die. And that is a strong declaration and I live. By that. I mean it because he has shown himself mighty and strong in my life. Even going through all that I've been through, I'm still here to smile, I'm still here to tell my story. I'm still here in my right mind, my heart is mended, so it's full of love and I can forgive people, I can show grace to people, I can show patience. We have to have patience for people.
Speaker 1:People are people and so and that's where I am and I'm just excited of where I am I wouldn't have never thought in a million years I will be here, but I am and, and I mean the love that you have and the excitement that you have and the joy. It's infectious and, and I think you know, the best part of your story is that freedom that I can see you have now. You know, and I think that that is something that we all crave in life. People crave the freedom within their own lives and to have the peace, knowing that they can tell their stories, they can talk about things openly and they don't have the heaviness that comes with all of those dark emotions that keeps us shackled very often to our past. You know.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. And what people I want people to understand is your struggles is what helps you with resiliency. We have to build that resilience to become resilient. So what we go through that's what helps us get to that place to be resilient. And that's why I tell my story, so I can help other men, help other women, even though I'm focused on women. I have never had so many men come to me while I'm at a speaking engagement and say I was married four times. I was married five times. I was married three times. What in the world? Yet even when I first came out with my story all these people, I was divorced. I was divorced twice. I was divorced four times. I could not believe it. So it was so heartwarming to know that there are other people out there that I could potentially help.
Speaker 1:Wow on leadership, because when you go through these personal struggles and you find that resilience and you manage to come out the other side, it's almost like going through a transformation. You come out reformed in the other side, almost a rebirth, and renewed you come out on the other side. So, listening to you saying that, marlene, now I get on stage, I now speak to men and women, I can sense all the love that they have for you because they feel comfortable to you to say wow, I'm comfortable enough to say I've also been through this and you are an inspiration to me which tells me now, with your women's ministries and the work that you do, you have become a leader. Whereas you say, you know, if you look into the past, you were shy, you were reserved, you were the little quiet wallflower, you know in the room. Now you are the one that leads. And so let's talk a bit about leadership within your ministries. You know how do you empower others through the ministry to become leaders in their own lives.
Speaker 2:You know how that's a really good question and how I empower them is meeting them where they are. A lot of times, society paint this picture of if you go through something, you can get over it the next day. No, that is not the case. It's a journey. Healing is a journey. It doesn't happen overnight. You're going to go through a healing process forever because there's always going to be something that might trigger you right. And so my key thing to leadership is meeting people where they are, loving them, right where they are, and letting them know that better days are coming. If you do not give up on hope, better days are coming for you. And so when I can speak that over their lives and that resonates with them and I think it's like you said, that joy is infectious I come with that. What you see is what you get all the time and they say, wow, she's the same all the time. She's happy, lucky, you know she's happy. And they say, wow, she's the same all the time. She's happy, lucky, you know, she's happy-go-lucky, she's excited, she's always smiling. That is who I am and I know.
Speaker 2:I believe that's what God wants, how God wants us to be. We have to love people, in spite of who they are. That's what God does. He wants us to be representations of him in the land, right, and that's what I want to do. I want to be the best representation of God. And how do we do that is we are empowering people through meeting them where they are, loving them, through their pain and forgiving them, and having the patience for them to grow out of what they're going through them and having the patience for them to grow out of what they're going through Right.
Speaker 2:And so what I do and and also I want to build leaders so they see me. How do you do that? You spend that time with them and you invest your time into people. That's what build leadership, because when a person knows that you're taking your God given time and your quality time to spend it with me and help me through what I'm going through, that's what leaders do, and leaders build other leaders. I always tell people, just because I am a leader, I am a team. I don't see myself as a leader, but I know I am one Because I always say there's no I in team, there's no me in team, there's us, there's a we in team, and that's how I flow and that's how I build the leadership is letting them know we're all on the same playing field.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's true, and I think you know, if you can sort of relinquish the I, then it just becomes so much easier because you become part of that team and it's just such a well-oiled machine. You know, if you can embrace the teamwork, so I mean through the empowerment work that you do at the ministries do you have any specific courses at the ministry that you know your community can sign up for? Are there any specific ones that you would like to highlight for the listeners or for the viewers here today?
