Surviving COVID's Storms: Jomel Williams Powell’s Diamond Mindset | Inspirational Story On Marriage, Faith, Resilience & Purpose (Inspirational)

When life shatters your world into pieces, can you really turn that rubble into diamonds?

In this powerful inspirational and motivational episode of Real Talk with Reginald D, minister, speaker, and author Jomel Williams Powell shares his raw, faith-driven journey through unimaginable pain, loss, and resilience. When COVID-19 nearly claimed his wife’s life during pregnancy, Jomel found himself a first-time father raising a newborn while his wife lay in a medically induced coma. What followed was a battle of faith, perseverance, and discovering what he calls the Diamond Mindset—a powerful way to transform life’s crushing blows into wisdom, strength, and purpose.

This motivational speech is a life-changing conversation for anyone facing hardship, feeling hopeless, or searching for strength to keep going. If you need proof that God can bring beauty from ashes, this episode will inspire, motivate, and empower you to rise stronger than ever before.

 If you’ve ever been knocked down by tragedy, felt abandoned in your darkest hour, or wondered if you could survive the storm, Jomel’s story will show you that faith and resilience are the keys to turning pain into purpose. You’ll see how your greatest trials can become your greatest testimonies.

What You’ll Gain:

• How to shift your mindset from victim to victor, even in the face of overwhelming loss
• Biblical wisdom and real-life strategies for building resilience through trials
• Inspiration to pursue your calling and purpose, no matter how broken life feels right now

Press play now and discover how to develop your own Diamond Mindset that will carry you through life’s hardest battles.

Connect with Jomel Powell:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jomelwilliams

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jomel.powell

TikTok:  Diamonds For You

Audible Book Link:  A Marriage Broken by Covid Produced Diamonds for You 

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Transcript

 Welcome to Real Talk with Reginald D. I'm your host, Reginald D. On today's episode, I have Jomal Williams Powell. Jomal is a minister speaker and the author of A Marriage Broken by Covid produced Diamonds for you Turning the Lights Rumble into Diamond. Welcome to the show, Jaomel. 4

Jomel: I appreciate being here and I thank you for your time and welcoming me to be here with you today. I appreciate it. 

Reginald D: Thank you. Thank you so much. I did listen to episode when you was interviewed by somebody else and I heard your story, man, I was like, man, I got to reach out. I mean, I love the fact that your story's powerful. It's powerful. It's a lot in it, you know, so. 

Jomel: Amen. 

Reginald D: So Jamel, can you tell us a little bit about where you grew up and what your life was like growing up?

