I know that God placed this opportunity into my life to share my story in a way that can reach lost and hurting people all around the world.”Cliff Powell, Author of "Pray Hard & Speak Life"
CULLMAN – Meet Mr. Cliff Powell. Cliff is married to the beautiful Tamika Powell. Together they have four children: three girls and one boy, ranging in ages from seven to 15. After graduating from Cullman High School in 1995, Powell left Cullman for the University of Alabama. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Education; however, he chose a career in sales. Today, he is responsible for Alabama, Mississippi and West Tennessee as the Regional Sales Manager for Igus, Inc.
Curiously, in the past year, he has grown a love for writing, which he does in his limited spare time. He has written a book titled “Pray Hard & Speak Life”, which will be available later in 2015. It is a memoir about finding hope in the midst of addictions, bankruptcy, suicide and cancer.
Posted by Pray Hard & Speak Life on Thursday, May 21, 2015
“When Tamika was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, I started a Facebook prayer group. The group served two purposes: one was to update everyone easily and the other was to attract as many prayer warriors to pray hard for my wife,” he explained.
“One day, there was nothing to update, so in order to keep everyone’s attention, I decided to tell the story of how Tamika and I met,” he grinned. “I started receiving feedback from many people who told me how our story had blessed them, followed by the suggestion to write a book.”
“I know that God placed this opportunity into my life to share my story in a way that could reach lost and hurting people all around the world,” he admitted. “It is a story about overcoming the hard times in life. We all have moments when it feels as if all hope is lost. I know there have been times when life seemed unfair and you felt like giving up, but I am hoping to encourage my readers to find hope in the midst of chaos.”
Tamika has had more than her fair share of health issues, and over time, her cancer diagnosis has taken a toll on the whole family. Mr. Powell is sure to have felt the weight of the world on his shoulders at times – supporting his family, both financially and emotionally, while trying to keep himself going. Yet, he never gave up and as a result, he has grown in his relationship with God and has learned to ‘speak life’, which means to use his words and actions to honor the inherent value in every person created by God. Powell urges everyone to use their words wisely and to be aware of what they are saying.
“I'm one of the most analytical persons on earth which kept me from having faith in God for years,” he smirked, shaking his head.
“Six years ago, if you told me to speak life, I would have said you're crazy and walked away. However, I have learned words are powerful. They can bring life or they can bring death into situations that surround you. For this reason, I try hard to not analyze and just have faith. Am I perfect at this? Absolutely not! I fail all the time, I do know it is biblical and when I do speak life, things tend to be a lot smoother. I encourage everyone to speak life. Some may think this is unrealistic. To that, I say stop analyzing and just believe,” he grinned with a twinkle in his eye.
Everyone goes through hard times, but not everyone knows just how to handle it. Cliff and his wife Tamika have made it through some pretty devastating circumstances, yet they never gave up and both have grown spiritually from them.
Their incredible focus and faith in God only continues to magnify. In return, they are doing their best to help others who may be in similar trouble.
For more information about Cliff and his incredible message of hope and faith, visit PrayHardSpeakLife.com or like his Facebook page at Facebook.com/PrayHardSpeakLife.