Speaker 2:Yes, I would like for people to go out on my website and learn about winning women. That's my course. When I first opened up, I called myself the woman at the well. I don't no longer identify with her because I became a winning woman, because that's where I am now. I am winning and that's where I'm pushing other women and men to win. And how do I do that? I help them on their healing journey. First, they have to start somewhere, so start with forgiveness, and then I walk them through and coach them through their healing journey with winning women. And that is the name of my course Currently.
Speaker 2:It started off as a four-week course and then I had a couple of people go through it and they were like, oh my God, what's next? So we extended to a six week. Now we're extending the curriculum to a 12 and a 24 week course, because people, once they get to the end, they're like, okay, where do we go now? This was so great. I need more information, right. So I said I hear you, we're going to take it up, we're going to take it up with God and whatever he gives me. And so we're expanding it to 12 weeks for our 12 week people and then 24 weeks, and this pretty much outlines of coaching you through your healing process, the stages of forgiveness, self-care, time management, journaling, meditating, spending some one-on-one time with yourself, spending one-on-one time with God.
Speaker 2:I used to tell people, you know what? I dated God for six years. They was like what does that look like? So let me tell you. I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you. Um, so I, I prayed, I fasted, I journaled, I meditated, I spent that quiet time with him, just been in his presence and building that relationship with him. Because that is the key of it all is having a relationship with God. Because when you have that relationship with God, then you in turn learn how he loves you and then, when you learn how God loves you, then you can love yourself, then you can love someone else or be in another relationship. So I coach people through that and I walk them through what that looks like.
Speaker 1:And that is such an important aspect of healing, I think you know, whenever you go through something difficult, the first thing that you ask is why? Why is this happening to me? Why is this the case? I think you know, for many, faith brings purpose. It does, and it also allows them to find meaning in what seems like chaos or something that they're not used to in their life. But faith provides a way of making sense of it all, because if you go through challenges in life, your world changes completely. Whether you lose a job, whether you lose a relationship, whether you survive a motor vehicle accident, whatever it is in your life, just listening to how you speak for your love of God, the time that you spent with Jesus, how you let him lead you, how you let the Holy Spirit lead you, that shows that you know. If you have that connection, you have that relationship. It provides you with the explanation, the meaning, and it provides you with your purpose. The explanation, the meaning, and it provides you with your purpose. And so the fact that you basically formed this as one of the modules, or some of the modules within this course is just phenomenal. Yeah, it's really remarkable.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, you are now an author and your book is called Divorced but Not Defeated. I love the title because I think there are many divorcees out there that may be listening today who feel, you know, almost put out with the trash. You know, because when you go through divorce, I always say I don't wish divorce on my worst enemy. It's one of the worst experiences that you can go through in your life. Yeah, and you know the the thing about feeling like you've been put out with the trash is that you need to sit in that feeling and you must become comfortable with that feeling in order to process it and find a place for it somewhere in your past. And so I'm excited that you've written this book and there is a guidance now for people who have gone through it. Do you want to give us sort of a high-level overview about your book, and is there anything specific that you feel called today as a message from your book?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. This was definitely a book, a story given to me by God. I just walked it out for him. I was a person. He used to walk it out, to live it because he knew I would tell it.
Speaker 2:But I knew after going through it and being able to come on the other side and still, you know, in my right mind and all of that, I said this is a story that needs to be told. Even when I started speaking, not realizing that it was so many people going through the same thing I've been through, I'm like, wow, yes, this story need to be put on pages. So we could, because this is a topic that is not talked about. They don't talk about it in the churches. They don't talk about it in corporate. So we have so many people walking around in shame that's in corporate, still wearing a wedding ring when they're divorced. Because they can't tell them, because they won't get a promotion or they'll be looked at a certain kind of way. They can't go up the corporate ladder, they feel like they're unstable. You know, they got to go through all of that. So now they're living a deceitful life because they can't tell it and they're walking in shame right. Even in the church. They don't talk about this in church. This is a taboo topic to talk about.
Speaker 2:And so I said, god, you give me the bonus. I'm going to talk about it because it needs to be talked about. And it's so ironic that the highest the divorce rate, is the highest guess where? In the church. And this is God's playing field. This is God's playing field. Relationships is of God, marriage is of God.