 Jomel: You know, I grew up on the west side of Detroit. My whole childhood, you know, like growing up, I lived in property stricken areas, you know, where the typical things was going on like drug dealing, crime, violence. I grew up in those type of environments where, you know, everybody was just doing what they got to do to make it. And not a lot of fathers in the household. Fathers in the household was far and few for whatever the case may be. Raised primarily by my mother, but raised by the village as well. So it was some positive influence in the environment and there was some negative influences in the environment. But ultimately, as a 19 year old, that's when I came to the knowledge, when God brought me the knowledge of him. And that's what made me decide that I wanted to be something different in life. You know, the best that we saw in my neighborhood were to have success were people that were selling drugs, you know, and that's kind of where our minds were stuck at because we didn't have no basketball players from our neighborhood or we didn't have successful businessmen come back and show us anything different. So our minds was pretty much stuck in, you know, the guys that's hustling and getting the nice cars and getting the women. But I tried to go down that route as a young man, but it just wasn't for me. And God pulled me away from that type of environment and that lifestyle. And he brought me into the church when I was at the age of 19. Reginald D: Yeah, and that's the thing about it, you know, I, I understand where you're coming from. I know what it's like growing up without, you know, without your father, when single parent, living in the projects and trying to make it and all you see and people Try to criticize that a lot. You know, like, hey, these kids are just these kids, or things like that. But you don't understand. Kids only see what they see. Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: You know, they don't see anything outside of, you know, the ghetto or the hood or anything like that. They don't see nothing. That's their world. And somebody in your world, just like we do in the world now is, you know, we're not, you know, not in the ghetto, not in the projects, and then like that now. But when you see the world now, now you see a whole big picture, and you see people like, oh, man, this guy's. He's a business owner here. He's that, man, let me go talk to this dude. Let me learn from this guy. You know, you have all these avenues, and then all they have is. Is, like you said, the drug dealers that got all the money, you know, they don't want that. They're not suffering. You know, they eating good, they're living good, they riding good, you know? Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: And that's all they see. But something out there, so much bigger than that. But we just have to keep working at it to let you know, the younger generation know that it's more so. Jomel: Yes, sir. Reginald D: Jamal, let's begin with your story. Jomel: Yes, sir. Reginald D: Everyone knows Covid was a devastated and defining moment in 2020 that shook the world to its core for a few years. Jomel: Yeah. Reginald D: Yeah. So tell us a little bit about that story with you. Jomel: You know, during the pandemic, it was just a scary time, especially when they started saying it was spreading all over the world, which was pretty strange to me that it spread it so fast, you know, But I don't want to get into the conspiracy mind state, but it was pretty strange to me how it just spread over the world so fast that, you know, we were kind of, like, living in fear for a little while, like, not wanting to really go out and. And trying to stay in the house a lot and stay away from other people. But after a while, we started opening up and started trying to have some normalcy in life. During the pandemic, though, my wife and I, we kind of went through some struggles, you know, because that was the most time that we spent around each other in a while. And we already were having a little bit of issues in our marriage with the communications, financial disagreements, issues with a blended family. Cause she had a son prior to our marriage, so we were already going through issues. But during the pandemic and the time of being locked down, it's like the issues reached A peak, you know, And I found out that a lot of married couples didn't make it through the pandemic. You know, I heard the divorce rate went up drastically during the pandemic. You know, I guess it had to do with, like, people really having to sit and be around each other. And me and my wife went through a separation for about a year during the pandemic. We just had got tired of the disagreements and tired of having issues with each other. And I decided, you know, I'm gonna try to step away from this for a while, to try to salvage and get back, you know, it wasn't for me to just stay away, but I said, you know, we not getting nowhere. Let me just step back and let me let God move, you know? And we got to a point during this separation that we started back hanging together, we started back talking, we started back dating again. And then the next thing I know, she lets me know she pregnant. So, like, now it was time to knuckle back down and get back together and try to work out the relationship. And being that we had a life that we were to be responsible for coming, this really let us know, like, okay, it's time to get serious. Stop letting these little things come in between our relationship. And then we were really working at, like, getting everything back in line, getting prepared to have our daughter with us and everything. And right in the ninth trimester of pregnancy, she ended up contracting the COVID 19 virus. And then when she contracted the COVID 19 virus, it started out with her having some issues with breathing. But then that elevated to her having to go to the hospital and then having to go to the hospital, that led to them letting her know that they needed to put her in medically induced coma and deliver my daughter through C section. So during this period of time, you know, I was just. I was dealing with a little trauma in my mind because both my parents went into the hospital for different reasons. But when they went to the hospital, I'm expecting them to come back, and they didn't. So I started having these type of thoughts in my mind while my wife's in the hospital and having some concerns. Then