Introduction to Shakema Wilson's Journey
In this episode, Joy speaks with Shakema Wilson, a single mom of four who became debt-free and now leads an international women's ministry. Shakema shares her powerful journey from financial struggle to freedom, and how her faith played a crucial role in transforming her finances.
In this episode, you'll discover:
How Shakema paid off all her debt as a single mother of four children
The mindset shift that finally helped her become "gazelle intense" after years of budgeting
Why she believes God doesn't want His people in financial bondage
Practical advice for pastors struggling with their finances
How becoming debt-free has transformed her approach to ministry
Connect with Shakema:
Facebook: Shakema Wilson
YouTube: 1Mom2Girls2Boys8InAll
Instagram: @Shakema_Wilson
TikTok: @ShakemaOneMom
Resources Mentioned:
Financial Peace University
Introduction to Shakema Wilson's Journey
Joy Hunt: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Pastors & Money Podcast. I'm Joy Suzanne Hunt, pastor and financial coach, bringing you conversations about personal finance, church finance, and how we disciple our churches in the areas of finance and stewardship. You can find the episode show notes and more at pastorsandmoney.com. And here's the show.
Shakema Wilson is a single mom, a social media influencer, a teacher, and a minister. She is a proud mom of four and loves coffee, Jesus, and her family. She desires to see women healed and whole and to equip them to be good women, wives, and mothers, and she has a passion and a burden for marriage and family.
Joy Hunt: Shakema, welcome to the podcast.
Shakema Wilson: Thank you so much for having me.
Joy Hunt: I am so [00:01:00] glad you were able to join me today, and can you start by just sharing a little bit about your ministry journey and how you got started
Shakema Wilson: Absolutely. So, picture it, Sicily, 1942, right? Here I was, I was at a place in Hamilton, Alabama called The Ramp. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it. But, it's a ministry that our church was in fellowship with, and we were at their winter retreat, and I just found myself. I've always loved the Lord, but I found myself plastered to the floor, feeling like the Lord was calling me to something else.
I didn't know what something else was, but I knew that it was more than what I was doing now. And like I said, I've always loved God. It wasn't, I just need more of God. It was like, God needed me to do something for Him. And so in my heart, I said I'll do whatever you want me to do, Lord. I felt very disqualified because of my background, because of where I [00:02:00] came from, because of the trauma that I experienced in my life. And so I kind of ran from the call for about two years.
Joy Hunt: Okay.
Shakema Wilson: Because I could not believe in my head that God would use somebody like me. I just thought I was too damaged. I didn't have enough.
Joy Hunt: I understand.
Shakema Wilson: I didn't feel like He could restore me even though He had already restored me. I didn't feel like He could restore me to service. I felt like He could restore me to Himself, but not to service. Like I couldn't do anything other than just serve Him and Him alone. I couldn't lead people. I just did not have the right frame of mind to think that "Yes, God can use anybody He wants to." And so when I decided to accept the calling about two years later, is when the Lord catapulted me into ministry. But it would then still be, you know, sometime much later before the ministry was fully, fully birthed. So that's just kind of [00:03:00] the beginning of all the things.
Shakema's Ministry for Women of All Ages
Joy Hunt: Can you tell us just a little bit about the ministry that you're involved in now?
Shakema Wilson: Absolutely. So the Lord graced me and blessed me to be able to start a ministry called First Love Ministries with Shakema Wilson.