Speaker 2:So why is it that the divorce rate in the church, which is God's playing field, is the highest? Because it's not being talked about. I think. For myself, I said I wish, when I was younger I mean going through my phases, maybe first or second marriage that someone in a church would have said come here, baby girl, let's talk about this. I see that you're on your second divorce, let's talk about this and see what's going on there. So I really wish someone in the church would have pulled me to the side and had a conversation with me. But, like I said, it is not talked about. So I said, if God gave me the bonus, I will tell my story. I'm going to tell it as many times as I need to, and now let me just write a book about it so people can feel it wherever they want to.
Speaker 1:Your book is available on your website and then also on amazoncom.
Speaker 2:Yep, it's on Amazon, it's on Barnes and Noble, now it's on walmartcom. It's getting out there, and I just was told that it's being sold at a Christian bookstore in South Carolina, I believe, and I'm like, oh my God, really. So yeah, I got a lot going on. It's getting out there.
Speaker 1:That's wonderful. I'm going to leave the link for the listeners and for the viewers in the show notes so they can also check out your book and then order it, you know. So what is next for Arquette L Walker Ministries and Destined for Greatness 2?
Speaker 2:Well, we are currently. I have some more speaking engagements coming up. The Champ I Am. I'll be on that virtual conference September 5th through the 7th. I'll be telling my story there and then September 28th I will be at Powerful on Purpose. That will be in Columbia, South Carolina. It will be my third time speaking on that stage, on that platform, so I'm so excited still to be a part of that.
Speaker 2:And then something amazing, awesome. I tell people I have my own conference coming up. It will be October 11th through the 13th at Lake Junaluska in North Carolina and I know people like where is that? I said the same thing when in the world is that? I never heard of that, but it's 25 miles from Asheville, North Carolina, so up in the mountains, very, very beautiful around that time of year. So we're doing a three-day conference. It's going to be amazing. We're going to have praise and worship the first night. We're going to have workshops on that Saturday morning. That Saturday night we'll have a formal gala. I want people to let their hair down, come looking stunning and fabulous and being able to network. And then we're going to close it out with a praise and worship service on Sunday.
Speaker 1:That sounds fantastic on Sunday, that sounds fantastic. And yeah, I mean I haven't been to Asheville, but I know where Asheville is, so in North Carolina. So, yeah, if I had to be there, I'll find my way. So these are all very exciting events that are coming up and I wish you well, and only the best, for all of your events, your speaking engagements. And I wish you well, uh, and only the best, for all of your events, your speaking engagements, and, you know, may you reach all of the lives that you are meant to. May your book travel where it's supposed to and heal the hearts um of those it's, it's dedicated and put out there for in the world. Um, just in closing Marquette, is there anything that you feel like you want to just share as advice or encouragement for the listeners today?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I just want to encourage the listeners to tell them to never give up hope. Hold on to hope, and not only that. Never give up hope. Hold on to hope, and not only that. Let's heal so we can win. We will not be able to win if we do not heal. So let's heal those areas that are wounded and we can stop bleeding on people, because that's what I did. I bled in every single relationship because these wounds were not healed at all. So all I'm doing is bleeding and hurting people. So let's all come together, let's join arms and let's heal so we can win.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's amazing. If you actually put it in those terms, you're actually bleeding on someone and just hurting them. I think there are so many people who are bleeding in the world and I think the sad thing is that sometimes they're not even aware that they are, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's where people like you come in, and your ministry and your conference and your book and your speaking engagements is to find them and to stop the bleeding, you know. So I mean, looking back, you've had so much personal growth and you've just transformed in so many ways and I'm just so happy that you are now in a place where you can really give back. I mean, this is just the epitome of what resilience looks like, what personal growth looks like. You know what a woman of faith looks like. If ever you needed an example, then here it is. You know, and for me, it's wonderful to see how you lead your life and how you lead others, and I mean, I am completely inspired by everything that you've shared here with me today. It's been wonderful to have you here. Thank you so much for everything that you do, and I wish you well, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much and I appreciate you, and thank you for allowing me to be a part of this amazing platform today and to give up your God-given time to spend with me today to hear my story.
Speaker 1:Anytime, take care, thank you, bye, bye-bye. That wraps up this podcast episode. Thank you for listening. If you enjoy my podcast, please take a minute to give me a rating and review in apple podcasts. Please subscribe in your favorite podcast directory so you don't miss an episode. Please consider following my ascended life on facebook and instagram for daily inspiration. Thank you so much for spending this time with me. You can catch me again in the next episode, same time, same place, sending you lots of love and light. Bye.