About the event
Wonder Women United, a nondenominational event not affiliated with any church, is being held Jan. 20-21. The two-day conference costs $50 and begins that Friday evening at 7 p.m.The event will include testimonials by several speakers, vendors, snacks, a live band and more.Tickets can be purchased at wonderwomenunited.com.
The ministry
Brandi Robins also hosts a monthly breakfast the third Saturday of each month. All are welcome to attend, though RSVP is required. To find out more about the breakfast or her upcoming book, find the ministry at facebook.com/awakentothecall.
Jackie Enlow was not just the first from her family to graduate from high school, she was the first to go to college.
"I grew up in a family where everyone was kind of doing their own thing and I started staying with different friends every day of the week," the Lee University graduate explained. "I guess, in a way, I found a sense of normalcy in the ever-changing. But through that I met one of my best friends, Christy, whose dad is a pastor and took me everywhere."
Through her friend and chosen family, Enlow received help and encouragement to go to college. Coming from a detached family, the influence was hugely important to keep her on the right path.
"I wasn't born into a close-knit family. I wasn't taught self-worth and self-acceptance," she said. "Then, it seemed random - it was whoever's house I could stay at that night - but it turned into a bigger influence and the Lord surrounding me with these people."
She hopes her story will help inspire other women to embrace their own story and history and reach out to others who may be struggling.
Enlow is one of many women about whom local author Brandi Robins has written in her soon-to-be-released book "Wonder Women: The Awakening."
This weekend, Robins, Enlow and other such women will gather and speak for a two-day celebration of strength at Howe Farms in Georgetown, Tenn., through the ministry Wonder Women United.
Robins, who met Enlow through their church, The Net in East Ridge, said she always wanted to write a book. And after hearing stories of other women in her church, two years ago she was inspired to share them with others.
"It went from just being about my life to [being about] other women as well," she said of the book. "... I want that as a tool to help other women come through hard times victoriously.... It's about giving each woman who shares her story a platform. It's about finding a greater purpose with their story and their mission."
Enlow added that confronting and accepting her difficult upbringing has enriched her life in many ways.
"Sharing my testimony and letting people in without having those guards I usually have up... it helped me open up and in turn helped me know what it felt like to be loved and to love others," she said. "Without letting people in and allowing a certain sense of vulnerability, I would have never found my people. They might not be my biological family but I have someone I call Mom, that I call Dad. I know kids who call me Auntie Jackie."
Email Gabrielle Chevalier at gchevalier@timesfreepress.com.