God's UnFailed Love is the Compass Home.
The saying is, "God Works In Mysterious Ways", and I'm convinced that's true. If you follow the journey God has for you, he will create your pilgrimage to prove miracles can ignite a community and a generation.
One woman's pilgrimage began in an inner city apartment complex in NW Atlanta, that led her to a community roller rink, Cascade Skating, then to a suburban neighbourhood, Riverdale, GA and then to a TGIF restaurant in the Atlanta Airport.
Where her road trip of a lifetime began, and introduced her to the beautiful Sedona AZ, on her route to Los Angeles, CA.
In LA she found a free car with a heavenly cross in the mirror and skaters in Venice Beach, CA. Obediently, going where God sent her landed her on a hike in Reinhardt Park and relocation to Oakland, CA to Roll with Purpose.
B i a n c a is a God-fearing, roller skate influencer, poet, author, professional bottle flipper, mom, sister, daughter and niece; and has added the title of CREATOR of Roll With Purpose to her resume.
The dynamic skater blends her unique talent with her God-Given gift to offer hope and guide people on being one with their bodies through the movement and rhythm of skating.
She offers enthusiasm, creativity and joy through skate workshops and private/group lessons.
Roll with Purpose was born to dazzle audiences with performance dance skating and good ole' fashion fun. Helping to push beyond limiting beliefs and getting you physically and spiritually in shape.
I was introduced to Bianca through MY LOVE OF COMMUNITY and culture on Instagram. She skated to classic jams and had an infectious smile but it was her LOVE of God that was magnetic! Watching a beautiful black woman skate on Venice Beach touched me, and her testimony, and glorification of God moved me. As an Atlanta native, I wanted to know more about her. I had no clue how God would unveil his unfailing love through an Instagram DM.
An Atlanta native with over 20 years of skating experience. She started her skate journey at 8 years old at her local Cascade Roller Rink, (a legendary landmark in Atlanta, GA featured in the movie ATL[2006]).
As a child roller skating saved her life and became her escape from her childhood burdens and a safe haven for her introduction to God's peace and unfailing love.
On our first call, I felt the Southern hospitality and the initial question was, "What part of Atlanta are you from"? That question led to a conversation of laughter over a language only spoken by a person raised in the South and definitely in Georgia. We closely listened to each other's southern accents and laughed at sayings like, "ripping and running".
Our Georgia roots connected us and reminded me that childhood homes hold the DNA of how we show up in the world. Memories created inside four walls we had no control over sometimes become the driving force for our life's resume.
Talking with Bianca on growing up in Hollywood Court Apartments was no different, she walked me through her difficult childhood navigating life in a large family, being raised by grandparents and having to process the absence of her mom & dad due to drug addiction at an early age.
However, listening to her describe her mom, felt like watching a painter paint a masterpiece. Bianca described her mom, Schelundie Phinazee as a vibrant majorette and student at Texas A&M, free-spirited, and beautiful with an easygoing attitude. Bianca's words of her mom were a vivid description of how I saw her and a testament to God's unfailing love that began with her creation from such a beautiful reflection.
THE INTRODUCTION TO A NEW LOVE
If the love of home wasn't enough, skate culture was an even larger connection. Exchanging roller rink stories gave me insight into how much skating was a part of her life, explaining how she would beg to be dropped off to skate for hours. Skating is not just an activity, it is a way of life.
Atlanta is the Black-American MECCA of roll-bounce dance skating the electric feeling it gives is like no other. Once you experience it you want to learn more.
I learned that Bianca found another refuge and safe haven, but little did she know it would also be life-changing!
ON THE MOVE to ROLL WITH PURPOSE
When God moves you, buckle up! Talking with Bianca became more than a comforting feeling of home, it became a parallel view of how God's purpose is intentional and his moves for us are for his mighty plans. I learned we had such a similar journey. Her stories had me on the edge of my seat, some moments I bit my nails and others I laughed in tears, but mostly I smiled at how similar our past were and the connection we had surpassed our Georgia dialect.
Working at TGIF restaurant in the Hartsfield Atlanta airport she met and fell head over heels for a co-worker and the two relocated to California. Likewise, I worked as a janitor with the MARTA metro transit system at the airport and later married and relocated as a Navy spouse. I learned even our cross-country road trip shared a favourite stop.
Describing her cross-country road trip with twists and turns, she stopped the story to share one of her favourite stops. She described a beautiful small town in AZ....then I finished her words with " SEDONA"? and we both laughed and reminisced on how beautiful that city is....the irony of God's plan is to see the beauty in the journey.
THERE IS NO COINCIDENC IN THIS LIFE, THERE IS JUST GOD.
God's Unfailing love found Bianca in 2020 when she grew in her Christian walk, and began to release her past. She once again reached for the skates that saved her life as a child and found her calling on Venice Beach. Being featured in the L.A. Times, music videos and going viral as a social media skate influencer, she began to want more and God had just the more she was searching for.
Asked by a mutual believer and artist Kelli Ryan via IG. to be featured in her Kept Collection of hand-painted shirts, Kelli too shared a heavenly exchange of Godly sisterhood that bridged Bianca to Roll with Purpose and landed her on Oakland's doorstep where she has skated to God's purpose for her life.
THE COMFORTING FEELING OF UNFAILED LOVE
Small miracles guided Bianca from a small inner-city Atlanta neighbourhood to Oakland, CA, and confirmed her gift and purpose to help grow the Kingdom of God.
The comforting feeling I experienced in meeting Bianca wasn't the feeling of home or our GA dialect. Neither was it the love of skate culture or our shared relocation experience. The comforting feeling I shared with Bianca was THE UNFAILED LOVE OF GOD.
I am forever grateful that God crossed our paths because of his will.
God's Unfailing Love is a powerful, powerful thing.
Remember, God started your journey when he designed the stars and your destination was pre-assigned once you were formed in your mother's womb. Bianca's been a role model in dying to self and being obedient to God.
Her story is my story, and maybe your story. The story of dedication, letting go and living a life that gives God Glory. The path God created for her wasn't easy and didn't include an upbringing of religion and great wealth...however, he designed a pilgrimage that would speak to a community and shine his light through all she's overcome.
LESSONS AND EVENTS
Check Bianca out for private/group lessons to spark your God-given gift through the basis of roller skating. Learn to roll through life with grace, with a faith-based skater.
Invite Bianca to your city, she's available for event bookings offering a unique experience through skate workshops and lessons. She brings the spirit of God with her amazing love of God.
Follow her:
I hope the comfort of God's unfailing love follows you no matter where you go and your purpose allows you to connect to everyone God has sent on your pilgrimage.
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