Women that Inspire: Pastor Sheryl Brady
By Kristen Hamilton
For over thirty years, Pastor Sheryl Brady has been building channels of hope and transforming lives. Pastor of The Potter’s House of North Dallas, Brady gracefully wears many hats, which includes minister, wife, mother, grandmother, and in her own words, “bridge-builder.” Recently, Brady built yet another bridge of hope – this time, through her first book, You Have It In You!: Empowered To Do The Impossible. Empowering women, especially, to follow their hearts’ desires, Brady proves that no dream is too big, especially with God on your side.
Never believing that she would become a pastor, Brady knows firsthand about chasing dreams. It wasn’t until her mid-thirties that Brady realized that ministering is what she, and God, wanted for her life. Walking in faith on this revelation, Brady and her husband, along with their three daughters, loaded up a bus and began traveling across the country, attending hundreds of revivals and church meetings. “We did it as a family,” she says. In 1998, the Brady family briefly settled down in Dallas, TX before moving to Durham, NC, where they established and built The River – a church that would jumpstart Sheryl Brady Ministries.
After pastoring The River for over ten years, Brady received a call from Bishop T.D. Jakes, renowned chief pastor of The Potter’s House, requesting that she return to Dallas to head a new church. “He asked if we would pray about coming home,” she says. “And that’s exactly what we did.” In April 2010, The Potter’s House of North Dallas officially opened its doors, and since then, has received much praise. But in light of the church’s success, it has been the support of Brady’s family that has made her most happy.
When asked about her family, who all serve in the ministry with her, Brady simply gushes. With three daughters, who now have families of their own, and a loving husband of thirty-five years in Bishop Joby Brady, Brady couldn’t be more proud and honored to call them family. “To me, they’re everything,” she says. “Just being a part of their lives is a gift to me.”
But even as a loving wife, mother, and grandmother, Brady admits to needing her “me-time,” which is what initially led her to start dreaming. “Women need me-time – we need all of that,” she says. “It was in those quiet moments that I begin to realize, ‘wow, I’ve got a gift in me.’” By devoting time to herself, Brady was able to think about her desires and passions; she was able to find strength that she didn’t know she had and hope that she thought was lost. And it is through her first book, You Have It In You!, that she hopes that women all over the country do the same. “I believe it’s going to give women the possibility to dream again,” she says.
When asked if she had any last words of wisdom that she would like to share, Brady left behind a small gem, revealing where we can all find hope: “Understand that everything you will ever need in life to find fulfillment is not in a man, is not in a person, not in a connection – it is inside of you. We just have to get in a resting place, calm down and realize that our help – and our hope – is right in front of us.”
You Have It In You! is in stores today.
To learn more about Pastor Sheryl Brady and Sheryl Brady Ministries, visit http://www.sherylbradyministries.com/.
Kristen Hamilton lives in Louisville, KY and is a web/copy editor for Hope for Women Magazine.
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Vickie Page
October 10, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Thank you, for letting God use you. I don’t know what my calling is . I met you some years ago hete in Louisville Ky. Love you God Bless you