Today 30th May 2017 marks the 35th anniversary of TD Jakes and his wife Serita Jakes. The ‘woman thou art loosed’ Pastor shared the news through his Instagram handle.
He had this to say about his beautiful wife:
” 35 years of marriage today to this beautiful lady. A lot has happened in 35 years. Whether up or down, her love has been consistent and constant! I’m a blessed man! Many that started with us have gone on and some have split up.
Our parents are gone, our church home has moved. And all our children are grown. The constant has been our unwavering love and her consistent loyalty to me and the vision God gave me! Happy Anniversary @seritajakes You are loved!” ❤️
Serita Jakes has known her share of heartache. Her brother was murdered; she was the victim of emotional and physical abuse by a boyfriend; her beloved mother died unexpectedly of a cruel disease; and she was crippled in a car accident. Yet it is because of those trials that she is able to minister so effectively to women all over the world.
When she went to college she was lonely; and to fit in with the city kids, she began experimenting with sex, marijuana, and alcohol.
She found herself in a relationship with a violent man who abused her both mentally and physically. He put a gun to her head and then walked away.
Coming face to face with death, she knew that something had to change. “If I didn’t stop it, something was going to happen that would stop me permanently.”
Serita and T.D. Jakes met when he came to her church for a revival. “My husband was one of the people that really influenced me as a young convert, because most of the time, in that generation, there weren’t that many young people in church…I was drawn to his ministry, but I didn’t realize that it was also a softening of the heart to want a relationship.
” At first, the couple maintained a long distance relationship because T.D. Jakes was the part-time pastor at Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith. During their courtship, Serita remained in Beckley. In 1981, a year and a half after they met, they married.
Not long after they were married, T.D. Jakes entered into full-time ministry. The revivals, however, were few and far between, and it was a struggle to make ends meet for his growing family. They couldn’t afford diapers, so they used paper towels and duct tape instead. Their utilities were disconnected one by one — first the phone, then the water, and then the electricity.
Welfare seemed like the only answer. Serita lamented on how painful it was to have to get public assistance. “It was often so degrading to sit and be insulted by the social worker who seemingly mocked our circumstance,” she shared. T.D. dug ditches for gas lines to subsidize their income, and eventually dug them out of their financial hole.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the hardships for the Jakes family. In the early years of their marriage, Serita and her husband were involved in a devastating car accident. As a result, her entire heel cap was dislocated to the side of her foot.
The emergency room doctor took one look at her injury and informed her that she would never walk again. She was distraught and sank into despair and self-pity; but her husband, unwilling to accept the prognosis, slowly rebuilt her spirits and showed her how to put one foot in front of the other. “My husband, my pastor, my friend, taught me how to walk again.”
Serita Jakes and the love of her life have gone from a simple two-bedroom apartment to a mansion in an exclusive community, and they’re looking forward to many more years together. “My husband and I often talk about sitting on the front porch with matching jars for our teeth sipping lemonade.”
In an interview by Opera Winfrey, Sarah Jakes stated that they had been able to keep their union through lots of communication, lots of talking on the phone while TD Jakes is away. She went on further to state that She has had to evolve along with her husband so as not to get left behind.
TD Jakes also took turns to state that they had an “unexplainable connection. At the core, we are friends and I know that she is for me.” he went further. Together they both announced that marriage has being a difficult process because one has to work at marriage being that it is assignment given by God.
We celebrate TD and Serita Jakes today and pray that God gives them the grace and strength to pull through and that the Love of God flows deeply in their hearts as they fulfill God’s purpose in Jesus Name. (Amen)
