Considering I married her, you’ll think this is an entirely biased Sharper Leader profile post. Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Why don’t you read it and decide for yourself?

Raised in a loving home full of talented brothers and sisters, at 17, Leslie left home just south of Atlanta to chase her dream of becoming a professional ballerina.

Upon arriving at the Christian ballet company in Jackson, MS, Leslie enhanced her desire to become someone who not only pursued a love of her exquisite art form but also forever remain faithful in her passion for loving, serving, and leading others to Jesus.

Leslie and her teammates worked diligently to perform phenomenal artistry that communicated a story meant to be shared with the entire world. She toured nationally and internationally, performing beautiful feats of strength, grace, elegance, beauty, and excitement.

She not only became the cover model for one of their premier shows, but she also became a world-famous model (in my eyes) when her massive photo was plastered on the side of a building in Brazil.

Although it was a lot of hard work with brutal travel schedules, she cherished dancing and developing amazing relationships with people worldwide. Needless to say, she was living her dream.

Everything changed after a single phone call. Leslie was diagnosed with breast cancer at 28 years old. For most people, the world comes crashing down when the dreaded “C-word” comes into the picture. It wasn’t a painful ending for Leslie but an adventurous new beginning.

Since I’ve known Leslie, she has shared little about the difficulties of combatting cancer, but I have heard–and experienced–her incredible stories about many great friendships and relationships she developed. After retiring from ballet to focus on evicting cancer, Leslie remained amazingly positive, optimistic, and hard-working.

If you know Leslie, you know she does everything at full speed. Loving others and trying to make people feel special is no different. It doesn’t matter if she is receiving cancer treatments in Atlanta, grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, volunteering, hosting Bible studies, teaching ballet, or just letting neighborhood children trace her in the driveway, Leslie is constantly building relationships, loving wholeheartedly, and humbly pointing others to her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Leslie sharpens me daily by motivating me to be a better person, husband, leader, and follower of Christ. I love the way she leads. I love the way she loves. And I love how she sees and shares her daily gift of life!