Normandy Bryant uses a couple of brightly colored silk flags to calm her mind during moments of stress. The flags are used as tools to praise God, Bryant said. Bryant, 41, began flag worship in 2016 as an outlet in the face of some mental health struggles, she said.
Normandy Bryant demonstrates how she uses worship flags. Bryant, a Hickory resident, recently began hosting workshops to teach others how to worship with flags. Her new business is called The Poiema.
Bryant said it is Greek for a masterpiece. “We are made in God’s image,” Bryant said. “We are created to worship him.
” In addition to her business, Bryant works as a financial aid counselor at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Bryant discussed her journey of healing and praise. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m a financial aid counselor at Lenoir-Rhyne University. I’ve been there since 2021. When I first graduated high school, I went to Lenoir-Rhyne.
I actually did my work study in the financial aid office. I worked there every summer for five years. I loved it when I was doing my work study there.
I always had a passion to help other students. Even in my journey as a student, my first year going to LR, I couldn’t really afford it. The process of going through the financial aid office and saying, ‘OK, let me go to CVCC for a year.
’ I took a semester off and then I went into law enforcement. It gave me the opportunity to really sit back and say, ‘I may not be able to do this now.�.