my daughter is born. And when it's time for my daughter to be released, my wife is in medically induced coma. So now I'm worried about my wife. And then I'm thinking, like, okay, how am I gonna be able to take care of a newborn? Because I wasn't prepared for this. You know, like, in my mind, we was gonna be doing this together. And of course, you know, the man doesn't, most times take on the bulk of the responsibility. You know, it's the women that nurture the children. And you know, for the most part, women handle most of the raising the babies. You know, the father's there as an assistant in most cases. But being that I was about to be a first time dad and it's almost time to bring my daughter home, that was more fearful than being on the run for my life. You know, like, I was more scared about that than anything. Cause I'm worried about is my wife gonna make it? But then I'm worrying about failing as a father. But I jumped in, I jumped into the fatherhood and brought my daughter home. And I made up in my mind that I was gonna figure this out. And, you know, my wife stayed in medically induced coma for close to two months. So during this time, I'm going through like a culture shock because I'm dealing with my newborn at home, the inconsistent sleep patterns, and then I'm not able to see my wife because of COVID protocol. So I have to constantly keep calling the hospital every day. And it was just a really, really dark space to go through, you know. But now I could look back at everything and say that it was a blessing in so many ways. Because going through an experience that I never been through before and dealing with something that I never dealt with in life before is what brought me closer to God. And getting closer to God is what made me be able to rise to the occasion and to be able to fulfill my role as I should. It wasn't my own strength, it wasn't my own wisdom. It was the spirit of God that got me through. And, you know, when my wife finally woke up, it was almost like two years later. She woke up. No, no. Two months later. I'm sorry. She woke up and she couldn't move her arms, couldn't move her leg. She couldn't speak really. It was due to an anoxic brain injury that she suffered while in medically induced coma. So we just didn't know what type of person she would be when she woke up, you know, but she woke up with her memory, but she just couldn't move and just couldn't speak like she wanted to. So this was a little devastating to me. But in the beginning, you know, I had hope. I had hope. I was like, you know, I know this is not the end. And I was believing in the fact that God can do the impossible. And we went through a lot, man, ups and downs. Like we thought we would lose her so many times. And she was in and out of the hospital for different reasons. Blood clots, pneumonia, high heart rate, infections. Like it was just a real, real tough time to deal with not being cared for properly in certain facilities. It just seemed like things were having a domino effect of going bad, you know, and right now she's doing a lot better. She's still not able to walk, still not able to use her arms, but she can speak. We working on getting her back home. She's still in 24 hour care because she needs 24 hour care. And we're in the fourth. We're going on the fourth year because this happened four years ago in August. We just been focused on, like, getting better. We've been focused on being thankful. Even though we not in the conditions that we would like to be, we've been thankful that she's still here, she still has her mind. And every day we get up, she has hope, you know, so she made a lot of progress. But all of these things that we went through, I feel like is what God used to make us better people, you know, God made us appreciate each other much more. God made us appreciate the moment of having each other much more. You know, like, I always tell married couples that I know, like, sometimes people call me and talk about issues that they're going with their wife and stuff like that. And I just try to tell them, like, look, man, that's not nothing major, you know, enjoy your wife. You know, like, if I would have known my wife would go through the things that she went through, I wouldn't have spent so much time at odds with her. I would have been looking past a lot of things instead of bickering backward and forward with her. So a lot of times now I just try to talk to my brothers about, like, hey, man, what you going through is not serious. Nobody's cheating on each other, man. Go enjoy your wife, man. Go take her out to the movies, you know, go go out to eat with her, man. Enjoy your wife, you know? Cause you never know when things can change. Yeah. Reginald D: Yeah, you're right, man. First of all, I commend you your strength and what you've been through, and I commend your wife strength of everything y' all been through together. So. Because I know it's emotional and mentally draining and all that kind of stuff. You did not know him, because I'll be honest with you, last holiday season, it's like around Christmas. Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: My wife have not ever been sick. I met her in 2015. She never had a common cold, ever. I caught the flu, and I was at home, and she came up there to look after me. Jomel: Whatever. Reginald D: She came in the room, I guess, you know, give me some medicine or whatever she called it. Whoa. But when she called, jumped on her, man, that. She ended up in the hospital fighting for her life. Jomel: Oh. Reginald D: And I had never in my life, Jamel, been in a place where I was so helpless. You know, I'm sitting in the hospital, I'm looking at her all, you know, lungs is. Everything's messed up. You know, kidney functions is bad. I mean, just. Everything was just. It just attacked her body in a crazy way. And. And like I said, I understand what you're going through. Admirable. It's not that extent, but just the fact of the matter, I'm sitting here like, I'm, like, losing my wife right now. Jomel: Yeah, yeah. Reginald D: Understand that. You know, and I had to really, really get deep down in my faith, and I had to really get honest with God. Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: You know, and I remember what I said to God. I said, God, you know, I'm done this. I've been a servant for you. I've fed the homies. I've helped people. I did all this stuff. I said, if I have any favor with you, I need to cash it in right now for my wife. Jomel: Yes. Yes. Reginald D: You know, and that's how I left. Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: God kind of spoke to me. He's like, hey, man, go get some rest. You know? And then this day, I went to the hospital, all of a sudden, everything was doing its thing right. And it was like, hey, you get ready to go home? Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: It was. It was amazing, man. But like I say, in that process and the things you're going through, man, I tell you what, man, God has really, really got his hands on you, and he has his hands on. On your wife, man. And I honor you for being the man that you are. Jomel: Amen. You know, I always tell people, you know, like, just to be able to endure something for so many years with so many layers, twists and turns, I got to give all praises to God, you know, because without God, I probably would have abandoned my responsibilities and gave up a long time ago. But just because of God's spirit, you know, I still stand. Reginald D: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I was. Other day, I was sitting here, I was looking out the window at this tree in my yard. Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: And I said to myself, I would never know how strong that tree would be until the storm comes. Jomel: Yes. Reginald D: I said, when the storm comes, that tree is still standing. I said, they let me know how strong that tree is. Jomel: Amen. Reginald D: Same thing about life. You never know how strong you are, man. To the storms come. Jomel: Amen. Amen. Reginald D: Exactly. So, Jamel, let's talk about the core of your message, the diamond mindset. What does that mean and how did it form during your trials? Jomel: So the subtitle of the book is produce diamonds for you. So the diamonds is just a wisdom game that God gave me. Change of perspective and enlightenment. You know, sitting in the trial for so long, I had nothing but time to think. And God revealed the Word, some of the stories in the Word to me. He used that to enlighten me. Just wisdom that God gave me from sitting in the fire so long because, like, I was just praying for God to, like, just get this over with quick for us, you know, but it's like he set us in the fire and he just got us refining, you know, he purifying us, purifying our faith. So being that we didn't get our prayers answered right away and we didn't get exactly what we wanted from God, God had to change our perspective on some things. So one of the examples is, like, God's timing. That's one of the things that he worked on my mind about. Because, you know, like I said, I was like, praying for God to, like, please let this be over, like, fast. Let it be over, like, right away. Like, I learned my lesson, God. But God's timing is different from ours. You know, they said a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and it was speaking on something else. But I use that in regards to everyday life. You know, like, we live in a microwave society. I spoke about this with someone else. We live in a microwave society where we got access to everything within the snap of a finger. It's not really no waiting for anything no more. But when it comes to God, like, God's timing is way different from ours. Perfect timing. So, like, that's one of the things he had to work with me on. And he worked with me on that through the story of Joseph. You know, Joseph had the dream at the age of 17, but most scholars don't believe that it came to pass until the age of 30. And in between that process, he went through so many twists and turns. The betrayal of his brothers and being sold into slavery, and then his slave master wife lying on him, and that's sending him to prison. You know, that's enough to make a man feel like, you know, what man, maybe what God showed me is not true. Especially after suffering for 13 years. But God had a divine timing and a divine appointed day that the dream would come to pass. And it did. So like, I kind of felt like everything was going bad back to back to back. Especially for these past four years. It just seemed like every time I look up, we got another setback, we got another issue. But in hindsight, I'm looking at it like, you know, God has a plan. You know, like Joseph was the first person to say, you know, you meant it for bad, but God worked it out for good. And then Paul in the New Testament talked about how all things work together for the good to those that love God who are called according to his purpose. So I had to change my mind state. Like even though God not pulling us out the way I want us to, and he not bringing us to where I want to be right away, he has a divine appointed time. You know, one of the other things he had to work with me about is something out of the book of Job. Like I constantly question God, like, what did we do? Are we so wicked that you chose us to suffer? I started looking at people that I know do a lot of wicked things and they, they smiling, they out enjoying they self. And I'm just questioning God, like, wow. Like we up here trying to live right for you and do things that please you, but we're suffering on this high level like this. But the way that God worked with me and enlightened me in that is when I went through the book of Job, while we were as bad season in the beginning, he had me to see that he never answered no question to Job or explained to Job why everything was going on in his life. God never spoke nothing to him. So God was just letting me know, like we not always going to have the answers as to why. All we got to do is trust him, stay loyal and faithful to him no matter what. You know, like Job lost his children, lost everything, caught boils, you know what I'm saying? But he still remained faithful and loyal to God. I know he was broken in spirit sometimes and, and was feeling down, had to. But he stayed loyal and faithful to God. So God blessed him in the end with double. Yeah. So every question that I raised is trial and tribulation. And every doubt that I had, God gave me enlightenment. So the enlightenment to my questions is what I call the diamonds and the diamond. Mind state is just looking to God for the wisdom and enlighten while you in a dark place. Reginald D: Absolutely, man. That's good. That's good. I like that. So Jamal, how do you balance caregiving, parenting, and building a ministry all at once. Jomel: You know, sometimes I look back at some of the stuff and I just have a blur, like a how. But, you know, I just have to go to God first. You know, that's one of the things God worked with me on recently. Getting me back to the basics. Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Like, my main thing is, like, seeking first the kingdom of God and aiming my life towards what his bar is and what his righteousness is and how he would like me to live and let everything else fall into place. So I prioritize it by, like, trying to keep God number one. And after that, I just tackle everything else, you know, tackle everything else in order, you know, And I'm not gonna lie, you know, sometimes I get drained. I get like, absolutely drained. And there's some weeks, you know, that. That depression and anxiety trying to overwhelm me, but that's when I make sure I get before God and pray. You know, I might not eat for a few hours and just pray to God all morning. And boom, he gave me the strength to get through. And I keep going. You know, it's all about keeping God first and keep getting before him the times that you weak. And that's how I get through everything. Reginald D: I really like that. Because when you put God first. Well, first of all, when you prioritize your life and your things, your life, especially when you're putting God first, it makes it so much easier to get through the circumstances and the challenges that you're going through. Jomel: Yes, sir. Reginald D: So, Jamal, what advice would you give to other authors, ministers or messengers trying to reach hurting hearts? Jomel: You know, the main thing I always say is, like, if you got the experience of being through certain things, you can speak from a place of empowerment. You know, a lot of people try to speak to people, and it's just my book knowledge or it's just from a place of not experience. But when you speaking about an experience that you actually live through, that God brought you through, it's not you just speaking no more. It's you speaking from a place of empowerment. And when people hear you and when you coming from your heart. I always was told when you come from the heart, you reach the hurts. So it's all about the experience that you've been through. And it's all about coming from your heart and telling people how you came through, what you came through, and what you did to keep your sanity through what you was going through. Because there's people out here that don't have hope, you know, they don't have nowhere to look to, or they trying to find somewhere to look to, but they look into all the wrong things. I know people that do nothing but get high and drunk every day because they can't face with their lives with a sober mind. But we got to express to people the importance of seeking God and getting back to God because we have to face reality. You know what I'm saying? Like, escapism is something that a lot of us have gotten prone to. Like people escape their problems through highs, ***********, all type of things. But we got to get in our right mind, face reality and get to God. And this is how we can pour through anything. Reginald D: Yes, sir. Absolutely. Absolutely. So what do you think is the biggest misconception people have about suffering and faith? Jomel: I would like to say the biggest misconception is people always feel like it's because you did something wrong, you know, or, or you might not be a true believer or something like that. But God brought to my attention that there's three different reasons why a believer go through what they go through. One of them was that, you know, God is allowing the enemy to try you just like he did Job. One of them is the fact that God has something that he's preparing you for, just like in the book of Joseph. And the other one is the fact that it might be something that we did, like in the case of David with the sin of, with Uriah and Bathsheba. Like David brought all type of punishment into his life from his choice. But at the end of the day, the chastening of the Lord brings forth the peaceable fruit and righteousness. So. But the biggest misconception that people have is that it's always because you did something wrong, if you ask me. Reginald D: Right? So Jamil, if someone listening today is in their darkest moment, what final word of hope would you want to leave with them? Jomel: You know, I always look at it like this. Every day that we alive, it's another day that God can move in our lives. It's another day of hope. It's another day of opportunity. Just try to look at the positive out of your situation, man. Just know that there's always somebody going through something worse than you. And just know that if you're a believer in God, like all things going to work together for the good, no matter how it work out, it's going to work together for your good. Reginald D: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's one of the main scriptures right there. Yeah, you gotta carry that one with. Jomel: You if you don't carry nothing else everywhere. Reginald D: So Jamil, lastly, how can my listeners purchase your book or follow your journey on social media? Jomel: You know, the book is available on audio forum on every audio platform, Audible, Spotify, Apple. It's an ebook forum on Amazon, Kindle, and you can catch me on Facebook @jomail williamspile, Instagram @jomel Williams. And you can catch me on tick tock at diamonds4u. And you know, if any of your listeners like I have some credits for anyone they would like, I could send a free credit to anybody that's interested. The audiobook turned out much better than what I imagine and I went and got some producers that I've been on since I was a child to put music in behind my chapters. I call it the Audiobook Experience. And it's only less than two hours long and I think it's something that a lot of people could get something out of. Reginald D: Awesome, man. So, Jamel, thank you so much, you know, for coming on the show, man. I'm telling you, man, I have really, really inspired by your journey, your wife's journey, the willpower you guys have, man. Just keep pushing to keep your faith, man, and God's going to keep working it out. Jomel: Amen. Reginald D: All right, Jamel Williams Powell, thank you so much. Jomel: Thank you. Thank you for having me today. Reginald D: Yes, sir. Thanks for tuning in with Real Talk with Reginald D. If you enjoy listening to Real Talk with Reginald D, please rate and review on Apple Podcast. See you next time.